The party doesn’t stop after the Ceilidh. Join us and the Seoul Gaels in the Wolfhound, Itaewon from 9pm on Saturday, October 18th for a night of Ceol and Craic. If you can sing, dance, read a poem, come along and join in!
Tag Archives: music
HBC Festival 2014- The Irish acts.
The HBC festival is happening this weekend, May 16th, 17th and 18th. The entire schedule and run down of acts can be found on their website.
Here are some acts involving our very own Irish….
Friday: Magna Fall will p lay at 11pm in Philly´s Basement
Friday: Ceolteori Seoul will play in VFW at 11pm
Saturday; Baekma will play in Rabbit Hole at 8pm
We´ll keep the list updated as we get the details.
St. Patrick’s Day Festival 2014
With March fast approaching and the snow slowly starting to melt, the Irish Association of Korea is gearing up for our biggest event of the year….The St. Patrick’s Day Festival 2014.
Thanks to the kind support of Daesung Corporation, D Cube City, Korean Air, The Seoul Grand Hyatt Hotel, Groove magazine, Etihad Airways, Asia Ireland Chamber of Commerce in Korea, and the Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, the 14th annual St Patrick’s Day Festival will take place in D Cube Plaza, Sindorim from 12pm until 6pm on Saturday March 15th.
The open air concert which has become synonymous with Saint Patrick’s Day in Seoul, attracting up to 10,000 spectators in the past, will be the centerpiece of the Irish Association of Korea’s festival this year.
The festival is known for its keen participation from members of both the Irish and Korean community and this year will not disappoint with traditional folk-dancers and musicians playing Irish music, both traditional and popular rock, coming from all over Korea and further afield.
Musicians from Ireland will also feature heavily on the bill and the festival will offer an opportunity for the public to get involved – traditional folk-dancing, which has grown in popularity every year, will take place at the main stage. The dancing gives everyone, young and old, a chance to come up and try some of the lively dances.
The festival has also become a major international family event, as children can get their faces painted; listen to some traditional storytelling; and sing and dance to the live music.
A display of Gaelic football – a unique national sport from Ireland – will be hosted by the Seoul Gaels Gaelic football team, one of the most successful teams in Asia.
The Irish Village will also return to the festival this year to create a separate area away from the main stage which will offer a more laid back atmosphere. At the Irish Village you will be able to listen to Irish traditional music, try your hand at playing some instruments or taste some traditional Irish cuisine.
This year there will be a Costume Competition (kindly sponsored by Sona and AngloInfo Seoul) and a large raffle with the main prize a pair of return flights to Dublin from Seoul (thanks to sponsors Etihad Airways). Tickets will be sold on the day and the raffle draw will take place before the end of the festivities.
After the main event, the festivities will continue in the Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon from 6pm until 12am for The Official IAK Hooley. Tickets are 10,000 won and will be available at the festival and at the door.
To stay up-to-date, sign up to the official Facebook Event page HERE.
Seoul Céilí: Irish Music and Dance Festival September 8, 2013
Get your dancing shoes warmed up as you are being served with advanced notice, the Irish Association of Korea’s 2013 Seoul Céilí: Irish Music and Dance Festival has been scheduled for September 8. 
Once again, we have the very generous support of Daesung to thank for the use of their excellent facilities at the D-Cube Center in Sindorim Seoul.
Please visit our official event pages on Facebook and Meetup for full details and updates.
Only a few days to the St Patrick’s Day festival
It’s less than 5 days to the annual St Patrick’s Day Festival on Saturday March 16th, which will take place at the D-Cube plaza in Sindorim. 
Don’t forget there’s a fancy dress competition with cash prizes. We’ve got a great raffle courtesy of our sponsors Etihad and Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel (more info about this later today). Can you play music? Then bring your instrument along and join in the music session in the Irish Village. You can even learn some simple Irish dances. If you’re the sporting type then you need to meet the Seoul Gaels who’ll be doing some skills demonstrations. It promises to be a great day with music, dancing, food, activities for kids and much better weather than in Ireland!
And it’s not over at 5pm. We’re having a hooley in The Bull & Barrel in Itaewon with 4 bands downstairs and possibly the biggest Irish traditional music session ever in Korea upstairs. Read about what we have planned here (or over here on Facebook).
Tap Pung leads Korean clean up at Shanghai Feis!
Tap Pung (one of the best exponents of Irish Dancing in Asia) just confirmed their brilliance by 
winning stacks of medals at Feis Shanghai. They lead a team of Korean dancers to the feis and between them all they have won approximately 30 medals. Ok here’s what was won (deep breath and we’ve probably got some of it wrong – I blame our correspondant on the ground in Shanghai – one Shauna Browne).
