North Coast Trad

Sorcha Meehan, is an established traditional musician who has been playing for over twenty-five years on fiddle in a professional capacity.  In the 1990s Sorcha was a regular player in the renowned Harbour Bar sessions in Portrush, and when she moved to Belfast in the late 90s she became an established figure in the city’s trad scene, both playing and teaching professionally.  ‘Belfast in the 90s was as vibrant for trad as it is now. I was lucky enough to play with the likes of Dónal O’Connor, Darragh Murphy, Ruadhrai O’Kane, Barry Kerr and Brendan O’Hare on a weekly basis.’ Whilst studying history at Ulster University she created and chaired, The West Bay Folk Club and The West Bay Festival.  With the support of local publican, Sean McGlaughlin, monthly folk club gigs in the Springhill Bar featured, Michael McGoldrick, Tim Edey, Niall Vallely, Karan Casey, Michelle O’Brien, Harry Bradley and many others. Sorcha also spent a year in Galway in 2003 and fitted in with ease. ‘Our time in Galway was like doing a performance degree in traditional music. Luckily enough, when we lived there the trad scene was thriving. I was playing on a regular basis with stalwarts of the tradition; Angelina Carberry, Martin Quinn, Paul Bradley, Colm Gannon, Jessie Smith… and many more.

During her time in Armagh, Sorcha was a central figure in both the promotion and development of traditional music. She chaired the Armagh City Folk Club, was Artistic Director of the Keady Fair, Keady Flute Festival and Keady Arts and Heritage Society. She collaborated and worked with artists such as Liam O’Maonlaí, Siobhan Peoples, Seamie O’Dowd and Brian Finnegan. She also taught and performed in various organisations including, Armagh Piper’s Club, Armagh Rhymers, Keady Comhaltas, Keady Arts and Heritage Society and ran programmes in traditional music and Irish language in local schools. More recently she took on the role as director of Trad ar an Trá, an annual festival in Rossnowlagh, Donegal.  Over the years she has featured in festivals such as; Ennis Tradfest, Belfast School of Traditional Music, Baltimore Fiddle Fair, Soma Festival, William Kennedy Piping Festival, An Both, Keady Fair, Keady Flute Festival, The World Irish dancing Festival, to name a few. In 2016, Sorcha produced a book of original compositions Ceol Sídroma,  featuring, Martin Meehan, Paul Meehan, Patrick Meehan, Dónal O’Connor and Síle Ní Mhuirí. Her tunes are being taught by prolific fiddle players, such as Bríd Harper, Rachel McGarrity and Kate McSherry. Most recently, Bríd Harper and Tony O’Connell recorded one of her compositions, the Iapetus Reel, on their new album Uaine. North Coast Trad is delighted to have Sorcha as our fiddle tutor!