According to Wikipedia a cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house party or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
In 1972 Marcia Palmater hosted a radio show from MIT called Downeast Ceilidh with music from the Atlantic provinces of Canada with a heavy emphasis from Cape Breton Nova Scotia where my mom was from, she would tune in faithfully every week. At the time there was no other show like it. In 2002 the show moved to WUMB where she continued to listen to the music and hear about shows and events going on at the Canadian American club in Watertown MA plus any news from home in Canada. Marcia’s show kept mom connected to her roots hearing the names of folks she knew or liked listening to.
My mom passed in 2004 and I have carried on the tradition of listening to Celtic music. I thanked Marcia through email to tell her how much mom enjoyed listening to her show. Although I’m sure my mom told her when she saw her at the club which in her eyes was like meeting a celebrity. One day I noticed that Marcia’s show wasn’t on and that she retired in 2017 then passed February 2019. Maybe there’s bagpipes and fiddles in heaven!
Thankfully Gail Gilmore has been playing Celtic music on WUMB radio called Celtic Twilight on Sundays 4-7pm at 91.9 FM Boston. Just say "Alexa play wumb" and she finds it on my tablet or listen live online at wumb.org Now I look forward to tuning in. Gail plays a great mix of Celtic music from all over the world including traditional and new younger bands that keeps this music alive. So I sit with my cuppa tea, tapping my feet knowing in my heart mom is happy that I’m still listening to ma’s music. Slàinte
