Guest Lectures & Conference Papers

2023-06 Launch address for Helen O'Shea's book on Paddy Canny, No Better Boy, at ITMA

2020 - 11 Delivery of lecture on 'Traditional” music in identity - the mirror of popular politics', for Dún Uladh, Omagh (online presentation)

2020-08 -Presentation on Kevin Barry in political song for History Ireland (online)

2020-02 'Irish Music in Political Action - music and song in political actions', paper at ICTM, Cork.

2020-01 - 'A terrible beautyis bodhrán', guest lecture at Irish American Cultural Centre, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

2019-11 Presentation on political song at William Allingham festival, Ballyshannon.

2019 - 08 Delivery of Seachtain na hÉigse lecture 'The Sight of Sound: Irish music as seen in two centuries of Irish art – the hidden and the visual’ at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda.

2018 07 07 Delivery of Breandán Breathnach memorial lecture on ‘Irish music in Irish art – the hidden and the visual’ at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare.

2018-05 'Bulgarising Irish tradition - seeking a sustainable folk theatre model'. Field-trip talk to Siamsa Tíre commemmoration, Tralee

2018 02 17 Guest lecture at Belfast Bunting festival on ‘The relevance of Edward Bunting’s collected music today’.

2017 - 07 Lecture at Boxwood flute festival, Lunenberg, Nova Scotia: 'A terrible beauty is bodh-rán'

2017 -05-28 Performance and guest lecture on Irish Traditional Music - 'The note is as mighty as words', at Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño (La Rioja), Spain

2016-02 'A terrible beautyis bodhrán', guest lecture at Ceol Chairlinn festival

2014 04 30. "Assembling the Companion to Irish Traditional Music. The issues, politics, challenges and practicalities of compiling the first encyclopedia of Traditional music in Ireland". An illustrated talk with music and images. Newry City Library, Co. Down.

2014 04 “Marching to Dancing, Military to Recreation: A talk and Performance which tells the Story of the Flute in the Music of Ireland". Hosted by Castlewellan Futures group at  Hillyard House, Castlewellan, Co. Down.

2013 09 – Music performance and talk r/e The Companion to Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar, Melbourne University

2013 09 – Guest Lecture/ performance to Music Research Seminar, Monash University, Melbourne.

2013 08 – Guest Lecture/ performance  at The National Library of Australia, Canberra

2011 04 - Hunting for borr- án - shaking a stick at the origin myths concerning the Irish drum. Guest lecture for Na Píobairí Uilleann, Dublin

2010-11 – ‘Irish Traditional music in the complex of Irish identity’ – Guest lecture at Irish Studies Faculty, Notre Dame College, University of Indiana, USA.

2010-10 – Comic and satirical song in the Irish tradition. Guest lecture to North Mayo Education Forum, Westport.

2010 -08 – ‘Revising The Companion – the establishing of an encyclopedia of Irish Traditional Music’, guest lecture at Shamrock in the Bush Irish Studies symposium, Yass, Australia.

2010-07 – ‘The Irish drum – stone-age innovation in the digital age’, Guest paper at  Latrobe University, Melbourne

2010 05 From battlefield to boreen, Basel to Ballymoe: How the wooden flute was colonised by Ireland, Guest lecture to North Mayo Education Forum, Westport.

2010 04 Flute routes to 21st century Ireland: the entry of the flute to Irish music. Guest lecture to Cruinniú na bhFliút, Coolea, Cork.

2010-02 – ‘Instrument or Implement? Questions about the bodhrán drum’, guest lecture at NUIG Irish Studies Dept.

2009 -05 - Hunting for the bodhrán – was there ever a drum in Ireland in the past?. Guest lecture to Clare Island Folklore Weekend, Co. Mayo.

2009 10 – The Place of Traditional music in the Arts Economy. Guest lecture to Cooley-Collins seminar, Gort, Co. Galway

2009 04 Hunting for the bodh-rán: Myth, imagination and wishful thinking in the construction of a past for a unique Irish percussion, paper at British Forum for Ethnomusicology, Liverpool.

2009 -03 The invention of the bodhrán drum. Guest lecture to Féile Patrick Byrne, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.

2009 -02 – Traditional Music Support in the Irish Arts System, guest lecture at ‘The Arts, the State, Identity and the Wealth of Nations – Case studies of Ireland and Scotland’ symposium, Trinity College, Dublin.

