Full Program

Sam Henry Weekend

We are delighted to dedicate the Sam Henry Weekend in honour of Coleraine man, Sam Henry.  Sam Henry was born in 1878 into a prominent family from Sandleford in Coleraine. When Sam turned nineteen he had a choice to choose a career in teaching or take a post as an excise man. He decided to pursue a career with the inland revenue and his role as a pensions officer allowed him to travel around the northern counties visiting his clients. It was this position which allowed  Sam to meet a myriad of folk from all over Ulster.  Sam soon got to know the countryside very well as he could be found riding his bike, in his car or travelling by bus or train to visit his clients.  Henry realised that the people he visited were fore-bearers of a thriving tradition of music, storytelling and song and became determined to collect as much as he could from the people he met. Henry discovered that his musical talent of playing the fiddle and whistle was a great way to finding common ground with his clients. He would play a tune for them and after would ask the folk if they had any songs, stories and pieces of music to share with him! And so it began…