Julie

Julie is a female first name (see Julie (given name)). It may refer to:

People

Mononyms:

Given name:

FitzGerald dynasty

The FitzGerald dynasty is a Hiberno-Norman or Cambro-Norman dynasty, and have been Peers of Ireland since at least the 14th century. The dynasty has also been referred to as the Geraldines. They were established by the conquest of large swathes of Irish territory by the sons and grandsons of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor (c. 1075 – 1135). Gerald was a Norman Castellan in Wales, and is the male progenitor of the Fitzgerald dynasty ("fitz", from the Latin "fils" indicating "sons of" Gerald).

Gerald's Welsh wife Nest ferch Rhys (c. 1085 – before 1136) is the female progenitor of the Fitzgeralds. She was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth. Through her the Fitzgeralds are descended from the Welsh rulers of Deheubarth as well as related to the Tudors who are descended from the same Welsh royal line. Consequently, the Fitzgeralds are cousins to the Tudors (Tewdwrs) through Nest and her Welsh family.

In his poetry, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, referred to Elizabeth FitzGerald (1527–89) as "Fair Geraldine".

List of folk festivals

A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. The following is an incomplete list of folk festivals worldwide. This list generally excludes festivals with only a partial focus on folk music or arts, though these multi-genre festivals may be included in individual subcategories of Category:Folk festivals by country.

Folk festivals may feature folk art and folk music, with a focus on both or either, as well as folk dance or ethnic foods. Featured genres are often catered to a particular region or culture, for example Celtic festivals or maritime music festivals. Diverse regional genres of folk music are popular among modern audiences, and there are major folk music festivals in many countries. It is sometimes claimed that the earliest modern folk festival was the 1928 Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Since then festivals have grown in size, such as the Feast of the Hunters' Moon in Indiana, which draws approximately 60,000 visitors per year. Some offshoots of folk music, such as country music and bluegrass music, have festival circuits devoted solely to the genre.

Oliver Plunkett

Oliver Plunkett (also spelt Oliver Plunket) (Irish: Oilibhéar Pluincéid), known as Saint Oliver Plunkett, (1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland who was the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, thus becoming the first new Irish saint for almost seven hundred years.

Biography

Oliver Plunkett was born on the 1st of November 1625 (earlier biographers gave his date of birth as 1 November 1629, but 1625 has been the consensus since the 1930s) in Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland, to well-to-do parents with Hiberno-Norman ancestors. He was related by birth to a number of landed families, such as the recently ennobled Earls of Roscommon, as well as the long-established Earls of Fingall, Lords Louth and Lords Dunsany. Until his sixteenth year, the boy's education was entrusted to his cousin Patrick Plunkett, Abbot of St Mary's, Dublin and brother of Luke Plunkett, the first Earl of Fingall, who later became successively Bishop of Ardagh and of Meath. As an aspirant to the priesthood he set out for Rome in 1647, under the care of Father Pierfrancesco Scarampi of the Roman Oratory. At this time the Irish Confederate Wars were raging in Ireland; these were essentially conflicts between native Irish Roman Catholics, English and Irish Anglicans and Protestants. Scarampi was the Papal envoy to the Roman Catholic movement known as the Confederation of Ireland. Many of Plunkett's relatives were involved in this organisation.

The Brock McGuire Band

The Brock McGuire Band is an Irish Folk group fronted by Paul Brock and Manus McGuire. Residing in County Clare, button accordionist and melodeonist Paul Brock and fiddler Manus McGuire are two of Ireland’s most celebrated traditional musicians and have been at the forefront of Irish music for many years. Joined on piano by acclaimed composer Denis Carey and Garry O'Meara on banjo, mandolin and vocals.

The Brock McGuire Band is a tenacious blend of instruments emphasizing mostly Irish music but also sprinkling in impressive arrangements of American Old Timey, Bluegrass, French-Canadian, and other Celtic traditions.

In 2011, they collaborated with various Nashville musicians including 14 time Grammy Winner Ricky Skaggs to record, "Green Grass Blue Grass". An exploration of the connection between Irish Traditional Music and American Bluegrass and Appalachian music. The album was launched on the Grand Ole Opry, March 11th 2011.

Green Grass Blue Grass featured Ricky Skaggs on mandolin, Bryan Sutton on guitar, Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, Jeff Taylor on accordion and Mark Fain on Double Bass. The album has been described by critics as "an adrenaline rush", "a masterpiece" and "virtuosity in full flight".