Community Notes: Remembering bridget Flynn & A New Take on Traditional Song

Sad news to begin with this week with the declaration that Bridget Flynn, of Flynn Irish Dance in Yonkers, has died. Flynn was a pillar of New York’s Irish dance community and her vision, talent, and warmth inspired generations. Although her passing is a major loss,Flynn leaves an enduring legacy of excellence that can be seen through the many people she inspired. Condolences to her family, friends and the innumerable students, of whom she was so proud, who had the priviledge of learning from her over the years. She will be sorely missed.

In less somber news, a few bits to convey of song-related interest.First up is the announcement of the “Féilire Amhrán Traidisiúnta na hÉireann” or “The Traditional Irish Song Calendar.” Created by Michael Steen, a singer and researcher based in Dublin, in collaboration with multimedia artist Dan MacDonald (aka SpitzerSpaceTelescope), the calendar is an intriguing product that uses modern technology to put a fresh spin on both a familiar object from the past and the understanding of traditional culture.

the idea came about when Steen, a singer, researcher, and long-time member of Dublin’s A Góilín Traditional Singers, began noticing the seasonality of certain songs in the Irish tradition and began collecting the ones – in both English and Irish – that he noticed were tied to particular days, months, and feast days.In the calendar, one song is assigned to each month, with other songs assigned to individual days throughout the year. In January 2026, for example, in addition to “In The Month of January,” which is the song of the month, there are 17 songs spread over the course of the month, with some days having more than one song assigned to them.the calendar includes over 300 songs.

Andy Irving. [Photo by Béla Kása]

Users are able to see and hear these songs through the QR codes that appear throughout the calendar. (For those who mightn’t know how to use a QR code, they’re little box shaped designs