The town of Milton took time on June 22 to celebrate its strong Irish roots by presenting a Celtic Music festival headlined by internationally recognized Frankie Gavin and his band DeDannan. Gavin has been cited as “the world’s fastest fiddler: by the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I hear Milton is more Irish than Ireland itself,” joked Gavin. He and his band flew in from Ireland the night before the event.
The sun shone out of a clear blue sky over Governor Hutchinson Field atop Milton Hill for the Sunday afternoon event. Scores of children ran about playing under the watchful eye of parents and grandparents who themselves enjoyed the sun and the sounds of the local musicians in the Celtic style: The Fenian Sons, Erin’s Melody, Cat and the Moon, and Devri, featuring Pauline Wells.
“It was great! Hopefully it will become a regular thing,” said Matt Carey, a drummer for The Fenian Sons. The festival was the result of a six-week collaborative effort undertaken by community leaders such as Town Selectman Dennis Keohane, Milton Police Chief Richard Wells, and the members of the non-profit organization “We are Milton.” The event was funded by donations from selectman Keohane, Chief Wells, the Copeland Foundation, and other institutions such as Curry College, The Briar Group, and Fallon Ambulance Service.

“We decided on a full day of Irish music because Milton has deep Celtic roots,” said Keohane, who was born in Ireland and is the first foreign-born member of the board of selectmen. Curry College donated $5,000, as did Milton Hospital and the Briar group, which also provided the beer for the occasion. “Today is a celebration of Milton, a celebration of our Celtic roots, and Celtic roots outside of Milton,” said Keohane.

Angela and George Coulter fall into the “outside of Milton” category, but there they were enjoying the festivities with insiders and outsiders alike. “We are both from Ireland, born and reared, but we have been adopted by this wonderful country,” said Angela, who lived in Dorchester before relocating to Florida. They were in the area visiting family and decided to drop by the festival. “Today’s event is wonderful. Next year I predict it will be bigger and that there will be a dance floor,” she said.

Linda Lee Sheridan and Brian Kelly, co-chairs of the group “We Are Milton,” explained that the festival arose from Milton’s 350th anniversary celebration in 2011, a year-long event that was punctuated by a fireworks display that drew such a large crowd that the organizers decided to have an annual celebration. But last year they felt that something was missing. “We felt a void and wanted to do something else to build some community in Milton and so we created today’s festival”, said Sheridan. “We wanted to draw a large crowd and so we thought an event focused on Irish culture would be great,” added Kelly.

Tom and Anne Feeney of South Boston certainly came to Sunday’s event to celebrate their Irish roots. “We are here for the music we love, the Irish music and we do some Irish dancing, so we love to listen to it. It’s a beautiful day and it is a great day to be out,” Tom said.