2009 02 Hunting for Borrane_ the invention of the Bodhrán drum in Ireland. Paper to ICTM Ireland conference, University College Dublin

2008-08 The Music of Clare in the Modern World, Guest lecturer at Merriman Summer School, Lisdoonvarna.

2008-03 Cosmopolitanism in Irish Music, paper to Grian Irish Studies conference, New York University.

2006 03 17 – Didactic Flute - Style, Politics and Region in flute music. Concert presentation with Dr. Desmond Wilkinson to Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris.

2006 03 04 - Hallucination once again – food fantasy in Irish song. Paper to GrianIrish Studies Conference, New York University.

2006 02 – Summary paper - Music and Identity in a National Ethnomusicology - to symposium of Irish chapter of International  Council for Traditional Music, University of Limerick.

2005 09 – Ulster-Scots’ Selective Adoption of Traditional Music - paper at Irish Protestant Identities conference, University of Salford, Manchester.

2005 07 – Guest Lecture – The Funding of Traditional Music,  The Breandán Breathnach Memorial Lecture - at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare

2005 05 – Status for Traditional Music in State Education Structures - paper atBorders and Borderlands in Contemporary Culture International Conference,Department of Humanities, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland.

2004 07 - Guest lecture ‚ The Progress of the Flute in Ireland - and host at symposium Flute routes, flute roots, at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare.

2003 10 Guest lecture, Fiddlesticks in the Closet ‚ Ulster-Scots, and Protestant suspicions of Traditional music, at Come West Along the Road, symposium, New York University.

2003 11 Guest lecture Globalisation and Irish Traditional Music. London Metropolitan University.

2003 07. Guest lectures to Iowa Writers‚ and to USIT international summer schools at TCD.

2003 07 Guest lecture: Breandán Breathnach Memorial lecture, to Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Co. Clare.

2003 05 03 Invention Of Tradition, Imagined Community And The Ulster Scots Quest For Identity Through Music. Paper to - Society for Musicology in Ireland conference, Maynooth.

2003 03 - Centuries Standing To Attention - The Coexistence Of Unaccompanied Irish-Language And English-Language Song Styles With Ballads, Contemporary Lyrics And Mid-Atlantic Folk In Irish Traditional Music Today, Guest presentation, second of a three-unit series on traditional music in the Education programme of Centre Culturel Irlandaise (formerly the Irish College), Paris.

2003 02 - The politics of Traditional music Revival, Sean Ó Riada Memorial Lecture, University College Cork Traditional Music Society, 6 February, 2003.

2002 12 Rebels, Recording And Tuxedos, guest presentation, first of a three-unit series on traditional music in first semester of Education programme at Centre Culturel Irlandaise, Paris.

2002 11 08 Pick “n mix‚ in the culture supermarket: The Ulster Scots quest for music as identity. Paper for Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Conference, Limerick.

2002 10 London: “Music and musicians of Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim‚ ‚ Guest lecture to Camden Irish Festival, “Return to Camden Town

2002 10 “Contemporary satirical song‚, Didactic performance, Tallaght Music Seminar, Dublin.

2002 09 “Traditional music - fifth column or pillar of society?”, - paper for British Association for Irish Studies biennial conference, Hammersmith & Fulham Irish Centre, London, 7th September 2002.

2002 08 15 - “The music of breaking glass ‚ the classicisation of Irish Traditional music and its implications for third level education”, paper to ISME (International Society for Music Education, UNESCO backed) biennial conference at Bergen, Norway.

2002 06 “Song As Communication To Song As Entertainment”‚ guest address to Ennistymon Traditional Singing Festival, Co. Clare.

2002 06 20 “Singing the boundaries - regional distinctiveness expressed through Traditional music”, paper given at ESRC Research Seminar in European Ethnology, University of Ulster (Belfast Campus).

2002 04 12 “The Peeler and the Goat ‚ identity, music and classicisation” - Paper at British Forum for Ethnomusicology conference, Edinburgh University.

2002 03 12 “From Crossroads to Concert hall - The classicisation of Irish Traditional music” - paper in series “Public Lectures in Irish Studies” given at NUI, Galway‚ s Centre for Irish Studies.

2001 06 22-23 - Gucci-Paddy - Traditional Music As Fashion Accessory For The New Century, paper at Understanding Tradition: A Multidisciplinary Exploration conference - Limerick.

