Joe Mooney: A Session in Every Corner

Outside Conway's Corner House, two men sit in the warm sun with cold pints in front of them. One squeezes an accordion while the other coaxes a rhythm from his bodhrán. They play with the kind of effortless ease that makes you assume they've known each other for years. The tune rises and falls in perfect harmony, drawing people to stop, smile and listen.

Across the road in Monica's Pub, there are three sessions in full swing – one in the front corner, one down the back and another out in the smoking area. Crowds flock around to watch. It's amazing how each session doesn't interfere with the sound of the others. Somehow, every tune finds its own space.

Watch their eyes. They're all watching each other, listening and watching, picking up the slightest nod or change in rhythm. They've played these tunes countless times, yet every set feels alive. For hours they play their hearts out. They all know the tunes. They are completely in their element.

Among the families returning year after year is Justin Swift, whose eight-year-old son Oscar spends the week immersed in music.

"We've been coming for probably the last five years," he says. "Friends from Cavan put us onto it and we've been back ever since."

Swift believes the Joe Mooney Summer School offers something few other festivals can match.

"The great thing about the festival is the amount of class time the children get. If you come for the whole week, that's about 17 hours of tuition. He'd nearly get as much here in one week as he'd get during the rest of the year."

He also praises the affordability and flexibility of the programme.

"It's definitely more affordable than the other festivals. You can do three days if you want, or the whole week. It's really flexible and it's good value."

While Willie Clancy remains one of Ireland's most internationally recognised traditional music festivals, Swift believes Drumshanbo offers families something equally valuable.

"The one here is great. It's just really accessible. You can do three days if you want or the whole week, and people keep coming back, so they must be doing something right."

Despite ongoing accommodation pressures, he says families continue to make the journey.

"It's still surviving despite the housing crisis. People find a way. People keep coming back, so they must be doing something right."

Chairperson Desi Doyle says demand has been so strong that extra tutors had to be drafted in after the festival got underway.

"There are huge numbers now, very big numbers. We must have almost 1,400 or 1,500 students here between everything," he says. "We have about 70 tutors, and we even brought in a couple of extra tutors on Monday morning because the numbers were so big."

The summer school's appeal stretches far beyond Leitrim, attracting musicians from across Ireland and overseas every year.

"There's always a good contingent travelling from Europe, and I know there's a few here from Australia who come every year. There's always a lot from Britain and Europe attending classes because you hear a lot of foreign accents around the town."

Unlike many major festivals, the Joe Mooney Summer School operates without public funding.

"We don't go for public funding at all," Doyle explains. "The fees people pay for lessons and classes more or less fund us. But there are a lot of expenses in paying tutors, bands, mileage, accommodation and meals."

Behind the scenes, he says the event depends on an army of volunteers.

"We could have somewhere in the region of 70 or 80 volunteers, maybe more. They're doing everything from catering and teas and coffees to parking cars, manning doors, recycling and helping out at workshops."

The influx of visitors is felt throughout Drumshanbo, with accommodation at a premium throughout the week.

"The campsite is packed. There's hardly room to move. You can't get parked around the town and people have to move outside it. The hostel is packed too."

Now in its 36th year, the Joe Mooney Summer School has grown into one of Ireland's best-loved traditional music festivals, attracting musicians, dancers and families from across Ireland and overseas. Named in honour of the late Joe Mooney, whose passion for preserving Leitrim's musical heritage inspired the event, the festival offers a week of classes, concerts, céilithe and late-night sessions that spill far beyond the classroom.

This year's summer school opened in the Mayflower Hall, with singer and tutor Fionnuala Maxwell officially launching the festival before the celebrations continued with an opening concert by acclaimed Ulster traditional group Tempest. But while the concerts draw the crowds, it's the music that escapes the venues and fills every pub, café and street corner that gives the week its magic.

From early morning until long after midnight, experienced musicians sit alongside complete beginners, swapping reels, jigs, hornpipes and slow airs. For some it's the tuition. For others it's the friendships, the atmosphere or simply the chance to spend a week surrounded by people who speak the same musical language. Whatever the reason, the Joe Mooney Summer School has become far more than a festival. It has become a tradition in itself.

As evening slips into night, the music only seems to gather momentum. The circles grow bigger, another fiddle joins in, a whistle appears from somewhere across the room and someone quietly begins to sing. There is no stage, no spotlight and no need for either. The music belongs to everyone.