How a marching band from Glasgow shocked the Irish music world

If you want to know what the Fleadh looks like think of the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe condensed into one week of music, dancing and recitals. Fleadh in the old Gaelic means a festive occasion or banquet. The town of Wexford in South East Ireland has a population of 22,000. In the week when it hosted the Fleadh, it’s estimated that another 600,000 had moved through its streets.   

Those towns and villages chosen to host the Fleadh spend two years preparing for the event. So too do the tens of thousands of musicians and marchers in Ireland’s 32 counties for whom the Fleadh is the ultimate expression and celebration of their culture and identity.  

Many of the songs - and the language in which they were originally written - were forbidden in public during several centuries of British repression. And so the Fleadh has also come to represent the triumph of national identity over an aggressive foreign occupier.  

Read More from Kevin McKenna: 

• Kevin McKenna: A dog's view on those so-called dog-friendly restaurants

• I'm sick of egomaniacal Twitter users declaring their departure

• Kevin McKenna: Inside Loch Lomond's battle to keep Flamingo Land away

At a small homecoming party last Friday night, some of the band gathered to toast their success and to reflect on what it means to Scotland’s Irish communities. 

“Authentic expressions of Irish culture and identity are still problematic in Scotland,” said Roisin Coll who, along with her husband and two daughters, are members of St Roch’s. They are also accomplished musicians in their own right. “The band has no religious or political overtures, it’s simply a joyful expression of our old family and community traditions which the Irish community in Scotland have always sought to nurture. Unfortunately, marching bands have thorny connotations in the West of Scotland.  

“And whereas we rightly celebrate the culture of our Italian, Chinese, South East Asia and Middle Eastern communities and their contribution to modern Scotland we’re a little more hesitant about the multi-generational Irish who have settled here. Yet, there are dozens of traditional Irish cultural organisations, encompassing four generations, who are active throughout West central Scotland, Edinburgh and Dundee. Perhaps our success will encourage them to put their heads above the parapet a bit more.”   

At the Wexford Fleadh the band carried the Scottish flag, the Glasgow Feis flag, the Irish tricolour and the St Roch’s flag. Each of them is symbolic of what this band represents.   

In a couple of the places where they’d held practice sessions they were told not to bring any flags. In 21st century Scotland there are still some influential people who just don’t like the look of the Irish tricolour in public. 

“There’s a sense that we can’t really celebrate our Irish culture and heritage and that we must keep it quiet or within our own communities,” said Colette Campbell. 

The band’s organiser and driving force is Roisin Anne Hughes. She’s also one of the UK’s most accomplished fiddle players and an individual all-Ireland winner. She decided to put the marching band together after the renowned St Roch’s Ceili band opted to take a break from competing this year. 

Roisin Anne Hughes with the trophy (Image: Robert Perry)

You’ll know the St Roch’s Ceili band. They’ve done the honours at hundreds of Scottish/Irish wedding receptions and charity fundraisers over the last five decades. During this time, under the tutelage of their founder Frank McArdle, their musicians have lifted some of the individual music prizes at the Fleadh and in traditional music competitions across the world.

Several of them are members of the marching band, the intricacies of which go well beyond playing and marching in formation. The musicianship and the choreography must dovetail during a display in which the slightest misstep or mistimed baton lift is penalised.  

Ms Hughes said: “The sheer joy of us walking down the main street in Wexford without an edge; without protest with an all-welcome attitude was such a joy. Of course, this is a celebration of Irish culture and music, but everyone from any background is included. In years gone by people in Ireland weren’t allowed to play this music or express this culture. It’s about family, community and our shared heritage.”  

The St Roch’s musicians and marchers comprise husbands and wives; mothers and their children; brothers and sisters. Of the 41 who represented Scotland in Wexford, the oldest was 65 and the youngest was 16. Bands from Australia, Japan, Dubai and the US also compete for the same reasons as St Roch’s.   

“It was a major challenge just to bring this band together,” said Ms Hughes. “We all work or study and only started talking about it in January and practicing in March. We had two visits from Karl Docherty, an experienced instructor from Donegal, who drilled us as far as he could. After that though, we were left to our own devices.” 

Another band member, Niamh McLaughlin said: “We knew we could do well at the music: after all, many of us are competition winners in individual events, but as for marching, we didn’t have a clue.”

The competition is intense. In Ireland, the local marching band is the pride of every town and village. “The music competitions are characterised by friendly rivalry,” said Ciaran Sharkey, but when you go into marching band territory it can get quite cut-throat and tribal. In Ireland, you’re born into these bands and told that they represent the pride of the community.”  

Roisin Anne Hughes didn’t dare hope that St Roch’s would win. “We’ve been cramming in six hours a week for the last four months. We were also first up in Wexford, but we knew we’d done well and that our rivals couldn’t match our musical flair. It was just the marching steps and turns we had to worry about. But we knew we had a wee chance.” 

The seasoned competitors and their communities across Ireland are still, it seems, coming to terms with one of their most cultural treasures residing in Scotland for the next year at least. When word got round that the Scots had only been practising for a matter of months there was a sense of stunned wonder. As they all relate their anecdotes from a magical journey there’s a phone message. It’s come from a band member’s relative in Donegal: “You’ve caused quite a stir across Ireland,” it says.

Within minutes of claiming the trophy, all 41 members of the St Roch’s band were thrust onto national television. “So many people across Ireland have reacted with surprise,” said Mary Hunter. “How could we just turn up out of the blue and play like that? We were told that we had produced the best newcomer performances ever seen at the Fleadh.”  

St Roch’s draws its strength from the families and communities where Irish culture and music is kept alive. The tutors are all volunteers and among the world’s best in their fields. Most of those raised in the St Roch’s tradition give something back by tutoring the next generation. 

St Roch's Marching Band (Image: Robert Perry)

None of it might have happened were it not for the genius and commitment of Frank McArdle: teacher, mentor and founder of St Roch’s Ceili Band. Last year, he was given an ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award in the Oscars of traditional music in recognition of his work fostering Irish music and culture in Scotland.

He has also been inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame where his commendation reads: “Since 1978, Frank McArdle, a maths teacher at Roch’s Secondary School in Glasgow’s Royston district, has taught and inspired generations of young musicians through evening classes and the school’s now legendary ceili band.  

“Many of them have gone on to enjoy careers in traditional music, some attaining champion status, with notable names including fiddler John McCusker and accordionists Gerry Conlon and Paddy Callaghan. In the words of a grateful former pupil, champion accordionist Conlon, ‘Frank has given many the gift of music’.” 

It remains to be seen if the Scottish Parliament will recognise the achievement and work of St Roch’s in any significant way beyond a modest mention during Holyrood business this week. No one in Scotland’s Irish community is holding their breath.