The Blue Mosquitoes plans a 'Coming Home' tour Ireland in 2011 and needs your help!
We need help to secure gigs and festivals when we tour Ireland in June/July 2011. You may have friends in the Irish folk scene that can help promote the tour or know someone who owns a pub that we can play at. Pre-secured gigs and Irish-side support will increase greatly the chances of a successful federal grant application needed to make the tour possible. You can also support our plans to tour by buying one our CD’s or booking us for a gig. We plan to save most of the money we earn from CD sales and gigs to help fund the ‘Coming Home’ tour.
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Background to the Tour In honouring their own Irish roots and the close historical and cultural ties between Tasmania and Ireland, Daideo and the Blue Mosquitos intend touring Ireland in 2011 for the 'Coming Home' tour. The tour will be honouring the memories of those convict women who travelled on board the Mary Anne III, as the first boatload of women to be transported directly from Ireland to Van Diemen's Land, arriving in Hobart in 1841.
As well as marking the 170th anniversary of this event the tour will include a range of songs dedicated to other important events in the shared history of Ireland and Tasmania, including the arrival of the 'Bridal Ship' in 1814. (This shipload of Irish female convicts was sent via England and Sydney to Hobart purely to provide women of a marriageable age to the male dominated colony. 2011 will also mark the 200th anniversary of the trials of a number of women who arrived on this ship.)
The band has strong links with Ireland and its music maintained through many generations. Band members Moira and Chris have early links with Ireland with Chris’s Irish ancestors arriving as convicts in the 1850’s and Moire’s Irish ancestors arriving as free settlers around the same time. The stories of these ancestors will also be told through song on the tour. Modern day Van Diemen’s Land stories such has the bands tribute song to the infamous 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race where many sailors lost their lives will also be shared with an Irish Audience.
Hannah, Stuart and Chris also share a common Irish lineage through the Foley family which is thought to have left Ireland for England around 1800 before finally migrating to Tasmania in the 1970’s.
The 'Coming Home' tour represents the taking home through song of the spirit of the Irish women transported from Ireland to Tasmania in the 19th Century. The folklore of those times is part of the shared cultural identity of both lands and the tour aims to share the Tasmanian experiences of these women with those in their homeland. In particular the tour will visit the home villages, towns and cities of those on the Mary Anne III. The tour is also a coming home for the band members as they explore the land that has inspired their ancestors and continues to inspire their music.
Meaghers Escape
The tune below is a Hannah Foley original composition recorded live at a practice session at the Republic Bar Hobart Tasmania in June 2009. It pays tribute to Tasmania's Irish heritage
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Listen to a 'Live' recoding of this tune 'Live at the Mecure Hotel, Launceston 2009'
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
This high energy tune captures the daring escape of Irish Rebel Thomas Meagher from Van Diemands Land to New York in 1852. With the aid of a network of friends and fresh horses Thomas rode across the state to a waiting ship and found freedom in America. Thomas Meagher was a political prisoner who led an uprising during the time of the potato famine. This movement was crushed and Thomas was sent as punishment to Van Diemands Land for the term of his natural life. Following his escape to America he became known as the Irish General for his part in the Civil War where he faught for the Union.
The band is very excited about their upcoming tour of UK and Ireland to take place in July 2011. They have already secured a number of gigs in England and Ireland and will soon be...
The Blue Mosquitoes have just returned from the 2010 National Folk festival held in Canberra and it certainly lived up to the band's expectations. It was a fantastic action packed 5 days of fun performing...
The Saw Doctors may have brought the Irish weather with them to Hobart but it could not deter the enthusiasm of the many who braved the elements to hear this legendary Irish band. For 'The...
The Blue Mosquitoes are pleased to announce the relaease of their new self titled CD. This album contains their high energy crowd pleasing covers as well as some orginals. Recorded in South Hobart by Richard...
Your are currently browsing this site with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).
Your current web browser must be updated to version 7 of Internet Explorer (IE7) to take advantage of all of template's capabilities.
Why should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7? Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer from the ground up, with better security, new capabilities, and a whole new interface. Many changes resulted from the feedback of millions of users who tested prerelease versions of the new browser.
The most compelling reason to upgrade is the improved security. The Internet of today is not the Internet of five years ago. There are dangers that simply didn't exist back in 2001, when Internet Explorer 6 was released to the world. Internet Explorer 7 makes surfing the web fundamentally safer by offering greater protection against viruses, spyware, and other online risks.
Get free downloads for Internet Explorer 7, including recommended updates as they become available. To download Internet Explorer 7 in the language of your choice, please visit the Internet Explorer 7 worldwide page.
Web Design