Comhaltas is a cultural movement concerned with the promotion and preservation of the music, dance and language of Ireland. As the world grows more complex, it seems to us more important than ever that we take a strong stand in maintaining a living folk
Comhaltas is a cultural movement concerned with the promotion and preservation of the music, dance and language of Ireland. As the world grows more complex, it seems to us more important than ever that we take a strong stand in maintaining a living folk tradition.
Our Bunreacht (Constitution) defines the aims and objectives of our movement as follows:
- To promote Irish Traditional Music in all its forms;
- To restore the playing of the Harp and Uilleann Pipes in the National life of Ireland;
- To promote Irish Traditional Dancing;
- To foster and promote Traditional singing in both Irish and English;
- To foster and promote the Irish language at all times;
- To create a closer bond among all lovers of Irish music;
- To co-operate with all bodies working for the restoration or Irish Culture;
- To establish Branches throughout the country and abroad to achieve the foregoing aims and objects.
These goals are not the work of a day to accomplish, or even a lifetime. Nor are they the work of a person or handful of people. It is our thousands of volunteers and teachers who live these goals day by day, week by week and year by year. To them we owe an enormous debt of gratitude.
Irish traditional culture has become more popular in recent years, and the Uilleann Pipes and Harp no longer appear to be on the verge of extinction. We have a healthy network of Branches, and we maintain close links with other guardians of Irish culture. To the extent that these goals have been accomplished over the years, we extend a very hearty thanks to the volunteers, teachers and leaders both within and outside the movement who have made these successes possible. However, knowing the magnitude of our task, we pledge to keep these goals foremost in our minds as we march into the uncharted territory of the 21st century.
The mission statement embodied in the new Comhaltas Development Programme summarises our ambitions for the future as follows:Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the largest group involved in the
preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. We’re a non-profit
cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world, and as you
can read in our history we’ve been working for the cause of Irish music since the middle of the last
century (1951 to be precise). Our efforts continue with increasing zeal as the
movement launches itself into the 21st century.
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What We Do
Because we’re so many different things to different people, it can be hard to
keep track of the true scope of our activities! You might have been involved
with a Comhaltas event and not even known it.
If you’re a student of Irish music, you might know about the music, dance and
language classes that we teach through our network of branches. If you’re interested in learning the
music, you might want to find which one of our 1,000 weekly classes is
closest to you.
For musicians who like to play socially, you might be interested in finding a
local Comhaltas music session. And if you’re not sure, how about just going
along to listen?
Audiences around the world have seen our touring groups bringing Irish music, dance and
storytelling on annual tours.
We also run the definitive system of competitions for Irish music, called the
“Fleadh Cheoil” (literally “feast of music”).
Musicians compete in a series of qualifying rounds, culminating in the annual
All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
We’ve collected an archive of thousands of hours of Irish music recordings, a
large print library and a growing collection of videos. You can get a sample of
some of this material in the Music section of our website.
In an effort to promote the music of Ireland, we publish recordings, books and tutorials of Irish traditional music.
You might want to take a listen over in our shop.
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Where We Are
We’re an international movement with our headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. You
would be more than welcome to stop by for a visit to our home base, Cultúrlan