CELTIC THUNDER 'X' 2018 NORTH AMERICA TOUR
We are very excited to announce the forthcoming Celtic Thunder tour which kicks off on September 12th in Hartford, CT. The Celtic Thunder ‘X’ Tour is going to be one of our biggest ever tours covering an enormous 75 dates across the US and Canada.
The new show will be hitting the road to celebrate the launch of the Celtic Thunder “X” CD & DVD, all part of our 10 year anniversary celebrations which we are really looking forward to sharing with you.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND HAPPY EASTER
We wish all our fans a lovely peaceful St. Patrick's Day and Easter. We have some lovely Easter presents on offer this month which include some lovely rosary beads with holy water from Knock, some lovely crosses that can be admired in any room and holy water fonts for your hall when entering or leaving your home. There are lots of lovely items in the shop with lovely chocolates that we can all indulge in after Lent.
BTW, Very pleased to say the guys will be singing the US national anthem at the New York Knicks game in Madison Square Garden’s tomorrow on March 17th, St Patrick’s Day!
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MARCH IRISH RECIPES
This month, we have a recipe to make perfect porridge. Porridge is a great fibre content, it can help with digestion and is over all really good for you. There’s also a lovely Seville orange marmalade recipe and perfect colcannon. Colcannon is made up of potatoes and cabbage. Two ingredients that we use a lot of here in Ireland!
FANCLUB CORNER
Welcome to this month’s fan corner, I am very happy to say we are getting a fantastic response to the fan club corner and letters. Please keep the photos coming and we will do our very best to get as many as possible included each month….don’t forget if you have friends in the photos with you let me know their name so I can give them a mention as well.
I’m very glad to see Spring arriving I’m sure you are all the same and I know some of you have a lot tougher Winters then we do here in Ireland…actually, some fans have sent me photos of where they are living and the snow and if we got one third of it in Ireland the whole country would close down!!
AWARD WINNING DVD - ‘ECHOES: THE STORY’
Well done to Neil and Ryan who have just been awarded by the World Music and Independent Film Festival for ‘Best Original Soundtrack’ and ‘Best Music Documentary’ for their film Echoes: The Story which was released in March of 2017. “To have something so personal and dear to us recognized in this way is mind-blowing and a testament to a lot of hard work by some very special people to bring our songs and their stories to life” says Ryan.
$500 CELTIC THUNDER GIFT BASKET
Thank you to everyone to entered the Celtic Thunder $500 Gift Basket - Facebook Competition. The entries were outstanding and we received a great deal of feedback from everyone. Be sure to keep your eye out soon for another Facebook Competition soon. Now, for the moment everyone's been waiting for...the winner is Julie Ford from Bendigo, Victoria (AU). Congratulations to Julie and we hope you enjoy your Gift Basket.
RYAN AND MICHAEL IN UGANDA
Ryan, Michael and Sharon Browne were in Entebbe, Uganda to support the CBM Canada charity in February. Sharon, posted messages each day with photos and updates of the trip on the Celtic Thunder Facebook page. Read on to view the messages from the trip!
A LETTER FROM PATRICIA COLBERT
I have been a Celtic Thunder fan since their first show. I have always had a love for Irish music because of my father, whose parents were both children of Irish immigrants and I grew up on the music. I have never been able to see Celtic Thunder in concert because they had never come to a city close to me. But this past November, they had come to Pittsburgh, PA. It was still a 3-hour drive but worth every mile.
VISIT KERRY
Kerry is one of the biggest tourist attractions outside of Dublin. And we can understand why it has so much to offer. Beaches, mountains, hotels, The World-Famous Ring of Kerry, Skellig Island, Dingle, the list goes on and on. So much so, that we will be covering Kerry in next month’s Celtic Times too. It’s a big county and full of lovely west of Ireland people who love meeting people and telling stories. It really is the Kingdom!
MARCH IRISH JOKE
An American walks into an Irish pub and says, “I’ll give anyone $100 if they can drink 10 Guinness’s in 10 minutes.”
