The Music Makers of West Clare

The Music Makers of West Clare is a visitor centre and museum in Leagard North, on the Flag Road just outside Miltown Malbay in County Clare. It tells the story of the region’s traditional Irish music, gathering together the history of the local musicians, instruments and playing styles for which West Clare has long been known.

Miltown Malbay and its surrounding parishes have a deep connection to Irish traditional music, and the centre draws on that heritage. Displays cover regional musical traditions and instruments such as the fiddle, tin whistle, concertina and uilleann pipes, along with the ceili bands and country house dances that kept the music alive. Local players associated with the area, including the piper Willie Clancy and fiddler Martin Junior Crehan, feature in the story the centre sets out to tell.

At the heart of the visit are two short films. One is an eight-minute film on the history and origin of the traditional instruments and the people who played them, and the other is “The Session”, a specially commissioned fourteen-minute film in which local musicians perform the tunes most closely tied to the great players of County Clare.

The centre sits on the Wild Atlantic Way and makes a good stop for anyone interested in the living tradition of Irish music. A visit takes roughly forty minutes. Details such as opening times and admission are best confirmed directly with the centre before you travel.