Button Lane Primary School

Irish Band and Irish Dancing

The Irish Band and Irish Dancing clubs have been running for the past 6 years. Our pupils have represented our school at various annual events across Manchester and are well-known in the Manchester schools traditional folk music scene.

Wythenshawe Irish Music Collective

Miss Earley is the lead teacher for the Wythenshawe Irish Music Collective (WIMC) which brings together pupils from Button Lane Primary, St. Aidan's Primary School, St. John Fisher and Thomas More Catholic Primary and Manchester Health Academy. Many of our past pupils return for lessons every week, maintaining those friendships that they have built whilst at our school and continuing their musical journey.

The WIMC perform annually at the Wythenshawe Irish Music Festival held at The Forum, inspiring pupils from other schools to learn to play an instrument and join an ensemble in whatever genre of music they wish. Our pupils are of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and many play classical or jazz music too but they come together to learn and play music from what may be for some, an unfamiliar genre.

A family

Being a member of Irish Band or Irish Dancing is about more than learning a new skill. Our pupils mix with children from different classes and year groups, pupils from other local schools and some of Manchester's finest Irish musicians. They find common ground and form new friendships, grow in confidence and gain experience in performing and socialising in different contexts. Our Irish clubs are a family of pupils and teachers from all different cultural backgrounds. Our pupils have been publicly praised for their discipline and professionalism at events such as the RNCM Showcase and Manchester Town Hall Irish Festival.

Joining a club

Generally, Irish Band and Irish Dancing are open to children in KS2. There is a certain level of ability required to join each club due to the content taught and the pace of the lessons so please speak to your teacher or Miss Earley about this. It is generally recommended that children in Year 3 wait till after the Irish Festival trip to join either club so that they have had time to gain some experience. 

Instruments can be provided (guitar, ukulele, tin whistle, fiddle, snare drum, bodhran, cajon, piano). If your child has their own instrument - fantastic!

If you are interested in joining these clubs, please speak to Miss Earley.

Club info

Mondays - Irish Dancing - 2:50pm - 3:50pm

Fridays - Irish Band - 2:50pm - 3:50pm

Competitions, lessons and joining a Manchester band

Some of our most gifted pupils have even joined the Manchester comhaltas, Tara O'Carolan, where they competed at a North West Regional Fleadh (competition). They competed in solo, duet and group categories and won 2nd place in the 12-15 Grupai Cheoil (group music category). This was an excellent achievement, especially given their ages. This opportunity showed the children that there are communities outside of our school that they can be a part of.

As a child, Miss Earley was a member of St Wilfrid's CCE and competed nationally and internationally and would highly recommend joining a band of any genre!

If your child would like to join a Manchester-based band, make new friends and learn new music/instruments, contact:

• Teacher Angela Usher, One Education Irish Music Centre, Levenshulme
• Teacher Michelle O'Leary, St Wilfrid's CCE, Cheetham Hill
• Teachers Sarah Williams and Michelle Hemmingway, Tara O'Carolan, Chorlton
• Didsbury Music Centre
• Manchester Central Music Centre
• Chorlton Music Centre
• Steelpan Centre
• Russian Music Centre

There are adult Russian Music and Steelpan Centres as well as adult Irish Music lessons available through St Wilfrid's CCE or Tara O'Carolan CCE should you or older siblings (over 18's) be interested too.

Members Guestbook

If you are a member of Irish Band or Irish Dancing, leave a message in our Guestbook to share what you think of the clubs.