Park Jun Woo from Korea won
U18 Reel
Single Jig
Slip Jig
Light Jig
In the U40 competition members of Tap Pung took
Reel 2nd and 3rd
Light jig 1st 2nd 3rd
Slip jig 1st 2nd 4th
Single jig 1st 4th
Primary comp U18 박준우 took
Reel 2nd
Light jig 1st
Slip jig 1st
Single jig 1st
Treble jig 1st
In the U40 primary comp there were wins in
Reel 1st 3rd
Slip jig 3rd
Light jig 1st 3rd 4th
Single jig 1st 4th
Hornpipe 1st 3rd 4th
Treble jig 2nd 4th.
Under18
Blackbird 1st
U40
Trad set 2nd
Congratulations to all those dancers and a reminder that you should come and see Tap Pung in action at the St Patrick’s Day festival next Sat! They might even give you a couple of tips about your jig.
Less than 3 weeks to St Patrick’s Day festival!
It’s just less than 3 weeks to the annual St Patrick’s Day festival on Saturday March 16th, which will take place at the D-Cube plaza in Sindorim. 
Are you going to wear a fancy dress for the costume competition? Would you like to win return flights from Seoul to Dublin? Have you heard about the new area we will have called Irish Village? Are you going to come and dance and enjoy the music? Do you want to try your hand at playing some Irish musical instruments? Will you come to the evening party in The Bull & Barrel in Itaewon? To help you answer these questions have a read about what we have planned here (or if you prefer over on Facebook or Meetup).
Christmas comes early as IAK brings you a full calendar of December events
We’re running quite a lot of events this December and we hope that you have time to come along to one (or all of them).
First up this weekend we have the December Irish Session Jam which will be at Freeport in Hongdae, on Sat Dec 8th at 17:30. This is an informal gathering of musicians playing and celebrating their common interest in a relaxed manner with an audience who likes to listen to good music. More details here.
The following day (Sun 9th at 13:15 near Hapjeong station) there is a opportunity to learn some traditional Irish step dancing. This hour long class is designed for complete beginners. All you need is some comfortable shoes and clothes. Come along, meet new people and learn some Irish dancing! More details here.
The big event in our December calendar is the IAK Christmas party. This year it takes place at Bar Americano on Sat Dec 15th (starting at 7:30 pm). We’ve got some great music lined up for the evening, promotions on drinks and a raffle with fantastic prizes. More info here (and on Meetup and Facebook)
Then what better way to get ready for the NY than to continue on with those traditional Irish step dancing classes. On Sun 30th at 13:15 near Hapjeong station) there is another hour long class designed for complete beginners. All you need is some comfortable shoes and clothes. Come along, meet new people and learn some Irish dancing! More details here.
Ambassador’s message – September 7th
“As we pivot into autumn and summer becomes a memory, I hope you had a good break, whether that involved holidaying in Korea, taking a vacation nearby or, best of all, enjoying a break in Ireland. Before visiting family in the US, I took some time to hike part of the Kerry Way with my son, starting on a glorious day at Waterville. The weather did not keep up over following days but even with cloud overhead, Kerry is beautiful. Between hostelries along the way and Bed and Breakfasts at day’s end, it was a wonderful experience.
Returning from familiar settings reminds me that living far away from home can be a stressful experience as well as enjoyable and exciting. Many us living wihout our networks of family and long-term friends and well known professionals close-by have times when we’d like to speak to someone independent about the issues we are facing and how they are making us feel without having to deal with differences of cultural background.
A service established in July 2011 provides just this space. The Irish Online Counselling and Psychotherapy Service will arrange to speak to Irish people living abroad online through instant messaging, telephone and Skype. They are available outside Irish office hours and they are already speaking to Irish people all over the world. Further information is available at http://www.counsellingonline.ie/ and http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/generationemigration/2012/08/01/providing-support-beyond-the-departure-gates/.
I thought you might be interested in some catch up about the things that are on our radar screens here at the Embassy.
The Irish Association of Korea is hosting its second autumn Céilí at D-Cube Plaza, Shindorim. Last year’s event was wonderful with Irish music and dancing in the amphitheatre there and great facilities and shops in the adjacent shopping mall. If you are free, please join us on Saturday 15 September next, between 1pm and 5pm.
Ireland continues to make progress in terms of meeting its targets under the EC/ECB/IMF programme. Revenue remains on course and our underlying budget deficit is decreasing, though payments in response to the banking crisis continue to be a major burden. As a measure of increase confidence in our recovery, the National Treasury Management Agency returned to the markets with a bond offer last July. This generated strong investor demand with commitments of €5.23 billion.
