In 2006, Leitrim County Council Arts Office with the support of the Arts Council devised a programme called ‘The Leitrim Equation’. The programme was designed to promote the professional development of musicians by working with leading traditional Irish bands or musicians as part of an 18-month artist residency programme.

Lúnasa became the first Band in Residence. They visited many favoured sessions of Leitrim musicians, played for school and community groups, worked with musicians, and recorded ‘The Leitrim Equation 1’, which contained many newly composed tunes which came out of the regular ‘new tunes’ workshops with Lúnasa members Kevin Crawford and Paul Meehan.

In 2009 Dervish took up the baton where Lúnasa left off. The emphasis in this residency was in the songs of Leitrim. The prominence on Leitrim songs came out of a desire by Cathy Jordan to meet and sing with a number of Leitrim singers with the aim of identifying songs native to Leitrim and bringing them to a new audience. 

For the third residency, three legends in Irish music, Dónal Lunny, John Carty and Séamus Begley were invited to come together, discover and interpret Leitrim tunes and songs, to play with musicians they met, and to share their vast knowledge and experience with the next generation of Leitrim musicians. During their time in the county, they worked on a multi-stage production at The Dock in partnership with Knock Airport which was live-streamed internationally. The residency culminated in a concert featuring over 20 Leitrim musicians which toured to London as part of the Return to Camden Festival.

The fourth residency saw a gathering of leading Leitrim musicians: Eleanor Shanley, Padraig McGovern, Dave Sheridan, and John McCartin. Over 18 months, this group engaged with local musicians, schools, and community groups across the county. The residency included Leading Edge, a professional development and mentoring programme for musicians, led by industry specialists. Emerging talents from Leitrim formed Brí, an ensemble that developed new repertoire and honed their performance skills under the mentorship of Padraig McGovern and Dave Sheridan.

The residency culminated in a stage production created by Shanley, McGovern, Sheridan, and McCartin, joined by Dónal Lunny, poet Vincent Woods, and sean-nós dancer Edwina Guckian. The production featured music rediscovered during the residency, including pieces that hadn’t been performed in over a century, arranged by Dónal Lunny. The production was presented in The Dock, Carrick on Shannon before touring to the Samual Beckett Centre in Dublin and RADA in London.