Sliabh Luachra

Sliabh Luachra is not an administrative area and has no fixed boundary - it is the boggy upland around the Cork and Kerry border near Castleisland, Scartaglin, Ballydesmond and Knocknagree - but it is one of the most distinct regional styles in Irish music. Where most of the country plays reels and jigs, Sliabh Luachra's core repertoire is polkas and slides, played fast for set dancing, and the standard pairing is fiddle with a single-row button accordion or a piano accompaniment, which is unusual. The lineage runs through Padraig O'Keeffe, an itinerant fiddle master and schoolteacher who taught by his own written tablature rather than staff notation, to his pupils Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford and Johnny O'Leary, whose recordings define the sound. Set dancing remains part of it rather than a revival. Sessions in the local pubs continue and the Patrick O'Keeffe Festival in late October is the annual gathering.

What you actually see

• The polkas and slides - the core repertoire, played for dancing.
• The fiddle and box pairing - single-row accordion with fiddle, and piano behind.
• The O'Keeffe lineage - taught by tablature, carried by Murphy, Clifford and O'Leary.
• The set dancing - still part of the sessions rather than a revival.

When to go

Any time for sessions, which are irregular - ask locally which pub and which night. The Patrick O'Keeffe Festival at Castleisland in late October is the reliable gathering.

Honest expectations

Sessions are informal and not scheduled for visitors; they happen when the players turn up. The pubs are small and local. The area has no visitor infrastructure built around the music.

Nearby

Killarney is south-west; Castleisland and Millstreet are the main towns.