A total of 257 people live in the south Sligo village of Gurteen, according to the 1996 census, yet locals assure you that there is a traditional music session in a different pub every night of the week. At one time it was said you could hand a fiddle to anybody coming out of Mass in the village and they'd be able to play a tune.
Gurteen is in the heart of Coleman Country, that area around south Sligo well known to followers of traditional music as the home of both a unique style of playing and some of this century's most influential musicians.
A new traditional music centre, Ceolaras Coleman, has now opened in the village, comprising an impressive performance venue, a music school and a visitor centre. Three miles away at the birthplace of the best known of the master musicians, Michael Coleman, a replica of his homestead and forge where he learned to play has also been built. This will house an archive of recordings and material relating to the south Sligo tradition.
Michael Coleman left south Sligo as a young man and made the first recordings of traditional music in New York in the 1920s. Before his death there in 1945, he made more than 80 recordings in all. A video at the centre shows Christy Moore saying: "When it comes to the fiddle, Michael Coleman is the main man".
The project is entirely the result of the efforts of a group of local people, who came together in the late 1980s with the aim of preserving the musical heritage and using it to attract more visitors. Funding totalling £900,000 was secured.
There has been very little tourism development in the area, although a summer festival in nearby Tubbercurry and sessions in local pubs have always attracted serious music followers. It is now hoped that other tourism projects, promoting fishing, walking and cycling, will be developed.
A lakeland area, it is bounded by the Ox Mountains and the Arigna Hills and is relatively unexplored. A Coleman centre Website will also include details of B&Bs and other facilities and attractions nearby.
In Ceolaras Coleman old photos and film footage show long-dead musicians playing around firesides, while their original recordings can be heard on computerised listening posts. Touch a screen and you can learn about musicians such as Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran. Instrument-making is also explained. One gem uncovered for the archive by a team of FAS workers is an old amateur film showing a teenage Michael Flatley, in sensible shirt and slacks and blond curls bobbing up and down, dancing on a Gurteen stage. His father grew up in the area and as a youngster on holidays Michael took part in local competitions. But despite his best efforts, on this occasion he did not win, so one can assume that there's a man around Gurteen who could have made a lot of money.
Preserving the past is just one function of the centre, but keeping the tradition alive through the younger generation is one of the main aims, says the manager, John McGettrick. The centre will not be officially opened until next spring when a programme of weekend master-classes will begin and details of week-long summer courses will be finalised. But already 140 adults and children are taking classes in a range of different instruments. Dancing classes and Irish-language courses are also planned.
Concerts have been held at the centre and recordings made of local musicians. These, as well as specially compiled booklets and song books, are for sale in the visitor shop. The Coleman centre is also linked to a similar centre in Garvagh in Co Derry which promotes the tradition of harp-playing there.
As in other areas, recent years have seen a huge revival of interest in traditional music in south Sligo, and there is now no shortage of young people playing. The area has produced a number of All-Ireland champion musicians and singers, and recordings of younger artists can also be heard in the centre.
Colm O'Donnell, a local musician, says the 120-seat theatre at Ceolaras Coleman is one of the best venues he has ever played in. "It's a huge addition to the area, because there's nothing else like this in the west of Ireland," he said.