The itinerary for next year’s Celtica Heart of Ireland Tour, The Best of the West is now up online and available for booking. I have never seen the bookings come in so quickly. There seems to be a pent up demand from those who were wary of going earlier this year because of economic uncertainties. We also have several repeat passengers, which is wonderful. The 2010 tour will ramble up the west coast from West Cork to Mayo taking in some fabulous places along the way including three islands, Garnish Island, The Great Blasket and Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. We will also visit some of my favorite towns – Kenmare, Dingle, Doolin, Galway, Cong and Westport, among others. Some of my favorite hotels are also on this itinerary. Benner’s Hotel in Dingle is one of the places people never want to leave and Renvyle House in Connemara has an amazing chef and serves some the best food in Ireland. I can hardly wait. I’m ready to leave right now.
I’ve been back in the studio for the past few days, putting the finishing touches to the new Clancy Legacy CD. Hopefully, it will all be finished in the next month or so and ready for release before Christmas.
I have some interesting gigs coming up, starting this weekend with the Maritime Folk Festival in Portsmouth, NH. I want to thank Celtic Crossing in Portsmouth for their generous sponsorship that made my participation possible. I’m looking forward to checking out their store while I’m there.
In a few weeks I’ll be doing a concert on board the square-rigged ship Balclutha in Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. I did this a few years ago and really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to going back. It’s a great feeling to be singing sea songs on an actual ship.
On my way out, I’ll be stopping in Tucson, AZ to do a concert, kindly organized by Melissa and Chris Tatum. I have always loved Tucson and it’s been several years since I was last there so spending some time there will be an added bonus.
The weekend prior to that, I have a duo concert with Mick Moloney at the Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland RI. The following day, I’ll be with Aoife Clancy at the Irish Heritage Festivalin Quincy, MA.
The first time I went to St. John’s, Newfoundland I was bewildered by the sense of familiarity that I felt. The people all looked like the people I had grown up with in Waterford and the accent was almost the same. It’s not surprising since it’s mostly people from Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny who first settled the area. They first went out fishing for cod on the Grand Banks in the summers and gradually began to spend the winters there as well. St John’s got its name from the St John’s parish in Waterford city where I was baptized so I feel a real sense of connection there. It looks like I’ll be doing a few concerts in Newfoundland in November. I’ll have more on that in a week or two or you can just check my Concert Calendar, if you are in that area. That’s about it for now. I hope you all enjoy the lovely fall weather.
