Screaming Orphans • Sep 13 • 7:30 PM • Free

Screaming Orphans are the four Diver sisters - Joan, Angela, Gráinne and Marie Thérèse - with the good fortune to have been raised in the magic of Bundoran in County Donegal, Ireland.  There is a great tradition of music to be found in Irish homes especially in the Gaeltacht or Irish-speaking areas which have produced the likes of Clannad, Enya and Mairead, Micheal and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill. The sisters' home was no exception. From an early age, the Diver sisters performed with their mother Kathleen Fitzgerald, a well-known Céilí singer in Ireland, playing shows in Ireland, England and Germany. 

When the band hit their teenage years, they formed their own Celtic pop band, Screaming Orphans. The band soon became one of the most sought-after Celtic bands and continues to actively tour across America, Canada and Europe, and play at various Arts, Folk, Celtic, and World music festivals as well as performing arts centers and concert series. The band is known for their powerful, award-winning sound that combines their own original melodic old-school pop songs with their unique and modern take on traditional Irish music and song. 

Sheridan Rúitín was born in The Spring of 2020 in a Congers, NY detached garage converted "Sheridan's Pub." In the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, as more pubs and restaurants were shutting their doors, Billy Houlihan became more and more of a regular at his next door neighbor's (Sheridan's) pub. Billy would bring his banjo over to the pub, and him and Sheridan would drink beer and have a laugh playing all sorts of Irish ballads, rebel songs, and jigs & reels. They invited over  Shannon Cokeley, to sing and play guitar. Billy's brother, Johnny, was sent home from college in the midst of the pandemic, leading Billy to purchase a used accordion, hand it to Johnny and say "learn it." Soon Shannon's husband, Tommy, began learning how to play a bodhran. This led to many fantastic jam sessions and 3 part harmonies of old traditional Irish songs, and a new band was born: Sheridan Rúitín.