Most people just ignore the absurd bet and go back to their conversations. One Irish guy even leaves the bar.
A little while later that Irish guy comes back and asks the American, “Is that bet still on?”
TRALEE - LOTS TO SEE AND DO
There are lots to see and do in Tralee. It is extremely busy during the peak season so it is worth booking tickets for any events or site seeing you might want to so in advance.
Tralee is home to Siamsa Tire, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland. Siamsa perform a choice of four superb shows six nights a week during peak summer months. It also hosts concerts, opera, and other theatrical events and international exhibitions in the round gallery.
THE DINGLE WAY
This is a dramatic and varied landscape of coastal plains, sandy beaches, mountains and lakes. The Dingle Way is a circular route beginning and ending in the town of Tralee that takes in all of these wonderments along the route. Leaving Tralee the route climbs onto the flanks of the Slieve Mish and contours westwards before crossing the peninsula to the scenic Inch beach on Dingle Bay.
GEORGE DONALDSON - FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 4 years since our friend George Donaldson, one of the founding members of Celtic Thunder passed away. Although you are gone, we will have the songs, kind words and fond memories you shared with us for a lifetime.
MURPHYS ICE CREAM, DINGLE
In my opinion, the best ice cream in the country has to be Murphy’s. I couldn’t do a piece on Dingle and not include Murphy’s. Sean and Kieran Murphy started Murphy's Ice Cream in Dingle, Co. Kerry in 2000, with the goal of making the best ice cream in the world.
BLASKET ISLANDS
The Blasket Islands, or as they are known in Irish Na Blascaodaí, lie around 6 km beyond the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula (Leithinis an Daingin) in County Kerry. The largest of the islands, The Great Blasket or An Blascaod Mór, was finally abandoned in 1953 when the last twenty two people living on the island were moved to the mainland. The island's population, which once boasted one hundred and seventy five residents, had steadily declined through emigration.
LISTOWEL TOWN
Listowel (Lios Tuathail, meaning Tuathal's Ringfort) is a market town located in the heart of North Kerry, on the River Feale. One of 26 designated Heritage Towns in Ireland, Listowel displays a myriad of wonderful architectural features, including the magnificent five arch bridge over the River Feale at the entrance to the Town and dates back to 1829.
THE RACES IN LISTOWEL
With a deserved reputation as hosts of some of the best festivals in the country (or indeed anywhere), it comes as no surprise that County Kerry’s Listowel racing festival is a social and sporting highlight of the Irish racing calendar. So much more than horse racing, it is a week-long affair of pure unadulterated enjoyment. A gathering of people with a common aim, to have fun.
INCH BEACH
Inch or Ínse meaning Sea Meadow (Oilean Ínse - Island of Inch) is best known for its impressive Blue Flag beach. It offers miles of golden sand and breathtaking scenery showcasing mountain, beach, valley and sea.
ACCOMMODATION NEAR & AROUND DINGLE
This month, when I was looking for options on hotels, I couldn’t choose as all of the hotels and bed & breakfasts have wonderful views and there are lots of choices. So, I picked a number of different options. If you are looking to stay in or around Dingle, discoverireland.com is a good start to get some ideas on all things in Ireland including accommodation, food, things to do, heritage, the works!
DINGLE DISTILLERY
The Dingle Whiskey Distillery is not in the business of creating megabrands, nor do they distil for anyone else. Their scale is modest, their approach to what they make is essentially artisan and they have rekindled the tradition of independent distilling in Ireland. Two hundred years ago, this small island had over a hundred officially recognized distilleries; by the turn of this century there were two.
CD OF THE MONTH – 'INSPIRATIONAL'
This month, we are featuring Inspirational as our CD of the month. Inspirational has a great mix of amazing Christian and Inspirational songs that we all know and love. Songs from Joey & Rory, Elvis Presley, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss, Gerry & the Pacemakers and others all performed by Celtic Thunder.