1 of 37: MIKE HARDING OUTSIDE HIS STUDIO IN CONNEMARA St Patrick's Day 2004: The Mike Harding Show has travelled to Ireland to record the programme from Mike's house in Cleggan, Connemara.
2 of 37: MIKE HARDING Mike's mother's family came from Tipperary and Dublin and he grew up in Manchester surrounded by Irish culture, music and stories. A few years ago, after a lifetime of visiting and travelling Ireland, he rescued this cottage with outbuildings and reclaimed it from twenty years of acting as a home for sheep! It overlooks the sea at Cleggan, near Clifden.
3 of 37: MIKE'S STUDIO AND COTTAGE Studio on the left, cottage on the right. Production team hire van in the middle! The place is a couple of hundred years old and there used to be a sheep dip where the studio now stands.
4 of 37: TIGH MIKILIN Mike named his cottage Tigh Mikilin - the house of little Michael. It was always known in the area as a 'ceili house' where people would gather to dance, play and sing.
5 of 37: A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER It's gone all grey ... the weather here changes every half hour!
6 of 37: CLEGGAN BAY The view from the studio.
7 of 37: SOUND ON THE ROAD Engineer George sets up the mobile recording studio. It was quite a challenge getting the truck load of equipment down the tracks to Mike's cottage.
8 of 37: NORTH CREGG Ciaran Coughlan, Fiona Kellehar, Caoimhin Vallely, Christy Leahy and (co-opted for the duration) Frank Torpey. Cork band North Cregg have been together since 1996 and took their name from a tune written by Jimmy Morrisson about a small place near Fermoy. One of the sets they play for the show is a great set of Sliabh Luachra polkas.
LINKS: North Cregg's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Don't forget you can
listen again to this show for a week after broadcast.
9 of 37: CIARAN COUGHLAN AND FIONA KELLEHAR Deep concentration ...
10 of 37: CHRISTY North Cregg's Christy Leahy.
11 of 37: PAUL BRADY From Strabane, on the border of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, Paul Brady is not only one of Ireland's best interpreters of traditional songs but also a great writer of original material. Just for the show, he sings one of his most famous and best-loved songs, Arthur McBride. No-one in the room can quite believe their luck - and it's a stunning version.
LINKS: Paul Brady's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Don't forget you can
listen again to this show for a week after broadcast.
12 of 37: PAUL BRADY Paul borrows North Cregg's keyboard and performs Locked Up In Heaven, a song he co-wrote with John Kelly. He announces the winners of the recent competition run by the Mike Harding Show and BBC Folk & Acoustic, who will receive copies of his new DVD, The Paul Brady Songbook.
13 of 37: ELEANOR SHANLEY Former De Dannan member Eleanor Shanley grew up in County Leitrim in a big family of 'fireside singers' where house parties were the norm. Everyone had to do a party piece whether they were musical or not, which resulted in some rather interesting contributions! Her style reflects that Irish eclecticism and her new CD will be a gospel/blues album when it appears later this year.
Don't forget you can
listen again to this show for a week after broadcast.
14 of 37: ELEANOR SHANLEY, PAUL KELLY, FRANKIE LANE Eleanor's currently playing and recording with two great musicians, Paul Kelly (centre) and Frankie Lane. Paul first came to prominence as the fiddler with The Sackville String Band, a five-piece bluegrass outfit who brought traditional American music to a wider Irish audience.
15 of 37: FRANKIE LANE Ex-Fleadh Cowboy Frankie was nominated for a Meteor Ireland Music Award this year for his tireless, and sometimes revolutionary, services to country and roots music.
LINKS: Frankie Lane's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
16 of 37: NORTH CREGG'S CAOIMHIN VALLELY
17 of 37: FOOD! Sean-nos ('old style') step dancer Brian Cunningham stands in the doorway of Mike's kitchen as there's a general break for sustenance. Mike's neighbours, Pat and Val Corrigan, have put on a great spread which includes smoked salmon on soda bread that's to die for!
18 of 37: CHRISTY LEAHY That looks grand!
19 of 37: PAT AND VAL CORRIGAN Splendid caterers and music lovers, Mike's neighbours, Pat and Val.
20 of 37: FRANK TORPEY AND PAUL BRADY Stoking up for the next lap!
21 of 37: CHRISTY LEAHY The sun's out and Christy is dragged out of the kitchen to pose against the bright blue door.
22 of 37: ANYONE FOR FRUIT?
23 of 37: FIONA KELLEHER Fiona's turn to pose in the sunshine.
24 of 37: NORTH CREGG Team meeting after some snap.
25 of 36: WATCHING BRIAN DANCE The assembled company play a cracking couple of tunes together - My Darling Asleep and The Pipe On The Hob. English singer Kellie While sits amid the musicians and watches superb sean-nos dancer Brian Cunningham.
26 of 37: EAMONN, MIKE, BILL Eamonn is Mike's neighbour, who well remembers the country dances that used to be held in this house until 5 or 6 in the morning. He recalls how everyone in Cleggan knew each other from school days and how local communities stayed together due to lack of any transport to travel further afield. Bill is a mate from Manchester, over for a visit. He also did the plumbing!
27 of 37: THE FLYING FEET OF BRIAN CUNNINGHAM! This amazing young sean-nos dancer is just doing his Leaving Cert at school and plans to take a year out to dance before going to college. He learnt his craft by watching older members of the community and wants to keep the style alive by teaching it to 'the young people' (this from an 18-year-old!). Now he's developed his own steps and has a fantastic repertoire. He's certainly a great example, and everyone wishes him well.
28 of 37: PAUL BRADY Enjoying the craic.
29 of 37: KELLIE, PAUL, ELEANOR, FRANKIE Eleanor Shanley plays her invisible shaker - the noise is obviously too much for Kellie!
30 of 37: MICHAEL AND BRIAN CUNNINGHAM Brian's dad is one of his biggest fans and ferries him about to dance.
31 of 37: PAUL BRADY AND PAT CORRIGAN It's Pat's birthday and Paul sings him and his wife Val their favourite Brady song as a special gift.
32 of 37: PAUL BRADY AND ELEANOR SHANLEY
33 of 37: PAUL BRADY AND BRIAN CUNNINGHAM Paul's impressed by Brian's amazing footwork.
34 of 37: PAUL BRADY AND FRANKIE LANE Swapping a song or two in Mike's living room.
35 of 37: THROUGH THE ROUND WINDOW ... The BBC outside broadcast van's tail ramp is stuck!
36 of 37: MORE CRAIC DOWN THE PUB ... At the Alcock and Brown Hotel in Clifden, the instruments are out and Brian gets up with his sister Eileen for some spectacular sean-nos dancing to a fine set of reels.
37 of 37: BRIAN CUNNINGHAM AND HIS SISTER EILEEN Probably the fastest and most agile broom dance anyone's ever seen!
