Peggy Hinsman's Blog

When I first heard this tune at a session in Eugene, I loved it and had to learn it.  But before doing so, I did a little digging about its history and found I had an even more important reason for learning it  I grew up in the suburban area of Pittsburgh, PA, (Pleasant Hills) […]

Here is a tune sung by Tonn Nua in Scots Gaelic. The title, Gradh Geal mo Chridhe, means “Dear Love of My Heart.” It also goes by the title of An Erskay Love Lilt. 09-gradh-geal-mo-chridhe.mp3 Share

Here is a slide show that combines photographs of members of Tonn Nua with Irish art and photographs of Ireland. The tune is called “Eye of the Wind” written by Ansel Dow, the fiddler for Tonn Nua, when he was 11 years old. tonnnua.mov Share

If you’ve never listened to Clare FM’s Traditional Irish music shows, go to http://www.clarefm.ie/, click on Trad Archive and you can either listen to the past week’s shows by streaming or downloading the MP3 files. I’ve really enjoyed listening to these and recently found a jig medley that I’m going to learn: Behind the Bush […]

Thanks to everyone who attended, volunteered, supported and/or participated in the 4th Annual Eugene Irish Cultural Festival. Please give us your feedback on how to improve for next year by e-mailing Peggy Hinsman at phinsman @ gmail.com. Thanks! Share

Here is a slide show of a trip I took to Ireland for my 40th birthday with three other musicians (many thanks to my husband Mark for this wonderful gift). We landed in Limerick, drove to County Cavan and stayed one night, then drove to Galway and stayed almost a week, then went to Ennis, […]

The workshops this year at the Eugene Irish Cultural Festival. March 3rd at Sheldon High School, will be led by world class musicians who are masters of Irish tradition music. Here are the descriptions: Irish Flute and Tin Whistle Workshop (3:00 – 4:30 pm) Catherine McEvoy, from Co. Meath, has been a senior flute teacher […]

Tonn Nua “Tonn Nua,” pronounced toon NOO-uh, means “new wave” in Irish (actually, to be grammatically correct it should be An Tonn Nua). This name was chosen for this group of teenage musicians because they’re part of the next generation (wave) of traditional Irish musicians. All five live in the foothills of the Southern Willamette […]

Eugene Irish Cultural Festival, March 3rd, 2007 Daytime: Sheldon High School 10:30 AM – 5:30 PM Evening Concert: UO Beall Concert Hall Doors open at 7PM, Concert starts at 8PM This will be one of our finest Eugene Irish Cultural Festivals yet – you won’t want to miss it. We have world class masters of […]