Seamus Grant Weekend of Traditional Music and Culture

Seamus Grant Weekend

Seamus Grant Weekend of Traditional Music and Culture: 9th – 11th October 2020, Clonmany. A weekend celebrating our heritage, music, genealogy and culture and is dedicated to the memory of one of our greatest musicians and gentlemen, Seamus Grant of Clonmany.

the festival aims to

• To pay due respect to a gentleman who added immeasurably to the music and culture of our parish.
• To encourage like-minded people to work with us, to preserve, promote and pass on the unique culture and music of our place and people.
• To welcome friends, guests and visitors to join with us in our enjoyment of the weekend’s events.

Seamus Grant

Seamus was born in the neighbouring townland of Cloughfin, Clonmany in 1934 to Mary Ann Grant and Willie Grant, both talented musicians themselves. Seamus had that same natural gift for music passed to him by his parents. He learned also, from the playing of his uncle, Willie Joe Grant and from a neighbour, “White” Dan Doherty who was later to become his father in law. White Dan was a fiddler, singer and dancer and a great source of tunes, many learned during harvest time in Scotland. As a young boy White Dan often assisted in taking the blind fiddler Paddy Kelly to the many local house dances. A noted fiddler of his day, Paddy was much in demand until his death in the 1920s.