Lackagh Comhaltas was founded in the early 1960’s. Music continued to flourish in the area down through the years, under the direction of Joe Collins, the local primary school principal. 

Over the past decade, Lackagh Comhaltas have been extremely active and vibrant as a Comhaltas branch, under the direction of chairperson and teacher, Sharon Connell-Geraghty. In September 2011, we recorded and produced a CD entitled “The Bloom of Youth”. This proved a great success and following this, various different music projects have been completed to date. Every Friday, we meet for our branch sessions to encourage “ceol agus cairdeas” (music and friendship) and to learn and exchange tunes. These sessions take place in a community based environment where lifelong friendships are formed. We thank our dedicated and experienced teachers: Sharon Connell-Geraghty, Sinead Walsh, Annemarie Hughes and Niamh Badger who organise the weekly gatherings. Alongside our sessions, we invite renowned guest musicians from all over Ireland to visit and play tunes with our musicians. 

Lackagh Comhaltas members are no strangers to the Fleadh Cheoil scene, be it playing a session on the street, competing in a competition or playing to a large audience on the outdoor gig rig! Solo competitors, duets, trios, ceilí bands and grupaí cheoil from the branch have successfully competed at county, provincial and All-Ireland Fleadh cheoil’s in all age groups. We are so proud to have taken home All-Ireland medals in numerous competitions in recent years. These achievements are testament to the commitment and loyalty of our young musicians, teachers and parents alike. We were All-Ireland grupa cheoil champions in 2015, 2017 and 2018. 

In addition, the branch has also been involved with the National Mummer’s Festival, Plearacha, Siansa, Scór and Community Games competitions.

Each year, our members endeavour to perform at numerous charitable concerts where we have been invited as guest musicians. We have also had the privilege to support leading traditional acts such as Sean Keane, Goitse, We Banjo 3 and Sharon Shannon. 

In 2018, the Comhaltas committee, branch teachers and young musicians dedicated their time and effort in order to bring our second CD to fruition, simply entitled "Ceol agus Cairdeas".

Covid-19 has restricted a lot of our normal activities, however we have learnt to adapt and provide an outlet for our young musicians to perform online. Over the past year, Lackagh Comhaltas have successfully ran the following events online: Facebook Tune A Day Challenge, our members attended workshops/masterclasses with musicians all around Ireland, Trad Zoom Quiz, Guest musicians recitals via Zoom, Performance Recitals online by branch members, Galway County Comhaltas online session and not forgetting our Lackagh Comhaltas Virtual Feis which proved a huge success. 

Sunday April 11th 2021 marked a momentous day for Lackagh Comhaltas. It was an honour and privilege to host the Lackagh Comhaltas Virtual Feis. This event was the brainchild of our vice-chairperson and teacher, Sinead Walsh who seen the need for a competition element to focus childrens’ learning during Covid restrictions. In total, we received 1,137 entries, which were shortlisted down to 420 for the Feis Finals. Competitions were held in the following instruments: Banjo, Button Accordion, Concertina, Fiddle, Harp, Flute/Whistle and Miscellaneous. We had four different age categories: u10, u12, u14 and u18. We received entries from the four corners of Ireland, as well as England, Scotland, America and New Zealand.

Covid created many challenges for us all over the past two years, but it also challenged us to think differently and creatively. What started out as a small spark of musical inspiration evolved into a successful Feis that exceeded all our expectations.  It was a huge undertaking for our Comhaltas branch, and involved many long hours of preparing, organising, sorting technical issues, administration, and management in all areas to ensure a successful Feis. All the hard work paid off and we were astonished by the wonderful feedback received from those who participated. Lackagh Comhaltas are delighted to have provided a virtual stage for wonderful young musicians from all over the world to showcase their talents. 

In concluding, we, at Lackagh Comhaltas, aim to encourage young friendships through Irish traditional music, song, dance and storytelling. Long may this strong tradition continue amongst our youth.