A full return to the international bond market depends on resolving the crisis in the Eurozone because only that will definitively lower bond yields. Confidence in the Euro has been boosted considerably this week by the announcement by the ECB of using unlimited monetary resources to support the bond market. That the ECB’s council of central bankers agreed to this yesterday, with the support of EU leaders, indicates a new level of determination to protect and preserve the Euro. Markets have already rallied and the Euro strengthened. The key is to sustain this confidence. This and a return of demand in Europe will greatly boost growth prospects in exporting countries like Ireland and Korea.
Ireland does not export natural resources like Russia and the Middle East. Our exports are not based on commodities like South American economies. We offer an educated, talented and flexible workforce, combined with a low rate of tax at 12.5% on trading profits and an excellent business environment that is competitive and facilitates enterprise. In short, we trade on our reputation as a place to invest, to do business and to live.
It was important therefore that Ireland has steadily improved its reputation. According to a recent survey of public opinion within the top G8 countries, our ranking as a reputable country has improved from 17th to 15th (Canada ranked first, Iraq last.) We were 11th in three previous studies and so we have a ways to go but we are moving in the right direction. For more information, visit http://www.corporatereputations.ie.
Here in Seoul, we will have a unique platform to highlight Ireland’s road to recovery and the future of the Eurozone when former Taoiseach John Bruton addresses the 13th World Knowledge Forum on 10th October next. The forum, organised by the Maeil Media Group whose daily business newspaper is the fourth largest in the world by circulation, convenes some 3,000 leaders, policy makers and academics for presentations and discussions.
While the Foreign Direct Investment sector in Ireland has driven our growth since the 1960s and comprises the bulk of our exports, Ireland does have a vigorous indigenous sector and I will profile some of our leading exporters over the coming months. I am often asked, for example, what does Ireland export to Korea? I will look at some of those stories but also further a-field to give you a sense of Ireland’s economic future from the perspective of our entrepreneurs.
Have a good weekend,
Best wishes,
Eamonn
Eamonn McKee
Ambassador
Upcoming Events in September and Beyond
The summer months are always a little quiet for us here in the Irish Association of Korea as many of our organising committee usually travel outside of the country for whatever reasons. However, September always sees us returning to action with a bang, and this year is no exception.
So far the IAK have a number of events scheduled, and we are, as always, looking to do more. Below is a list of upcoming events and notices which we’d like to share with you, and we hope that you can join us at these over the coming months.
September Céilí
We will be hosting our annual céilí this year on September 15. The céilí will be hosted in D-Cube Plaza in Sindorim. Taking place in the afternoon, we will have dancing and live music throughout the afternoon. As always, this event has no cover charge and everyone is welcome to join in. Please visit our Facebook and Meetup pages for event details and updates. This event is very kindly supported by Daesung Corporation and the Embassy of Ireland.
Meet & Greet
Our regular monthly meet and greet events continue to gather pace, and Café Eire is slowly running out of space to seat us! Don’t let that hold you back, this is a great afternoon of tea, chat, a bit of music, and a few jars if you’re interested. This event takes place on the second Saturday of every month. Visit our Facebook and Meetup pages for photos from previous events and for updates on coming events. September’s event will take place on September 8 at 5.30.
Irish Korean Essay Competition
We will be launching another essay competition for university students this Autumn. The prize is still lucrative: a month of study in Ireland, with flights and accommodation included. The topic of the essay is yet to be confirmed, but as soon as the details are ready we will post them on the website here. While you’re here, why not have a read of last year’s winner?
Volunteer with the IAK
The IAK is always looking for volunteers to help us organise our activities throughout the year. We don’t generally look for specific skills, as a lot of enthusiasm and stamina are just as helpful for getting through some of our more arduous moments. Much of our work is done behind the scenes throughout the year promoting and organising events, and if you feel that you have something to offer please contact us.
Also, if you are a musician who plays Irish music but is struggling to find fellow musicians, let us know and we’ll try and set you up with a few contacts.
Irish Language Night
We’ve received a certain amount of interest for an Irish language night to be held sometime in the future. We’re hoping that we can get this started, and even host it regularly, after the céilí in September. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us.
The IAK In Your Area
There’s no doubt that the IAK is primarily active in and around Seoul. This is unfortunate and it is something we’d like to remedy. If you would like to host an Irish event in your neighbourhood or city, please contact us and we can help to promote it, or we can offer advice and support with the management of the event, among other things. We’ve been organising and promoting memorable events, both big (over 10,000 attendees) and small (less than ten) in Korea for over ten years. We are very eager to help spread Irishness around the peninsula. Please contact us to discuss any plans you might have.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all at our events over the next few months, and we hope that some of you will get in touch with us and help to keep the Irish Association of Korea an active cultural partner in the Korea.
Slán go fóill
Irish Association of Korea 한국아일랜드협회 