BellaVista Launch May Trad Weekend With Ioscaid

Trad group Ioscaid will play the BellaVista Hotel Cobh, Co.Cork  ‘Trad Music Weekend’ on 27/28/29th May.

Ioscaid (pronounced Iss-Kidge) is a young and upcoming group of lads from counties Down, Armagh, Tyrone and Derry. They came together in late 2009 as a band to enter the Siansa Gael Linn competition which is now celebrating it’s 10th year in 2011. The basis of the band came about when Dermot and Fintan Mulholland (from Magherafelt in Derry) asked Declan Magee and Niall McCrickard (from Down) to join the band Coimriú in 2008 to enter Siansa. Coimriú made it through to the final that year and won 3rd place.

The following year the lads came together again, this time adding two friends Niall Murphy (Armagh) and Ciarán Hanna (Tyrone), and entered Siansa under the name of ‘Ioscaid’. After the various rounds of the competition, the group were selected as one of the 8 finalists to compete in the National Concert Hall in the Grand Final of the competition. In April 2010 the lads travelled the road to Dublin (not without a few wrong turns!) with the aim of winning the Siansa trophy. The 6 lads made history in winning the competition as they were the first group to bring the trophy to Ulster!

Since winning the competition Ioscaid have played all over the country, with gigs in Cootehill and Armagh as well playing at various festivals including William Kennedy piping festival, Temple Bar Tradfest, the Ulster Fleadh and also the All-Ireland fleadh in Cavan. The guys also made appearances on RTÉ’s Ceili House radio program and BBC’s Blas Ceoil tv program.

Check out the band’s Facebook Page at   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ioscaid/129520317060458