Tara has been playing Irish music since the age of 11, competing in in Fleadhanna and Slogadh in solo, duet, trio competitions and as member of the “Naomh Eoin” Ceili Band. As a teenager she taught with Gus Tierney in several locations in Co. Clare. Since leaving Ireland, Tara has continued playing and teaching the accordion in Europe and the US. She is a regular musician at the branch sessions and set dancing events
Tara Lynch – CCÉ Branch Chairperson
Sheila Falls – Fiddle
Sheila Falls is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and a three-time North American Irish Fiddle Champion. She captured the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship at the age of 15. Sheila is in demand as a performer, educator and recording artist. She was chosen by Larry Reynolds to teach for the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann Music School in Boston at its inception. She has numerous recordings to her credit including Tommy Makem’s “Ireland” and a documentary on the Boston-based fiddle group, “Childsplay,” which was aired on PBS. Sheila released a solo album titled “All in the Timing.” She has recordings in the Smithsonian Folk Life Collection and the Library of Congress. Her fiddle can be heard in the documentary, “The Mining Wars,” which aired on PBS’s “An American Experience.” More recently, Sheila has been touring with Irish folk singer, Karan Casey.
Sheila is assistant professor of music at Wheaton College since 1996 and director of the World Music Ensemble. She is a member of the music faculty and director of Gaelic Roots Music, Song, Dance, Workshop and Lecture Series at Boston College.
Jaimee Leigh Joroff – Harp
Jaimee performs across New England at private and public events, including for government officials, Diplomats, and The Irish Network of Boston. Her recordings include albums with the Progressive Rock Band Telergy. She teaches individual and group lessons for beginning and intermediate players of all ages, and is a regular instructor at the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Harp Retreat. Her instruction is tailored to each student’s needs and preferences, including options to learn by ear or from the notated page. Classes are taught in a relaxed, no-pressure manner focusing on the joy and history of the music.
She is excited to participate in the Boston CCE Music School having spent her early years as a Comhaltas member and benefiting from the support and encouragement of Larry Reynolds.
Patrick Hutchinson – Uilleann Pipes
Patrick was born in Canada and grew up in Liverpool where he had his first lessons on the tin whistle. A student of Toronto piper Chris Langan, he has been playing the uilleann pipes for over 25 years. He contributed an analysis of Chris Langan’s piping style to Move Your Fingers: the Life and Music of Chris Langan, by Paul Cranford and David Papazian. Patrick is a two-time champion of the Fleadh Cheoil na Eireann in slow airs on the uilleann pipes. He is well known for his unique and tasteful tune settings, and for ferreting out unusual tunes.
Máirín Uí Chéide Keady – Irish Speaking and Singing
Máirín Uí Chéide Keady, (Irish singer and speaker) was born in Leitirmóir, the heart of the rural Connamara Gaeltacht. Máirín came from a long line of poets and singers. Her uncle Coilimín Seoige was her mentor; he had what seemed like thousands of songs and was a tough taskmaster and teacher. A purist, he insisted that her singing was as correct as possible; her phrasing and language had to be true to the words penned and passed down through generations. Her paternal grandfather Michael Kelly was also a great storyteller and had a trove of Irish and some English folksongs, learned while with the Irish Army. Mairin was also fortunate to have had a great Irish literature teacher, Séan Ó Gaora who encouraged her to sing most of the old poetry which she already knew as songs, versions different from what appeared in standardized textbook selections (For example, “An Droighnean Donn” The Brown Thorn Bush).
Mairin remembers winning her first prize at a Comhaltas Feis in Dublin at the age of 12. Séamus Mac Mathúna had come to her house to bring her to Dublin, to her first encounter with Séamus and Bríd De Brún, two of most well-known noble advocates and conservators of our authentic ancient culture, who continued to judge her in singing competitions over many years. Mairin has won the coveted Corn Ui Riada (Ó Riada Cup) the highest honor in Seanós Singing at the Oireactas na Gaeilge. Mairin was Inducted to The Hall of Fame of The Northeast Region of the North American Comhaltas Ceolteoirí Éireann. She has taught Irish language and singing for many years, to students world wide, maintaining the oral nature of the transmission of the culture as much as possible.
Eamon Sefton – Guitar, Banjo (4-string) / Mandolin
Eamon Sefton is a sought-after Celtic-style guitarist from the Boston area. His percussive rhythm and clever use of harmony have made him an ideal guitarist for many traditional musicians around Boston. He cultivated much of his talent at the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School, where he is now teaching guitar for the fourth year in a row. Later he spent several semesters at Berklee College of Music, where he greatly furthered his understanding of harmony and guitar technique. Most recently, Eamon has been performing with his bands Cat and the Moon and Fresh Haggis at places like Club Passim, the Beat Hotel, the Burren, and on WGBH’s A Celtic Sojourn .
Diane Healy – Bodhran
She enjoys helping beginning students get past their roadblocks, getting the most out of their drum, understanding the different tune types and what makes them unique. She will also help more experienced students figure out their style, and how to approach playing in sessions.
Florence Fahy – Concertina
Florence is a native of north Co. Clare’s Newquay, the center of an unusually rich tradition of concertina playing in Ireland. As musician and author Fintan Vallely points out, “Florence is among those gifted young players who are helping to sustain the older dialects of Clare music.” Her father, Martin Fahy is her biggest inspiration, being a great concertina player himself. Her playing is influenced by Chris Droney, Dympna O Sullivan, Tim Collins, Gearoid O hAllmhurain, and Michael O Raghailligh, to name a few.
Florence has been involved with Irish music and dance since the age of 8, competing in All-Ireland solo competitions and being a member of the “Inis Og” Ceili Band from Ennis. Florence has traveled extensively with groups like “The Lonely Stranded Band”, “Meitheal” and “Ceol Chiarrai” in Australia, The Middle East and Europe. At present, she lives and teaches in Beverly, with her husband Chris and 1 year old daughter Leah. She enjoys teaching and sharing her love for Irish music and the concertina music of Co. Clare.
Aoife Griffin – Fiddle, Whistle and Flute
Aoife Griffin hails from County Roscommon, a rural county in the west of Ireland and has been living in Boston since October of 2021. A graduate of the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at the University of Limerick, Aoife holds a first class honors BA in Irish Music Performance and the Irish Language ‘Gaeilge.’ Having moved to Boston in 2021 for an initial year long graduate visa, Aoife fell in love with the city. This led to a change in career paths and she deferred her masters in education and stayed full time in Boston to share her love of Irish culture and arts with the diaspora.
Aoife began playing traditional Irish music in primary school with the tin-whistle. At the age of 12 she decided to take up fiddle lessons and throughout her secondary school years recieved tuition under Lorraine Beirne, Paddy Ryan and Oisin Mac Diarmada before heading to the University of Limerick where her main first area tutor was Siobhan Peoples. Aoife’s love for performance came from performing in a number of groups and bands, primarily the West Coast Grupa Cheoil which is led by the wonderful Marie Walsh who inspired Aoife to pursue her love of teaching. Aoife can be found performing in many of Boston’s premier Irish music pubs and venues throughout the year! Aoife is a firm believer in the saying…”What’s for you, will never pass you by.”
Seamus Noonan – Flute
Seamus Noonan is a Boston area Irish traditional flute and concertina player. He learned music from his father Jimmy Noonan. Seamus was a 2014 Seán Ó’ Riada finalist. He has placed in several Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann competitions, including the 2023 and 2024 Senior flute competition in Mullingar and Wexford.