Celtic Roots was officially formed in 1998 in Bree, about 12 miles from Wexford town, with the objective of promoting Irish Culture at home and abroad. The founders Kay and Liam McKelvie brought together a talented cast of Irish dancers, singers, musicians and storytellers and began to produce many exciting shows based on Irish Culture.  The group were fortunate to receive funding from the Wexford Organisation for Rural Development (WORD), under the EU Leader II program.

After a very successful reaction to the show within Ireland, the group embarked on international tours and to date have performed in Norway and Holland in 1999, Sweden in 2000, Finland in 2001, Germany in 2002, Brazil in 2004, Germany in 2005 and Holland again in 2006. This year the group travelled to Laggenbeck in Germany.

The formation of the Celtic Roots group is due to the foresight of the producer and choreographer Kay Keeley. Kay, with two other members of the cast, Sinead Long and Catriona Leacy, run a very successful Irish Dance school, the "Wexford Academy of Irish Dancing", in Bree, and the dancers in Celtic Roots are pupils or past pupils of this school.

In 2002, an emotive dance show called "From the Mists of Time" was produced to sell out audiences in the Dun Mhuire Theatre, Wexford. The show ran over the May Bank holiday weekend and due to excessive demand further shows were added during the Wexford Festival Opera in November 2002 as one of the Fringe Festival events. 

Celtic Roots perform weekly from March to October in Treacy's Hotel, Enniscorthy, and participate in Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann's "Seisiún" summer entertainment programme. This year the group, in association with Treacy's Hotel & Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, are holding their Seisiún Nights in the local Community Centre in Bree during the months of July and August every Tuesday night at 8.30pm. 

The group are available for bookings for special occasions, festivals etc.   You can contact us at celticroots2005@yahoo.ie.

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