Dingle’s Siopa has high-caliber music

Concerts happen at Siopa Ceoil an Daingin every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7 p.m.

By Daniel Neely

I was in Dingle last week, aboard a boat with my mother and son Ronan in search of Fungi, the darlin’ of the deep, where I struck up a conversation with Gearóid Ó Connor, the boat’s first mate. After the requisite discussion of local Cetacea and their salmon-eating habits, conversation moved on to the naomhóg, or “Kerry curragh.” Turns out he’d done a bit of rowing, so I mentioned that I’d heard legend box player and Dingle native Brendan Begley had toured coastal north Atlantic in such a vessel, a fact he could confirm because “sure, Begley’s my cousin.”

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It reinforced the notion that in addition to being spectacularly beautiful, Dingle is a very small place. I mean, it really wasn’t particularly surprising that Ó Connor would claim to be a Begley relation but if you’re there for any amount of time, you see how connected the place and people are.

Its size makes Dingle a very concentrated place for music. There are sessions every night at all the pubs and they feature musicians of an extremely high caliber. You’re likely to see players like Pauline Scanlon and Éilis Kennedy, who comprise the duo “Lumiere" (www.lumieremusic.net), All-Ireland box champion Damian Mullane, ex-Lúnasa guitarist Donogh Hennessy, ex-Solas fiddle player Niamh Varian-Barry, harpist Deirdre Granville, and members of the Begley family like Brendan, Seamus, and Meabh, Seamus’s daughter, who often plays with brilliant guitarist Matt Griffin.

One of Dingle’s not-so-hidden gems where you’re likely to run into one or more of these folks is the Siopa Ceoil an Daingin (or the Dingle Music Shop), which is situated right near the pubs and the tourist center, on the Strand, Dingle town’s main thoroughfare. The shop’s just down a quaint alley and has a table in front of it – if it’s a nice day, you might run into the shop’s cat Houdini sunning himself there. As you enter the shop through the half door, you find yourself surrounded with CDs, musical instruments, and bric-a-brac, and enveloped by a very homey, welcoming feeling.

This is largely due to Michael Herlihy and Caitriona Nolan, the shop’s proprietors who are two of the most gregarious people you’re likely to meet. They’re very knowledgeable about music and seem to really go out of their way to make people visiting their shop feel very welcome.

Herlihy and Nolan opened the original Siopa Ceoil on Dingle’s Main Street in Christmas 2005. Main Street is kind of tucked up and away from the Strand (still, a short walk) and although it was a reasonably good spot for business, the shop faltered in 2010, when Ireland’s economy changed. Herlihy never lost sight of his dream, and in 2011 approached a builder who was renovating the shop’s current location about renting it. They struck a deal and the new shop, which is five times the size of its original location, reopened that year and began to thrive. (Herlihy and his son Dara, a tour guide for Rick Steves, purchased the property in 2015, which bodes well for its future.) Since opening the new spot, they’ve earned and maintained a five star rating on TripAdvisor.

One of the shop’s signature elements is its concert series. Concerts happen every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. and the artists featured include not only the likes of those listed above but also other well-known musicians who might just be passing through town. The series happened on a friend’s suggestion in 2012 and while took a bit of time to build up a reputation, today the concerts are very popular and attract folks from all over, some brought by tours, others simply by word of mouth.

The concerts benefit from the shop’s intimate setting – there are no microphones and the performers are very close to the audience. Folks are given decaffeinated Irish coffee with fresh cream at the intermission, which is a nice, homey touch and after the set they get a chance to interact with the performers, which can be an unusual treat.

Said Herlihy: “the musicians, if they’re going to play a piece of music or sing a song, they’re going to tell the history of it, which is very important. It’s not the case of two, three guys coming in an belting the jigs and reels out all night, it’s more engaging than that.”

And so it is. On Tuesday, I saw the great Seamus Begley perform with Donogh Hennessy. I arrived in to find first mate Gearóid Ó Connor setting up chairs (Begley gave him a hearty greeting on arrival), and noticed a lots of familiar faces from “around town.” Begley went back and forth with the audience, playing tunes, singing songs, and telling jokes and stories, and had the folks there completely captivated. It was indeed a fascinating evening that perfectly suited the Siopa Ceoil’s space.

The night ’s merriment didn’t end there. Afterward, Herlihy & co. went up to Curran’s bar on Main Street, where button accordionist Pádraig Ó Sé and his wife Michelle on whistle and low whistle were leading a lovely session with their son. Many of those in attendance were part of Dara Herlihy’s tour, representing places like Washington State, Michigan and New York. It wasn’t long before Begley arrived and continued to entertain as only he can, but the highlight of the night happened later on, when James Curran, the shop’s owner, treated everyone to an utterly brilliant song. It was an experience that I sensed those who were there wouldn’t soon forget.

Dingle is a truly beautiful, small place and the Siopa Ceoil one of its jewels. Herlihy and Nolan do an amazing job presenting the musicians in west Kerry to an international audience, but moreover, they’re good people who run a great business. If you’re passing through Dingle, make an effort to visit the Siopa Ceoil (www.dinglerecordshop.com) and check out one of their concerts, you’ll be glad you did!

Daniel Neely writes about traditional music each week in the Irish Echo.

 

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