{"id":382680,"date":"2026-04-05T04:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T04:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382680\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T04:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T04:51:08","slug":"heritage-to-be-celebrated-in-sound-at-an-clochan-liath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382680\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage to be celebrated in sound at An Cloch\u00e1n Liath"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marching bands from across the north west will converge on the streets of An Cloch\u00e1n Liath in west Donegal this afternoon to celebrate the fife and drum tradition.<\/p>\n<p>Some 11 flute bands from west Donegal will come together as The Rosses fifers unite, before they embark on the competitive marching season.<\/p>\n<p>The annual Easter Sunday parade provides a showcase of a tradition is deeply rooted in the communities of west Donegal, as 14 bands in total take to the streets.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bands march in Donegal\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00242b16-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nGirls and boys play their flutes in the parade (Credit: Mary Rodgers)<\/p>\n<p>Following the convergence of the bands, they will compete for a list of titles including best band, best drum major, best drum corps and the John Walsh Memorial Trophy.<\/p>\n<p>Fife and drum marching bands in Donegal are a deeply rooted tradition, particularly in the west, with groups like An Mullach Dubh Band, established in the 19th century.<\/p>\n<p>An Machaire band member Karl Doherty said the uniting of The Rosses fifers unite brings the communities of west Donegal together as they march to the beat of the same drum.<\/p>\n<p>He said the event would not happen without the support of local businesses and traders.<\/p>\n<p>The fife and drums bands perform at St Patrick&#8217;s Day parades, local festivals including the Mary From Dungloe, and compete in competitions such as the Fleadh Cheoil na h\u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bands march in Donegal\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00242b17-614.jpg\"\/><br \/>\nThe competitive marching season follows the Easter celebration (Credit: Mary Rodgers)<\/p>\n<p>The Easter Sunday competition in An Cloch\u00e1n Liath, started on 5 April 1953.<\/p>\n<p>The competition originally had a closed section for local bands and an open section.<\/p>\n<p>An Machaire have won the last six Easter Sunday competitions; and they are aiming for seven in a row.<\/p>\n<p>A powerful spectacle is expected which marks the start of the competitive marching season as musicians march to a collective rhythm that celebrates community spirit and heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marching bands from across the north west will converge on the streets of An Cloch\u00e1n Liath in west&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-382680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}