Smithsonian Folklife Festival
http://www.folklife.si.edu/index.html

Orange and green under one roof
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news?articleid=2987807
By Staff reporter

THERE are few forums in Northern Ireland that bring together groups as polarised as the Orange Order and the Gaelic Athletic Association.
But at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival they will be rubbing shoulders as part of a unified bid to sell the Province as a must-see destination for travelling Americans.

Delegates from the Grand Lodge and the GAA will be among around 150 representatives from all walks of life who will tell Americans what ‘Norn Iron’ is really like.

It’s not just a hard sell that’s driving the local contingent at the festival but also the desire to put across a picture of all aspects of life here, in all its rich tapestry and texture.

It’s about reaching beyond the outdated stereotypes generated by years of the Troubles and celebrating a new Northern Ireland, whose divided society is slowly but surely coming together.

Representatives from the linen industry, Harland and Wolff with its links to the Titanic legend, genealogists and mummers – Ulster Scots story tellers – will join historians, musicians, artists, craftmakers, chefs and even farmers to stake their place at the festival.

Orange banners and other artefacts depicting the culture of
the Order will be found among the countless items on display in Washington, not too far from sports equipment used on pitches by the Comhairle Uladh Cumann Luthchleas, or the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Figures like Orange Order Grand Master Robert Saulters will encourage Americans to take in a parade during any future sojourn to Ulster, while Gavin Duffy, hurling stick maker from Belfast, will be on hand for a demonstration of his craft.

Musicians like The Low Country Boys will provide a flavour of Ulster-Scots sounds, while Armagh musician Roisin White will perform a traditional Irish repertoire.

Steps, jigs and reels from the fast-moving feet of dancers representing both the Irish and Ulster-Scots traditions will add movement to the festival.

Ulster-American Heritage Symposium

Connections between Ulster and the U.S. to be Explored

In late June of this year will occur an exciting, concentrated opportunity to learn about Ulster-American connections when the Sixteenth Biennial Ulster-American Heritage is held in Knoxville, Tennessee, from June 28 to July 1. The event, hosted by the East Tennessee Historical Society, will over the course of four days feature lectures, performances, and events to explore these connections under the theme "Three Centuries of Ulster-American History, Tradition, and Shared Experience." Since 1976, when it was founded at the University of Ulster, the Ulster-American Heritage Symposium has met alternately in Northern Ireland or the United States in order to encourage and promote the scholarly study and public awareness of connections between Ulster and North America in all their dimensions.

Speakers at this year's symposium will include more than three dozen historians, archaeologists, museum officials, anthropologists, genealogists, educators, architectural researchers, historical preservationists, and many other specialists on a program that is geared the general public as well as academics. The majority of papers will deal with the migration and settlement of Scotch-Irish/Scots-Irish people in the U.S., especially in Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, but a wide variety of other topics will also be offered, including the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the ancestry of Edgar Allan Poe, frontier religion, and the temperance movement. Two special sessions are particularly worthy of note. One will focus on the service of Americans in Northern Ireland during World War II. It will feature a lecture by Jonathan Bardon of Queen's University Belfast, period newsreel, and a panel discussion by American veterans and people from Northern Ireland who experienced the American presence in the early 1940s. Another will deal with genealogy and include lectures on conducting research for Ulster ancestors in the United States, Ireland, and Scotland and a special report on a large-scale DNA genealogy project now underway. Those attending the conference will be able to make use of the Calvin McClung Collection, a major genealogical library attached to the East Tennessee Historical Society.

Near the Great Smoky Mountains and many other attractions, Knoxville is an ideal site for spending time in a part of southern Appalachia that today counts a large proportion of its citizens as having Ulster ancestry. For more information on the conference, visit the website of the East Tennessee Historical Society ( www.east-tennessee-history.org ) or contact its organizers (Michael Montgomery at ullans@yahoo.com, Michael Toomey at www.east-tennessee-history.org, or Cherel Henderson at cherel@east-tennessee-history.org ).

