The Farmer’s Kitchen Hotel - the park & ride is out by the hotel somewhere.
I see joe mcquillan was adjudicating all the competitions this year. Hardly a nordie mentioned, us that kept the flame alive when the southerners were going buck mad for dire straits and torville and dean.
Dixies is a kip.
This is some load of shite
The music is far better in the marquees in the pubs than the trad stuff being televised. An auld gang of lads in the mould of the Wolfe Tones had the Crown Bar hopping last night.
The greatest event to happen to our beautiful town since 1996. I hope we get another crack at it sooner than later, because it looks like we quite obviously can host a big event with ease. Didn’t see any trouble over the days i was at it. Wexford town is not in any way a traditional music town, but it was outstanding to see Paddy Berry get the recognition he deserves. And of course to the likes of John Roche who kept the flag flying high with Comoltas. We as a town for the majority didn’t know anything about Fleadh’s before last year, that’s why it was even busier again this year. Lads were taking the week off and that this year. More so for me was seeing the likes of great singers from the town like Mocha Moloney, Ruben Buggy and of course Borderline to showcase to a national audience. Sickened not to see Pj Sinnott and the boys from Green Road, but sure hopefully they get back on the road again.
I’ll go to Belfast next year. I’m converted. I’ll camp in a gaa club hopefully. I’m sure it’ll go well. But don’t think it’ll be half as successful as dear old Wexford town.
I apologise I wasn’t any help the last few days. Started a new job in Maynooth and getting back home to the Fleadh of course I was up the walls.
Ohh ahh up the Fleadh sahn ![]()
There were some lovely hoax rumours about their whereabouts in various pubs yesterday. That then continued into today when reports of them stopping into pubs on their way home circulated. Publicans must’ve been loving it.
Jesus, Daniel one scale O Donnell has arrived. TG4s coverage in the main has been excellent, but shite like wee Daniels mawkish muck has no place in the Fleadh
You described Wexford the only way you can, fantastically well, and beautiful.
I’ll only pull ya up on two rhings.
Sharkey’s has a toilet alright, but for the obvious reasons didn’t open it for the week that’s in it.
Dixies is stinking. Needs a clean up IMO.
But the rest
hope ya got to enjoy the time down here.
Think I know who you’re on about. They were playing there at the Pikeman statue today, very good.
I don’t think there’s a person in Ireland who doesn’t have a soft spot for Wexford.
My oul’ fella grew up in Gardiner Place near Croke Park. The way the people going to matches would go. I think the 1954 All-Ireland between Cork and Wexford was his first to attend. Wexford were always his team in the hurling from then on given Dublin weren’t much good, usually anyway. It was a great ritual in the late 1980s to attend the Leinster hurling semi-final double bill hoping Wexford would beat Kilkenny but they’d usually lose. The 1996 Leinster hurling final was one of the great Irish summer days.
Wexford evokes certain things. It evokes sun, sea, sand and strawberries. Ice cream. Roy of the Rovers bars. Minerals. Tayto. Chips. Happy things. Even the name Wexford, it’s the only county that has an x in its name, the way you say it is onomatopeic, like a summer breeze. Wexxxx-f’rd. It evokes that Heathers song Remember When that evokes summer. Every time I’ve been to Wexford either the town or the county the sun has shone.
It’s the only county that has purple in its colours. Purple - colourful, vivacious, daring. And Gold. A rich, summery mixture.
It doesn’t matter what way you go to Wexford, it’s exciting. The Dublin-Wexford drive is a beauty. The rail journey is a piece of heaven. Sugar loaves, tunnels, sea, sand, cliffs, Bay of Naples type views, then into the Canadian Rockies, rolling hills, Mount Leinster off in the distance, and finally you see the Slaney dramatically widen into a tidal estuary. If you come from the west you travel over that majestic new bridge over the Barrow. If you come from the north east you come in over the bridge over the harbour. All ways in are great.
Wexford has a quiet, unassuming but fierce sense of itself.
It was obvious when it was announced as venue for the Fleadh that Wexford would prove a smash hit venue. The Fleadh will not be long in returning I’d say.
One thing Wexford proved is that surface car parks have the potential to be re-used in life affirming ways.
What you said about Dixie’s was exactly why I liked it. There was one oul’ fella in the corner with a hat and glasses and a beard singing the Mountains Of Mourne. He was like a caricature eccentric. Brilliant.
Was Wexford a garrison town? Would there be a lot of hard chaw soccer types with the English squadie heads?
In 1798 we were own republic for a month. Enniscorthy was the last place to surrender in 1916, Wexford town was under Lord French heavily though so couldn’t do much.
Nice touch by Doireann to use the correct Irish phrasing as regards when the Fleadh was in Derry. “It was so exciting to get the Fleadh up to Derry a couple of years ago.” That was 2013, which is indeed a couple of years ago.
Parked in at Peter’s college in the end. Breezed in and out. Traffic greatly exaggerated. Great venue for the fleadh lovely day out.
Where will the Belfast fleadh be on? Hardly city centre to mix with the proddies…
Fantastically played
didn’t even know the Peter’s were doing parking. How much was it? The Joseph’s down the road was a tenner.
Without being pessimistic but would there be concern that the Fleadh will see some hassle in Belfast next year? I can’t imagine the lovely people of the Shankhill Road and Sandy Row are going stay idle whilst the natives have a good time celebrating their culture.
You’d imagine security will be increased tenfold compared to a normal Fleadh.
It will definitely be city centre, Cathedral Quarter and Titanic Quarter (we run out of quarters after that, we don’t have Limericks opulence). As is only right too, putting it into West Belfast ‘politicises’ and ‘ghettoises’ it in a way the Fleadh should not be.
No. The DUP Belfast mayor was in Wexford yesterday raving about the Fleadh, one of the most bitter commentators up here had his son down who won some competition for the pipes in the Fleadh. I expect there will be some local accordion and flute bands accommodated in some way next year, they will only add to things. I’d be confident next year will see the largest numbers yet at a Fleadh.
TFK is top drawer for knowledge on French holiday camps and Venice, but I detect a serious gap in Belfast knowledge. Next years Fleadh can start to correct that.
Any clubs advertising camps yet? I’d happily go up. I could imagine it’ll be good craic, with the lads from Scotland and that be mad for coming to it being so close.
Don’t think anything has been confirmed yet but I would expect it all to be well run, there is a big arts and music scene in Belfast well able to organise all this stuff. Feile finished up here yesterday - Nolan had a segment this morning on his radio show about dog owners not picking up shit, that tells you how successfully the festival went this year.