2001 05 Families In Traditional Music Transmission, paper to Fonn (Galway School of Music) Summer School.

2001 03‚ Guest lecture Traditional Irish Music And Performance to Newfoundland Irish Association, at St. John‚ s, Newfoundland, March 18.

2001 03 14 Heads up! The Traditional music revival and its location in the notion of - Irish National identity, Paper at NYU Grian conference, New York University.

2000 07‚ "From Celtic Twilight to Celtic Tiger in hundred years - the creation and flourishing of Irish Traditional music. American Conference of Irish Studies, Limerick; also at Milwaukee Irish Festival cultural program.

2000 07 - From Celtic Twilight To Celtic Tiger‚ A Progress of Irish Music‚ guest lecture to Slieveardagh Historical Society, Killenaul, Co. Tipperary.

2000 02 19 - The Invention And Reinvention If Irish Traditional Music, Paper to Cultures in Transition conference, Dublin City University.

1999 07 29 - Traditional Music and Millennium Ireland, guest lecture to The Ireland Institute, Galway University.

1998 01 Never Mind The Message - Give The Courier Champagne, guest lecture to University College Cork Traditional Music Society.

1997 11 22 Gucci-Paddy Points The 'Purist' Finger - Myth And Invention In Irish Traditional Music, Guest lecture to William Kennedy Piping Festival, Armagh.

1997 08 - 12-14 The New Commercial Life Of Irish Traditional Music; - Irish Traditional Music; Classical Art Or D I Y Kultur?, "Traditional" Music - As The Mirror Of Popular Irish Politics.- guest lecture series - at Milwaukee Irish Festival summer School.

1997 05 31 Traditional" Music - As The Mirror Of Popular Irish Politics, guest lecture at Leixlip Salmon Festival, Co. Kildare.

1997 04 Copyright, The Publican and The Collectors, guest presentation to Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) Colmcille Symposium, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.

1996 07 10 - "Traditional" music - as the mirror of popular Irish politics. Guest lecture to Douglas Hyde Summer School, Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon.

1996 07 16 Irish Traditional Music - Classical Art Or D I Y Kultur? - Guest lecture to south Sligo summer School, Tubbercurry.

1996 06 24 - Traditional Music And The Broad Black Brimmer - Political Identity In Ireland’s Music, guest lecture to Merriman Summer School, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, June 24, 1996.

1996 05 02 Irish Traditional Music - Classical Art Or D I Y Kultur? Guest lecture to Ballycastle Northern Lights Festal, Co. Antrim.

1995 11 The Migrant, The Tourist The Voyeur, The Leprechaun, .paper for Blas - The Local Accent, conference by Cumann Cheoil Tíre Éireann, and Irish World Music Centre, Limerick University.

1995 0909 - Music And Dance Back At The Crossroads, guest lecture at Cork Folk Festival, Triskel Arts Centre.

1995 08 10 Music And Dance Back At The Crossroads, guest paper at Patrick Mc Gill Summer School, Glenties, co. Donegal.

1995 05 The Scottish ingredient in Irish Traditional Music, Guest lecture to Belfast Arts Society, Belfast.

1995 03 "Traditional" Music - A New Genre, The Mirror Of Popular Politics, guest lecture to NUI Maynooth Anthropology Society, march 11, 1995.

1995 02 "Traditional" Music as the Mirror of Popular Irish Politics, guest lecture to Fethard Historical Society, Co. Tipperary.

1994 10 What’s the news, What’s the news? Ballads as Communication, guest lecture to Forkhill Traditional Singing Festival, Co. Armagh

1994 - 07 05 - The Mist Covered Mountain ‚ Scottishness In Irish Traditional Music, guest lecture to Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare.

1994 05 - Satirical song as a meter of historical - political life in Ireland, ASLS Ballad Conference, Aberdeen, Scotland.

1993 Contemporary And Changing Ireland Viewed Through The Satirical Song. Eight-city lecture tour for - Irish American Cultural Institute, - Minneapolis, USA.

1992 04 Protestant Perceptions of Irish Traditional Music, - paper to British Society - for Ethnomusicology conference, London.

1990 10 Panelist in - Traditional Music - Whose Music? - Protestant and Catholic Identities within Traditional Music; conference, - Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.