Also if you live outside Northern Ireland you can receive a free copy through the post if you send a request to info@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk with your name and address included.

American students sample our Ulster culture

A 27-strong party of students from the American University in Washington DC recently visited the Mourne region of Co Down.
This was the fifth consecutive year that such a party from this particular university visited the area. The students on this occasion were led by their university lecturer Professor Peter Weinberger.

The group were on a field trip to Northern Ireland as part of their course work in a cultural studies conflict resolution programme.
They met with Maynard Hanna, director with the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council, and following a question and answer session, an evening of Ulster-Scots culture and entertainment was arranged in Kilkeel Orange Hall.

The student class was able to witness a band parade in Kilkeel, at which the Mourne Young Defenders Flute Band, in their
American Marines uniform, made quite an impact, so a request was made asking if this year's travelling student party could meet up with and attend their band practice.

Also in attendance were members of the Kirknarra School of Dance.

Professor Wienberger offered warmest and heartfelt thanks for the welcome and for what he termed "a most excellent evening of top class and enjoyable, Ulster-Scots entertainment".

Also if you live outside Northern Ireland you can receive a free copy through the post if you send a request to info@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk with your name and address included.

Interest in language and culture
by Joanne Crockard

Recent market research undertaken for the Ulster-Scots Agency indicates an encouraging increase in public interest for the language and culture.
Some findings from an Omnibus telephone survey undertaken in Northern Ireland make interesting conclusions :-

• More than two-thirds of people think that it is important that the Ulster-Scots way of speaking is preserved.

• Nearly seven per cent of people said that they spoke Ulster-Scots, which equates to just over 100,000 people.

• Thirty per cent of people polled would like to learn Ulster-Scots as a language.

With regard to Ulster-Scots cultural identity -

• Seventy per cent of people believe that Ulster-Scots is a vital part of Ulster's heritage; with more than half of the Roman Catholic people polled agreeing with this.

• And 70 pc of Protestants and 40 pc of Roman Catholics polled said that Ulster-Scots was part of their cultural identity.

George Patton, Agency Chief Executive, said: "This research is highly encouraging for the promotion of the Ulster-Scots language and culture. It shows that the Agency's work over the last six years has borne fruit.

"We are delighted that there is cross-community interest and support as it validates our long-held view that Ulster-Scots can contribute greatly to the Province's cultural life as a whole."

Also if you live outside Northern Ireland you can receive a free copy through the post if you send a request to info@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk with your name and address included.

Promoting Ulster-Scots heritage

The Ulster-Scots Heritage Council was established in 1995 to promote awareness and understanding of the Ulster-Scots tradition in language, history and culture.

Since then it has developed and expanded to include the Belfast Ulster-Scots Festival as the annual celebration of the Ulster-Scots heritage.

The first Belfast Ulster-Scots Festival took place in 1999 as a one-off event. It was re-launched in November 2005 and was highly successful, consequently it is hoped that the festival will now become an annual event.

To help develop a festivals' policy and assist groups organising festivals, the Heritage Council has secured funding from the Ulster-Scots Agency to employ a full-time festival officer for the next two years.

Andrew Smith, from Banbridge, was last month appointed festival officer. He is a graduate of University of Glasgow, where he read Scottish literature and English language. He has a long-held interest in Ulster-Scots language, history and culture.

Also if you live outside Northern Ireland you can receive a free copy through the post if you send a request to info@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk with your name and address included.

Eagles Wing festival gets a fresh look for July

North Down Borough Council's tourism has launched its programme for the Eagle Wing Festival 2006.
This special festival, celebrating the cultural links between Northern Ireland and North America, is on its way to the small coastal village of Groomsport outside Bangor.

