Please introduce yourself to the Community. Share a little about your musical journey. You are most welcome here !

Had a lovely chat with Steven earlier. He is so encouraging and will mention us to the Pro Gig Academy! A big congratulations to Finbar Horgan on winning this quarter's Skool Games in the Music category. Well deserved ! He has started something great !! Looking forward to meeting a few others later in the week just to share ideas about the community and what you would like it to be !

Can you remember your ‘Sliding Door’ moment….that moment that changes the trajectory of your life ? The moment that you can look back and know…this changed everything… It was Italia 90… The World Cup and Ireland had qualified. I had emigrated from Ireland in 1989 and I was working in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. I had just got my first job, teaching in a school there. I was desperate to see the football and had to go to The Irish Centre. It was the only place that was showing the Ireland games live. There, in a ‘quiet’ corner, after the Italy game, ( we lost 1-0) a traditional Irish music session started up. My heart soared. I bought a bodhrán ( drum) the following day and became a regular ! Within a few weeks I had started to bring my guitar to the sessions. Simple stuff at first but I began to listen to the iconic recordings and practiced like a man possessed ! I developed a pretty good ear ! A few of us started a ballad group…like The Dubliners…but I was always drawn more to the dance music. By 1992, I decided I had to move back to Ireland. I bought a Lowden s7, ( lived on beans and toast for 10 weeks ) I immersed myself in the traditional Irish music scene. I was fortunate to play with some of the most amazing musicians. We did radio and TV, toured in Europe, played in The National Folk Orchestra…. But that was all part time. I was teaching full time and that became my focus. I met a wonderful, kind woman who became my wife, we built a house and have raised three really great kids. I have been working in a local High School for 30 years. I kept going to sessions, festivals and fleadhs and helped my friend Ned with his In Tune for Life Orchestra…a 60 piece traditional Irish music band for young people. My daughter and I played with them for 10 years. We fundraised over €400,000 for local charities. We played in concert halls all over the country and for our President. In 2020 Ned was awarded a Gradam Ceoil ( traditional Irish music grammy) for his contribution to Irish music.