A Guinness World Record has been broken at the Fleadh Cheoil in Wexford after more than 1,000 people gathered to form the largest céilí band to play together in history.
Some 1,018 people gathered at Chadwicks Wexford Park GAA grounds on Thursday evening to attempt to achieve the traditional music festival’s second record in the town.
Participants played The Wexford Polka, The Gaelscoil Polka and The Little Diamond for more than five minutes.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Glen Pollard said any record is special, “but today is particularly special”.
READ MORE
“Your music drove me to emotion, so you did a wonderful job. But at the end of the day, it’s all about breaking records,” he said.
Last year, organisers broke a separate record after hosting the largest tin whistle ensemble (2,516).
Following that success, organisers set their sights on outdoing a record previously set on March 15th last year, when 384 people formed the largest céilí band at the time at Croke Park in Dublin.
John Ryan, who was involved in organising Thursday’s attempt, said it was a “more complex” record to break due to the number of instruments involved.
“To see that many musicians coming together with so many different instruments was really special,” he said.
Mr Ryan, who runs Castlebridge Inspire, a group that highlights the origins of the book of records, said it felt “spiritual” to have broken a second record so close to its “birthplace.”
“It’s emotional,” he said.
The idea for the famous book is said to have been conceived in Castlebridge, Co Wexford, in 1951 by Guinness Breweries managing director Hugh Beaver after an argument with a fellow hunter as to which game bird was fastest.
Unable to find the answer in encyclopedias, he decided to pursue the reference book to host such facts, which was first published some four years later.
Since then, more than 150 million copies have been sold.
