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TOBERCURRY |
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The district around TOBERCURRY (also spelt Tubbercurry), fifteen
miles southwest of Collooney - and indeed south Sligo in general - has a
reputation for traditional music: Michael Coleman , the greatest of
Irish fiddle players, came from here, and it's also where The Chieftains
have their roots. Tobercurry itself is a spruce market town, with its
most scenic attraction being the lovely Lough Talt , around four miles
away. Although the town is usually devoid of tourists, tourist
information is available in Killoran's Traditional Restaurant , Teeling
Street - don't miss out on their famous fresh salmon from the River Moy
(tel 071/85111). During the summer months Killoran's puts on Irish
nights of music and dance. The South Sligo Summer School is held in the
town during the second week of July, featuring short courses in music
and Irish dancing (tel 071/85010). B&B is available at The Ox Mountain
Lodge , Teeling St (tel 071/85007; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), which is
pleasant and good-value, and also has a café attached (closes 6pm).
Cawley's hotel in Emmet Street (tel 071/85025; £55-70/¬69.84-88.88) is a
more formal alternative.
Follow the R294 ten miles or so southeast and you'll reach GURTEEN ,
once another thriving centre for traditional music, now a place with
something of the atmosphere of a ghost town. The new Michael Coleman
Heritage Centre , Ceolaras Coleman (June-Sept daily 10am-5pm; Oct-May
Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; tel 071/82599, colemanirishmusic.com ) seeks to
redress this and promotes the continuation of the living music tradition
with evening classes and weekend workshops and puts on shows of
traditional music and dance (weekly from April to Oct). The centre also
houses a theatre and an audiovisual display on the life of Michael
Coleman and a series of touch-screen interactives with detailed
information on traditional music, instruments and their manufacture. A
few miles west of Gurteen a further group of buildings includes a
replica of the fiddler's home and an archive of south Sligo music.
Gurteen is also the focus for the Coleman Traditional Festival at the
beginning of September, and there are a couple of pubs that are likely
to have music at other times: Teach Murray has a session on Mondays;
Róisin Dubh has spontaneous music-making throughout the year.
Lough Gara , tucked away in the southernmost pocket of the county, is
not as appealing as the map suggests it might be, having a very
undramatic surrounding shoreline. Moygara Castle , signposted near the
lake, is similarly anticlimactic, with just one of its original four
towers left intact.
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