There has always been a strong tradition of brass music in Clonakilty. The original St. Patrick’s Brass Band played for more than a decade around the 1920’s and several of the present members are descendants of some of those early musicians. Clonakilty Brass Band has upwards of 100 members comprising seniors, juniors and beginners. All are students of the Cork ETB School of Music. Membership was initially drawn from the local National Schools and the Community College but now musicians travel from far and wide for a chance to play in the band. The standards of musicianship are extremely high and several students have gone on to study music at third level.
As well as nurturing future musical careers, there is no doubt that an award winning brass band adds an artistic richness and diversity to public events and cultural life in West Cork. The band practices weekly at Clonakilty Community School and performs annually at the Clonakilty Arts Festival, St Patrick’s Day Parade, Clonakilty, the Courtmacsherry Harbour Festival, the Kilbrittain Harvest Festival, the Bandon Engage Festival, the Kinsale Regatta, Cork Culture Night, Bi- Annual Fundraising Concerts and the Ardfield Summer Festival.