Over the weekend, the Hounds spent some time down at the Sean-nós Festival held in Olympia on The Evergreen State College’s campus. While there to put on a quick hurling demonstration, we were able to mingle with some of the other festival-goers. We’ll have to practice to keep from butchering them, but we tried to pick up a few phrases for when we send a couple Co-op members to Ireland in June.

Hosted annually by the Irish Cultural Society of the Pacific Northwest, the Sean-nós Northwest Festival celebrates and promotes three aspects of traditional Irish culture: singing, dancing, and the Irish language, otherwise known as Gaeilge. These cultural treasures are incredibly rare to find anywhere outside of Ireland.

“Sean-nós” (pronounced “shan-nos”) literally means “old style.” It refers to the Irish language songs, poetry, and dances that were popular during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although songs and steps are passed down from teacher to student and between artists, each performance is unique and personal to the performer.

Catch us again next year at 2019’s festival!