Nani Vazana

Tomáseen Foley’s “A Celtic Christmas” recreates the joy and innocence of a night before Christmas in a remote farmhouse in the parish of Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the west of Ireland, when neighboring families gather around the fire. Together, they raise the rafters with the haunting melodies of traditional Irish Christmas carols, knock sparks off the flagstone floor with traditional dances, and fill the night with the laughter of their stories. It’s an intimate, old-world celebration of music, dance, and storytelling — a Christmas Eve like the ones Foley remembers from his own childhood in rural Ireland.