Chattanooga has a deep Scots-Irish history if you know where to look. Irish music has surfaced here for decades through pub sessions, brewery gatherings, festivals and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Like many traditional music communities, Chattanooga’s Irish session scene has ebbed and flowed. In 2025, local creative and musician Courtney Cochran began working with fiddler and teacher Tom Morley, Gary Scheufler and other local musicians to create a more consistent place for the community to gather, play and grow.

That work became Chattanooga Celtic Connection, building on the traditions and the musicians who kept Irish music alive in Chattanooga long before the organization had a name.

Today, we bring people together through traditional music, dance, storytelling, history, film, visual art and cultural programs that connect Chattanooga with the Celtic traditions woven through our region.

We Believe:

Culture should be lived.

Traditions survive because people practice them. We create opportunities to hear the music, learn the history, share stories and participate.

Everyone belongs.

You don’t need Celtic ancestry to take part. Curiosity, respect and a willingness to learn are enough.

Understanding connects us.

Learning deeply about one culture can help us better understand others. We value historical context, cultural exchange and honest conversations about how traditions influence one another.

Gathering creates community.

Music, dance, stories, food and shared experiences bring people together across generations and backgrounds. We create places for those connections to happen.

The arts carry culture forward.

Music, dance, visual art, film and storytelling don’t simply preserve tradition. Artists interpret it, challenge it and give it new life. We honor what came before while making room for contemporary voices and new work.