2026 Ireland Trip- Fleadh

This years award was a spectacular event with about twenty family and friends attending the ceremony and dinner on Wednesday August 5th. The concert was extraordinary and a recording is being prepared, more details to follow on that.

Cathal played along with his brother Stephen, nephew Stevie, and lifelong friends Brian McGrath and Maurice Dunne to create a well oiled performance that definitely showed the quality of their talents. It was evident that they have enjoyed playing together for years.

Belfast was a vibrant and fun city. The music events were numerous and the people were very friendly. It was the largest Fleadh ever, with over 1.6 million people attending the week long festivities.

Comhaltas surprised us with an award medallion recognizing our families’ contribution to the success of the Fleadh over the years. These special medallions were presented to the descendants’ of Michael Flanagan who were present at the concert. These limited 75th-anniversary award medallions were presented at 2026 milestone events, including the Annual Congress, the All-Britain Fleadh, and Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Belfast. It certainly was an honor to be recognized for our contributions to keep Irish traditional music alive.

Here are some of photos we wanted to share. We are aleady thinking about next year and a field trip to Stephen Hayden’s pub just outside of Belfast is planned for a fun evening with these muscians. We hope you will join us next year! Let’s make 2027 even bigger!