A 3-day festival celebrating Irish arts! Join us at the United Irish Cultural Center (2700 45th Ave, SF) June 13, 14, 15, 2025 for three days of Irish culture and community including music, dance, and art. Family-friendly events include the ultimate Seisiún in The Sunset, music workshops, a community art show, Irish vendors, the Dowling Library and Keepers of the Steps with cultural displays, a James Joyce inspired ballet, food truck, and more. Join us for a venerable showcase of Irish arts. FESTIVAL DAY 2: Saturday, June 14, 2025

• Irish Music Workshops: 9 am-3 pm
• Music Entertainment and Closed Seisiún Concert with Workshop Musicians: 2 pm-late
• Live Music and All-Star (2 PM–10 PM):
  Featuring Turf in the Bog, our workshop musicians, pipers, dancers, and more.
  Turf in the Bog with Eric Owens 2-4 PM
  Pauline Conneely (tenor banjo) 4-5 PM
  Emily Greaney (harp and concertina) 5-6 PM
  Grace Broadhead (fiddle) 6-7 PM
  Trad Fest West All-Stars Concert 8-10 PM (featuring all of our Workshop musicians)
• Wawona Gates 5th Anniversary Celebration
• Performances with Irish Pipers and Irish Dancing
• UICC Irish Shoppe—a taste of Ireland in SF
• Dowling Library with cultural exhibits including Keepers of the Steps History of Irish Dance and The First 50 Years of the Irish Cultural Center
• Kids activities include Bounce House, games, and art
• Community Art Exhibition; St. Francis Room
• Irish Vendors—with Irish Castle Gifts (Orla O’Malley Daly); Treasure Ireland (Marie Mallon); and Celtic Tea Shoppe
• Food Truck

IRISH MUSIC WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Please click “tickets” to sign up; space is limited!

BANJO with Pauline Conneely

• 9 am Tenor Banjo: Tunes & Technique 1 Pauline Conneely
• 10 am Tenor Banjo: Tunes & Technique 2 Pauline Conneely
• 11-12 noon New Tune Workshop with Pauline Conneely
• 12.15-2 pm Slow Session Workshop with Pauline Conneely

FIDDLE with Grace Broadhead

• 10-11am Fiddle: Tunes & Technique Workshop 1 with Grace Broadhead
• 11-12 noon Fiddle: Tunes & Technique Workshop 2 with Grace Broadhead

BODHRAN with Louis Devereux

• 12 noon-1pm Bodhrán Workshop 1 with Louis Devereux
• 1pm-2pm Bodhrán Workshop 2 with Louis Devereux

CONCERT FLUTE with Eric Owens

• 11am-12 Tunes, Phrasing & Technique 1 Concert Flute Workshop with Eric Owens
• 12 noon-1pm Tunes & Technique 2 Concert Flute Workshop with Eric Owens

CONCERTINA,HARP, & SEAN NOS DANCE with Emily Greaney

• 12-1 pm Tunes & Technique Concertina Workshop with Emily Greaney
• 1-2 pm Tunes & Technique Irish Harp Workshop with Emily Greaney
• 2-3 pm Sean Nós Dance Workshop with Emily Greaney

GUITAR with Jimmy Murphy

• 12-1 pm Trad Guitar Workshop 1
• 1-2 pm Trad Guitar Workshop 2

About the Workshop Artists

Emily Greaney, Sean-nós Dance, harp, and concertina

An accomplished harp, concertina and piano player, hails from Abbeyknockmoy, County Galway, Ireland. Emily has been playing music from a very young age and is a gifted set and sean-nós dancer. No stranger to the stage, Emily has previously toured with Janet Harbison’s, Irish Harp Orchestra, Joanie Madden, Celtic Flames, and most recently, Emily toured America, with the show ‘Irish Christmas in America’ produced by Oisín Mac Diarmada. Emily is currently in her third year studying, Irish Music, at the Irish World Academy in the University of Limerick.

Pauline Conneely, Banjo

Pauline Conneely was born in Bedford, England, the daughter of Irish parents from Connemara and Longford, raised in a family steeped in Irish music, dance and culture. As a young girl she achieved great success, becoming a champion Irish step dancer before turning her focus to music. Under the tutelage of legendary musician Brendan Mulkere, Pauline honed her love of the banjo, eventually earning her status as renowned banjo player.

She founded the band Chicago Reel, who feature regularly at Irish festivals around the Midwest and East Coast. She frequently shares the stage with Grammy-nominated fiddler Liz Carroll, as well as many respected artists performing on the world stage today, including John Doyle, The Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, Sean Keane, and Mick McGoldrick.

Grace Broadhead, Fiddle

Originally from Sandia Park, NM, Irish fiddler Grace Broadhead was a member of two local bands in Albuquerque, the Duke City Ceili Band and Jug O’ Punch. She is also a member of The Southwest Ramblers along with Dain Forsvth from Albuquerque, and Hughie Kennedy and Jason Turk from Cork, Ireland.

In 2018 and 2019, Grace competed in the Midwest Fleadh. In 2019, her Newly Composed Tune “Chain Reaction” came in 1st place, affording her the opportunity to compete at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2019. She has also competed in the eComórtas Ceoil in 2020 and 2021 and was awarded a gold medal in the 15-18 fiddle competition both years. In 2021 she also received a gold medal in fiddle slow airs and a silver medal in the lilting competition.

In April, 2022, Grace was awarded the inaugural “Fiddler of London Diaspora Award” Grace has had the opportunity to play with several well-known musicians and groups, including the Sharon Shannon Band, The Old Blind Dogs, and Gaelic Storm. She also opened the show for Randal Bays when he came to Albuquerque in February 2019. In 2019, Grace played on two of Feraa Scahill’s Tune a Day videos. She also joined in on two of Colin Farrell’s Tune a Day videos in 2020.

Eric Owens—Concert Flute

Eric Owens has been playing festivals up and down the State of California. In the last two years he has played the Fairfax Irish Music Festival, the Kern County Scottish Games, the Alameda Highland Games, Tradfest West, Rock the Gates and the KVMR Celtic Festival just to name a few. In the last few months he was featured on KVMR radio with an interview and a live concert broadcast and was interviewed and featured playing on KTVU TV.

Louis Devereux—Bodhran

Louis hails from Greystones in County Wicklow, where a musical upbringing shaped his early passion for traditional Irish music. With both his mother and older brother as musicians, music was a constant presence in the home. Louis began learning the bodhrán organically, immersing himself in sessions at small festivals throughout the West of Ireland. Now with over 30 years of experience, he brings both deep tradition and personal style to every performance.

Jimmy Murphy, Guitar

Jimmy Murphy, guitarist, mandolinist and vocalist, is a collaborating member of various music ensembles based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over two decades of experience as a member of the traditional Irish music scene in California, he developed a knack for bringing both high energy rhythms and a calming meditative feel to each performance.