The Eagle Wing Festival, now in its 13th year, attracts more than 20,000 visitors from across Northern Ireland and beyond to a week-end of music, dancing, street entertainment and various American themed activities such as a Wild West shoot-out. This year's festival will run from Saturday to Sunday July 1-2 and promises a line-up to suit all the family.

The story of Eagle Wing will be retold in a family-friendly dramatisation and the Council is delighted to be working in partnership with Ulster-Scots Agency and the Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh.

Highlights will include a unique exhibition telling the story of Eagle Wing, music from local bands and headllining act Bluegrass band The Down County Boys, winners of the British Country Music Awards, and supported by Kickin' Alice, the Appalachian clog dancers.

The evening's entertainment will be followed by the annual fireworks' extravaganza. The festival was given the title Eagle Wing recalling in 1636 a ship of the same name which sailed from Groomsport to America, taking 140 Ulster Presbyterians in search of a new life on the other side of the Atlantic.
Although they did not reach their destination, having been forced to turn back because of storms, the Eagle Wing voyage was the spark that lit the flame of emigration.

Wendy Smith, North Down Borough Council's events officer, confirms: "Eagle Wing is now well established in the festival programme in Northern Ireland, attracting a huge number of visitors to North Down. It has a very strong family appeal offering a range of music, dancing and entertainment. Eagle Wing is about more than just fun. However, it seeks to celebrate and explore our historical links with America."

On Sunday July 2, the day will start with a church service followed by storytelling at Cockle Row cottages. The cottages have displays of tourist and heritage information and local crafts in an authentic 1910 atmosphere.

There will also be an Eagle Wing exhibition, historical lectures and activities including crafts, archery and open canoes.

New 'Fae Lang Syne' concert DVD release

Somme anniversary

One of the most poignant tunes from World War One, 'Bonnie Woodgreen' will be featured on a new CD to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra has recorded 20 tracks for the new album appropriately entitled 'Somme'.
Willie Drennan explains: "The 36th Ulster Division alone lost 5,553 men during the first two days of the Battle of the Somme in what was one of the most horrendous events of First World War.

"This has had a major effect on the psyche of the people in the small province of Northern Ireland to this very day.

"In 2006, 90 years later, this recording tries to address the enormity and the futility of it all - not just for Northern Ireland, but for everyone, everywhere. All we can do is to examine what happened at the Somme and try to understand it."

Other tracks on the CD include 'Killaloe', 'Garryowen', and 'Willie McBride'. The CD is also available from Colin Agnew, 14 Woodgrove, Woodtown Road, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, BT43 5JQ or 028 2563 0006. Price is £12 incl. p&p.

Also if you live outside Northern Ireland you can receive a free copy through the post if you send a request to info@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk with your name and address included.

Website tells 1718 Ulster migration story

A new website -
www.1718migration.org.uk

- has been created by the Ulster-Scots Agency which tells the story of the first organised migration of Ulster people to the New England colonies.
Between 1717-1720, it is known that more than 3,000 Ulster Presbyterians left the northern part of Ireland, with 700 of them leaving in one mass migration in the summer of 1718 alone.

The people who left in that journeycame from all over Ulster, but mainly from Co Londonderry, and 50 years later, more than 200,000 of their fellow coreligionists had left for the New World, making a significant contribution to life in the New England colonies while leaving a huge gap in their communities at home.

The website has been pioneered by Ulster-Scots Agency Board member Dr Linde Lunney, who explains the concept behind the website:
"In 1718, the first organised migration of Scots and Irish-born Presbyterian people left the north of Ireland on their way to a new life in the New England colonies in North America.

"Parts of their story are familiar, but much has been forgotten. This website sets out what is known of the history of the Scots and Irish of the 1718 migration, and also reminds us of the lives of those who were left behind in Ireland."
The new website will also provide invaluable initial help to people on both sides of the Atlantic who wish to trace their family roots and has been produced in association with the Ulster Historical Foundation, the Centre for Migration Studies and the Institute of Ulster-Scots Studies.