About us
Brú na Sí
Brú na Sí is the new, purpose built home for the Youghal branch and their performing groups Ceolta Sí, Lár na Cruinne and Draíocht an Oileáin. It hosts regular classes, workshops, sessions and performances.
Brú na Sí is located near Youghal GAA field on Magniers Hill with an entrance from Cork Hill through Blackwater Heights. It is a historic site, situated near the archaeological remains of an old barracks overlooking the mouth of the Blackwater River.
The performance hall is complete with stage and a large open fire. On the walls are mementos of times past and souvenirs from more recent tours by the performing groups. The performance hall includes audio-visual technology including modern theatre sound and lighting and computer projection.
The branch is in the process of developing an archive of music, song, dance and local lore.
Brú na Sí is also used by other groups in the community. It is a space for all people to enjoy Ireland’s traditional arts.
History
The branch was founded officially in 1983 but it had been there as a branch in 1982 and ‘81. A number of people in the area interested in traditional music, decided that it would be nice to set a branch up in the area. At the same time in West Waterford there was a branch started in Ballyduff and there was another one started called Craobh Naomh Pádraig which has now changed its name to Craobh Na Comaraigh. Craobh Eochaille were kind of a sister branch. There was a little movement of people interested in traditional music talking together and thinking that it was nice to set this organisation up. And so it did.
There were three people turned up to the first meeting in the old Eagle Cross, which was a derelict building at the time and three people turned out and they stuck with it. They were three who were interested in music: Dónal Brookes is from Clare, from Ennis in Clare, he was playing music himself; Mary Daly who comes from County Offaly, who was one of the leading traditional players in the area and who plays an awful lot in County Waterford; and Nicholas Larkin who is from Galway, steeped in tradition as well and was very involved in Comhaltas in England when he was there. So, after that they had another meeting and gradually they targeted people who could play a few tunes, they were people in the area playing tunes on all sorts of bastard instruments different keys and that, so each of them had their individual style and weren’t great at playing in a group.
Early on, set dancing classes were organised by the branch. Later tin whistle classes were taught by two nuns in the presentation convent. At the time Micheál Ó Lochlainn was chairman of Cork County Board and now he was very helpful insofar as one phonecall and he’d be down and things like that. At one of our meetings he encouraged us to get involved in a Marching Band. Now it became a shop window for us insofar as we were able to take music out onto the street for St. Patricks Day, every festival wanted us and things like that. Gradually the branch developed grúpaí cheoil. Youghal was a tourist town, and there was an ideal performance opportunity there and the tourist office used to get onto us to know was there a traditional session going on gradually we were aware of that and Ceolta Sí started.
Ceolta Sí derives its name from the song Eochail. Eochail is the Irish language name for Youghal. The name comes from the word for a yew tree or yew wood which would have existed in the area in ancient times. In the song, a man is walking one Sunday to Youghal and hears beautiful music. He comments that the music of the area was sweeter than the fairy music. The branch themselves decided it was an ideal name using a bit of local history and a local song.
Then, throughout the years we were finding it very difficult in Youghal community, there wasn’t a place for young people and there still isn’t a youth centre in the town and it became very difficult to find a space. You’d get a space for six months and then you’d have to change again, so we decided we’d build Brú na Sí and we started that campaign. Now, at the time, local development agencies have set up over the last ten years and we now know that community groups are part funded by government and low and behold that’s happening. In being part funded by government you have to raise part finances locally, which we call match funding and we decided we would intensify activities around summer performances, we saw that opportunity. The summer shows have been an economic engine for the building of Brú na Sí together with just one other fundraiser and that was a hundred euros draw and we did raise our match funding so thankfully that’s it, we’ve reached our goal on that.
So now we welcome you all to Brú na Sí to experience the rich and vibrant traditions now in Youghal.
