Ukuhooley

My rather large Irish Catholic family planned a family reunion in Ireland in 2008. So I placed an ad in Dublin’s Craig’s List, announcing that I would be in Ireland in August and was seeking an opportunity to give a workshop and/or performance while there. I didn’t hear anything for several months but one day I got an email from Tony Boland of Dun Laoghaire, a seaside town south of Dublin. He wrote there wasn’t much interest in the ukulele in Ireland, but that there were “a few of us who would like to make something happen. Maybe, we could use your visit.” A couple dozen folks showed up for an all-day workshop from all over Ireland. Just a couple of weeks before my visit I had performed with the Strum Bums at the International Ukulele Festival in Honolulu HI. I bought a book about the Hawaiian people’s struggle to gain control over the Bishop Estate. The indigenous Hawaiians called their struggle a “huli”, meaning, “revolution”. So at the end of the workshop, I encouraged the participants to exchange contact info and to agree to meet again. And, I suggested, they should give themselves a name, say I had a idea for them if they wanted to hear it. They did. I said, “In Hawaii, a ‘huli’ is a revolution—and the Irish are well known for their fondness for revolution. But in Ireland, a “hooley” is a musical jam session. So why don’t you marry the two together and call yourself “Ukuhooley”? They did. I think recently they expanded it “Ukuhooligans”, although that may be a spin-off group. The photo above is of the folks who stayed with the initial workshop till the end. The group annually produces a popular ukulele festival (click on the photo to learn more) which I hope to attend someday.