State Dinner hosted by The President of Ireland Mary McAleese
and
Dr. Martin McAleese
in honour of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
and
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh
MENU
Cured salmon with Burren smoked salmon cream and
lemon balm jelly, horseradish and wild watercress,
Kilkenny organic cold pressed rapeseed oil
Rib of Slaney Valley Beef, ox cheek and tongue
with smoked champ potato and fried spring cabbage,
new season broad beans and carrots with
pickled and wild garlic leaf
Carrageen set West Cork cream with Meath strawberries,
fresh yoghurt mousse and soda bread sugar biscuits,
Irish apple balsamic vinegar meringue
Irish Cheese Plate
Tea and Coffee
Château de Fieuzal, 2005, Graves Pessac-Léognan
Château Lynch-Bages, 1998, Pauillac
EXECUTIVE CHEF: Ross Lewis
CATERERS: With Taste
SUPPLIERS
Smoked salmon – Brigitta Hedda-Curtin, Burren Smokehouse, Lisdoonvarna, Co.Clare
Salmon – Clare Island organic salmon, Clare Island, Co.Mayo
Lemon balm – Paul Flynn, The Tannery cookery school gardens, Dungarvan, Co.Waterford
Organic cold pressed rapeseed oil – Kitty Colchester, Drumeen Farms, Co. Kilkenny
Wild watercress, cabbage, carrots, chive flower and garlic leaf –
Denis Healy Farms, Co.Wicklow
Rib of beef – From a farm in Co Wexford, produced by Kettyle Irish Foods, Drumshaw, Lisnaskea, Co.Fermanagh
Ox cheek and tongue – M & K Butchers, Rathcoole, Co.Dublin
Black pudding – McCarthys of Kanturk, Kanturk, Co.Cork
Potatoes and spring onions – McNally family farm, Ring Common, Co.Dublin
Butter, milk, cream and crème fraîche – Alan and Valerie Kingston, Glenilen Farm, Drimoleague, Co.Cork
Irish apple balsamic vinegar and apples – David Llewellyn,
Llewellyn orchard, Lusk, Co.Dublin
Strawberries – Pat Clarke, Stamullen, Co.Meath
Milk – Cleary family, Glenisk, Tullamore, Co.Offaly
Dittys Irish oatmeal biscuits – Robert Ditty, Belfast
Stoneground wholemeal flour – Kells wholemeal, Bennettsbridge, Co.Kilkenny
Buttermilk and butter – Cuinneog Ltd. Balla, Castlebar, Co.Mayo
Irish Cheeses
Produced by David Tiernan in Dunleer, Co. Louth
Hard Comté style cheese made using raw cow’s milk from the Tiernan’s own herd of Montbéliarde cows.
Produced by the Grubb Family in Fethard, Co. Tipperary.
Semi-soft blue cheese, made using cow’s milk from their own and selected neighbouring farms.
Produced by the Steele Family in Milleens on the Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork.
Semi-soft, washed rind cheese made in a classic Munster style from pasteurised cow’s milk.
Produced by Helen Finnegan in Stoneyford, Co. Kilkenny
Semi-firm goat’s milk cheese in the classic French Tomme style.
White soda bread, brown soda bread, sourdough wheaten bread,
Kerrygold salted butter and Glenilen unsalted butter
ENTERTAINMENT
Playing on the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II (Battle-axe Landing)
Liam O’Flynn – Uilleann Pipes
Master uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn is from County Kildare and began piping classes aged eleven. As a young man Liam encountered two other giants of Irish piping, Seamus Ennis and Willie Clancy. Along with Dónal Lunny, Liam was one of the founding members of one of Ireland’s legendary bands Planxty. He also attracted an international audience when he recorded Shaun Davey’s The Brendan Voyage a groundbreaking orchestral piece which was followed by Granuaile, The Relief of Derry Symphony and The Pilgrim, all composed by Davey. Other regular collaborators include Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney with whom Liam has recently recorded The Poet and the Piper.
