How can I be Irish yet never, ever heard of a
Ceili before this last year? For sure, somebody left me out of the loop when telling me about my
Irish heritage and tradition.
Well, I finally found out about
Ceili' parties (K-Lee) thanks to the wonderful
Sharon Elliot and a group of awesome Beach residents who carry this out this tradition each year. A few of the partiers were
Bobbie Jo and Andrew, Barbara King-Hall, Donna Christensen, Carolyn and Rick Drazien, Terry and Ken, Mary and Moine, Dennis and Kathy,, MaryAnne and Tom, my hubby and so on.A
Ceili is a social gathering of any sort, and does not necessarily involve dancing, but certainly can (ours did)! It is a literary entertainment where stories and
tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed. (as per google)
Ceili's are still popular in Ireland and Scotland and part of the Celtic tradition.
We were invited to the
Ceili this year held at
Mary and Moine's 
home in Atlantic Beach, where the group of friends gathered and
read their poems, performed their skits, played the drum, and shared their chants. At the end, there was dance!
Frank and I didn't know everyone, but felt warmly accepted by the entire group and were drawn in by their play and their genuiness.
I even shared a Native American Indian Chant while drumming -- and I can't carry a tune in a bucket (as many witnessed!) 
You can see the words to my chant in the right column!
Andrew, who was much better at remembering the tune and the words to his chant, taught us the
'The Earth Is Our Mother' chant. (see right column)
All in all, this Ceili rated a
'10' in
'firsts' and
'bests.'Sing along....
.......Hey yanga, ho yanga, hey yan yan! Hey yanga, ho yanga, hey yan yan........
