REEL RETREAT:
IRISH MUSIC CAMP

Reel Retreat: Irish Music Camp

Coming 2027
 

Five days · Cooley Peninsula, County Louth, Ireland

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Some things are best learned by living them. Reel Retreat is a five-day residential music camp for adults — a proper immersion in Irish traditional music, culture, and community, set in a stunning private retreat on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland.

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Designed for music lovers of all levels, Reel Retreat brings together top Irish traditional musicians as tutors and guides. Your days are spent in hands-on workshops — building technique, learning tunes, and getting comfortable with the music in a relaxed and supportive environment. Your evenings are spent the way evenings should be spent in Ireland — in the pubs, at the sessions, and under the open sky of one of Ireland's great folk festivals. This is not a weekend workshop. It is five days of living inside the tradition — in the landscape that produced it, in the company of people who love it as much as you do.

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The setting

Reel Retreat takes place on the Cooley Peninsula — one of Ireland's most beautiful and historically rich landscapes, nestled between the Cooley Mountains and Carlingford Lough, with the Mourne Mountains rising across the water. This is Brendan McCreanor's home ground, and the heartland of the ancient Oriel tradition — one of the oldest and most distinctive regional styles in Irish traditional music.

Your base is a private residential retreat in the heart of this landscape — exclusive to the Reel Retreat group for the duration of the camp. Accommodation, meals, workshops, and evening sessions all take place in and around this beautiful setting. The medieval town of Carlingford is on your doorstep. The village of Rostrevor — home to the legendary Fiddler's Green International Festival — is a short drive away.

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The music

Daytime workshops cover whistle, uilleann pipes, fiddle, bodhrán, guitar, accordion, and session skills — led by Brendan McCreanor and a small team of carefully chosen tutors. Classes are small, relaxed, and tailored to the level of each participant. Whether you are picking up an instrument for the first time or looking to finally feel comfortable in a session, you will be met where you are.

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Session skills are built into every day — not as an afterthought, but as a core part of the programme. By the end of the week you will not just know how to play. You will know how to play with others.

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The evenings

Reel Retreat runs alongside one of Ireland's great folk festivals — bringing your group into the heart of a living, breathing Irish music event for concerts, sessions, and céilí. You will hear world-class musicians perform in intimate venues, stumble into late-night pub sessions, and experience the kind of musical atmosphere that simply cannot be manufactured.

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Some evenings stay closer to home — a session in a Carlingford pub, a fireside gathering at your retreat base, a night of storytelling and song with Brendan and the tutors.

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The experience

Irish language and folklore are woven through the week — giving you a deeper sense of the culture that produced the music. Meals are taken together. Friendships form quickly. The landscape is extraordinary. And by the time Friday comes around, most people are already wondering how soon they can come back.

Limited to 20 guests. This is a small, carefully curated experience — not a mass-market event.

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What's included

• 4 nights accommodation in a private residential retreat on the Cooley Peninsula

• All meals throughout the camp

• Five days of hands-on music workshops with Brendan McCreanor and guest tutors

• Instrument tuition in whistle, uilleann pipes, fiddle, bodhrán, guitar, accordion, and session skills

• Evening festival access, pub sessions, and céilí

• Irish language and folklore experiences

• Transport to evening events

• A community of like-minded music lovers from around the world
   

Land-only. Flights not included. Participants arrive and depart from Dublin Airport.

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Pricing

Full details and pricing will be announced in late 2026. Register your interest now to be first to hear when bookings open — places will be strictly limited to 20 guests.

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