An exploration of the shared harping and piping traditions of Achill Island and Scotland, Sraith Oileán Acla is so much more: an excavation of the socio-political cross currents that have nourished the two places down through the years.
West Highland singer, piper and composer Allen MacDonald is at the heart of this live premiere recording of Achill Island Suite, but it's the collective community voice that revels in its own story here: tales of tatty hookers and of pride in place (Douglas Hyde's Éiróimid Feasta) sidle up alongside the beautifully intimate Dul go hAlbain, where whistles and harps trace the odyssey of the Achill Island potato pickers as they journeyed to Scotland.
Although still in evolution, this is a fine snapshot in time of a meitheal in its truest sense: a community collaborating with verve and imagination.
