By Paul Keating

FOR 34 years Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann has produced a show to tour North America that features traditional music, song, stepdancing and humor with the intended purpose of tightening the bonds that exist between the old and new world.

Last year the tour went to the southern U.S. states, but it returns to the bulwark CCE territory in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. and major Canadian cities like Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. There are 17 performers who unlike past years have had a chance to tour both Ireland and Great Britain as an ensemble in the past year. They received a warm response from the Comhaltas audiences they attracted in those CCE provinces.

The tour is led by seasoned performers Nora Butler, the singer from Tipperary who was a big influence on Deirdre Scanlon of Solas while a popular favorite from earlier tours; Vincent Jordan, the piano accordion player from that prolific Irish music community in Birmingham; and Siobhan Ni Chonarain, the Limerick flute player who has produced the show in recent years for CCE.

Appearing with them are Geraldine O’Callaghan (Cork) and Ronan Greene (Galway) on fiddle, Sabina McCague (Monaghan) on harp, Padraig King (Limerick) on melodeon, Eimear Buckley (Cork) on concertina, Seana Agnew (Antrim) on flute, Damien Mullane (London) on accordion, Padraig McGovern (Leitrim) on uilleann pipes, Daire McGeown (Armagh) on banjo, Donie Lyons (Limerick) vocalist and four step dancers from London: Sarah and Kay Flannery, Patricia Ward and Carly Adams.

The tour gets underway in Mineola, Long Island on Tuesday, October 10 at 8 p.m. with the Mulligan Quinn Branch serving as the welcoming host at their Irish American Center base (297 Willis Avenue). Chairman Pat Kearney is handling the tickets (631-698-3305).

On Wednesday, October 11 they travel a short road up to Pearl River, New York for a concert at the Pearl River High School at 7:30 p.m. (275 East Central Avenue). Call 845-735-1204. On Friday the 13th Hamden, Connecticut is the venue with a 7:30 p.m. curtain rising at the Hamden High School Auditorium. Call 203-281-3563. On the 14th they will be at Waltham High School in Massachusetts at 8 p.m. (781-899-0911).