Mòd; a meeting, an assembly Ionadach; local, provincial An Dreòlluinn; an old name for the island of Mull
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This is an extract from the minute of the meeting called to establish the Mull Mòd:
MOD IONADACH NA DREOLLUINNE
At the request of the Committee of the Southern Region, the Secretary of An Comunn Gaidhealach called a Meeting in the Salen Hotel: at six o’ clock in the evening; Thursday the 16th of December, 1937. An Invitation was given to every branch in Mull to send two representatives and the following were present:
Neil Shaw, Executive Secretary, An Comunn Gaidhealach
J MacDougall, Archibald MacFarlane and Duncan MacNeill from Salen
Ewen MacInnes and Aulay MacInnes from Torloisk-Ulva
Neil Morrison and Alasdair M. MacLachlainn from Tobermory
Margaret MacDonald, An Comunn Music teacher
Among the decisions made at that meeting were:
(1) That an Annual Mod be established, supported by Branches in Mull & Iona; and, perhaps, Branches from Coll and Tiree
(2) That the first Mod be held in Tobermory on Thursday 23rd June, 1938 and that it would be open to Competitors from Coll & Tiree
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Photograph by kind permission of www.hannahmorrisphotography.co.uk |
It was agreed that a Mòd be held each year based on a circuit of the villages of Tobermory, Salen and
Bunessan. The first Mòd was held in Tobermory on the 14th June 1938 (we’re not sure why there was a change from the planned date) and over 100 entries were received for the Mòd including choirs from Bunessan, Lochdon, Pennyghael, Salen, Tobermory and the island of Coll.
Eighty years on, Mòd Ionadach na Dreòlluinn has evolved into a two-day event, welcoming competitors from all over Scotland and beyond. In 1997, due to clashes with other Mòds in the area, the committee took the then controversial decision to change the date of the local Mòd from June to September. This decision has proved to be very successful with the Mòd now attracting competitors from all over the country. As the Royal National Mòd takes place annually in October, it gives competitors a final chance to receive constructive criticism for their pieces. The date has been fixed as the second Saturday in September and has established itself as one of the best, and busiest, local Mòds on the circuit.
In 2007, the Mòd was held over two days for the first time, with Junior competitions taking place on Friday, and adults on Saturday. This has made it much easier for schools to take part, and we have seen a steady increase in junior competitors, with every school, big or small, sending representatives to the Mòd to perform in choirs, as soloists, or doing an Action Song, which is a very popular competition.
For a number of years now, the venue for Mòd Ionadach na Dreòlluinn has had to remain in Tobermory. As many travel from the mainland, Tobermory has good transport links and enough accommodation to cope with the numbers attending.
Many people ask what our Gaelic name means: ‘Ionadach’ is an alternative to ‘Ionadail’ and ‘An Dreòlluinn’ is an old name for the Isle of Mull (although in fact ‘dreòlluinn’ is the Irish Gaelic name for a wren!) We decided to stick with the name originally chosen in 1938, as it makes us different!
We are delighted that so many competitors and supporters continue to enjoy the challenges and atmosphere of our Mòd, and hope this will remain the case for many years to come!!
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