Denise Kelly – Harpist
Harpist, Denise Kelly began her musical studies in Dublin and following her graduation from Trinity College, Dublin with a MusB Degree, she moved to London where she studied harp with the renowned Russian harpist Maria Korchinska. She also studied composition and conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. An Arts Council scholarship enabled her to finish her harp education at the Conservatoire Royale de Musique, Brussels. In 1999 she was appointed as lecturer in harp at the DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama. She has a great interest in contemporary music and is herself a composer and arranger. As a freelance orchestral harpist, she has worked with the N.S.O., RTECO, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, and the Ulster Orchestra. She has recorded solo and chamber music with BBC, RTE, UTV, radio and TV, and has made numerous CDs with the cellist Moya O’Grady and choral group ‘Anuna’.
After dinner entertainment
A performance of traditional Irish music and dance
This short performance features many of the most distinctive forms and instruments associated with Irish traditional music. The opening and closing sections include dancers performing several traditional dances with reels, hornpipes and slipjigs. A song entitled ‘Eleanor Plunkett’ and composed by one of Ireland's most famous composers, Turlough O'Carolan, featuring voice and harp, forms the central section. The melody is performed in the sean-nós style (translated as old style) and is a unique element of the Irish tradition.
Performers
Tara Breen – Fiddle
A native of County Clare, fiddle player Tara Breen has won All-Ireland honours on several instruments, including fiddle, concert flute and saxophone. Tara has toured internationally including visits to the Philippines, South Korea, the USA, Germany, Spain and China. In 2005 she travelled with Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Éireann on the All-Britain Tour.
Dónal Lunny – Bouzouki
Dónal Lunny is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the renaissance of Irish music in the last half-century. Dónal was a founding member of several of the most prominent Irish traditional bands of recent years, including Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts. In 2008, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Trinity College, Dublin, and is a member of Aosdána, a self-governing body of Ireland’s most prominent artists.
James Mahon – Pipes
James Mahon is a traditional musician from Dublin who graduated from the DIT Conservatory of Music in 2009 and is a specialist in traditional Irish Music and ethnomusicology. He is the recipient of seven All Ireland titles, across a range of categories. James studied flute under Tom Doorly and June McCormack, and Uilleann Pipes under Joe Doyle.
Iarla Ó Lionáird – Voice
Iarla Ó Lionáird grew up and learned his craft in the musical heartland of Cuil Aodha in the West Cork Gaeltacht. From his iconic early recording of the vision song Aisling Gheal whilst still a boy, he has established himself both as a masterful exponent of sean nós song and as a pioneer in its renewal and development. Iarla has sung in his unique style for audiences across the globe from New York to London and from Cape Town to Moscow, Rome and Tokyo.
Michael Rooney – Harp
Originally from County Monaghan, Michael is an internationally recognised and award-winning harper and concertina player, as well as a tutor and composer. His major works include two Aifreann na Geailge masses, The Famine Suite and the Battle of the Books suite. He has recorded two albums together with June McCormack, Land’s End and Draíocht.
Maria Buffini - Dancer
Maria began dancing at the age of four with the O’Shea School in Dublin, Ireland. She danced competitively and toured extensively with the School, performing from a young age at festivals in Ireland, Europe and America. She began performing with Riverdance in 2004 and since then, has danced with the company in Ireland, Europe, America, Japan and Taiwan.
Cal Moran - Dancer
Cal began dancing at the age of nine with Scoil Rince Mona Ni Rodaigh where he quickly advanced, qualifying for the Worlds at the age of thirteen. He has toured extensively with Riverdance all around the world, from places as far and between as Dubai, Beijing and Los Angeles.
Padraic Moyles - Dancer
Padraic joined Riverdance in 1997 and in 2006 was nominated for an Ovation Award for Leading Actor in a Broadway touring Production. He choreographed and performed in the Old Bog Road by Eileen Ivers and has performed with artists including Maria Carey, Shania Twain, The Chieftains, and Ryan O’ Neill.
Niamh O’Connor – Dancer
Dublin-born Niamh began dancing at four years of age and has won numerous Leinster, All-Ireland and World championship medals throughout her competitive dancing career. Having started performing with Jurys Cabaret in Dublin when she was ten, Niamh joined Riverdance in 1995 for the world premiere in Dublin. She has toured extensively with the show over the last fifteen years and she holds the record for the most shows performed in Riverdance.
With many thanks to Linda Farrell at the Presidents office for her help.
Don't forget to Feed the Fish at the bottom of this post!
