ONE of the more intriguing trends to come out of the "New Ireland" is a growing awareness that the small little island has had an impact far beyond it shores.

The diaspora was once forced from the Emerald Isle by hard times and lack of opportunity, but now it is the welcome beneficiary of the wealthy country that always appreciated the help from abroad when it was needed.

One conduit for that munificence is Culture Ireland, the arm of the Irish government given funds annually to underwrite artistic programs abroad utilizing Irish artists.

One local savvy organization rooted in traditional Irish music is the Fairfield, Connecticut-based Shamrock Irish Traditional Music Society, which has taken advantage of it to assist their very consistent concert series that has turned out over 200 shows in their eight year existence.

Last Thursday night they presented Patrick Street over from Ireland as the last concert of the year in which they were sponsored by Culture Ireland at the Fairfield Theater in the heart of downtown Fairfield.

The intimate 200 seat theater allows for the audience to face the artists from three sides, and with the superb sound in the hall it has quickly become one of the favorite places for touring musicians to perform in the greater metropolitan area.

The veteran quartet comprising Patrick Street this night was Andy Irvine, the lead singer who also plays bouzouki and guitar, fiddler Kevin Burke (who resides in Washington), John Carty, who plays banjo, flute and fiddle, and guitarist Ged Foley, who also lends his voice to the cause.

At the very outset, Irvine detected that it was no ordinary "theater" crowd awaiting their performance, but a more rambunctious lot who certainly knew what to expect from the seasoned performers whose combined talents and experience match up with any of the touring Celtic bands. And that crowd was rewarded with a wonderful show with solid musicianship and tight arrangements that reflected the individual and collective skills they have mastered over the years.

There are some -- and I am among them - who will miss the brilliant box player Jackie Daly in their midst, but alas his aversion to travel and long-touring led to his final performance with the band at the October Return to Camden Town Festival in London.

How could any band playing traditional music make up for the loss of one of its finest exponents? But the depth of talent and firm grasp of the folk music genre by Irvine, Burke, Carty and Foley allows them to solider on with a varied mix of material that still makes you stop and listen while they are on stage.

Irvine has proven his mettle as one of the finest singers in the Irish folk tradition with not only a distinctive voice, but the ability to balance a perspective on times past with a contemporary delivery that was a hallmark of the seminal Planxty band that he was a member of in the early days of the Irish folk revival.

From his first offering this night, the plaintive song of reverse immigration which he got from the Scottish songwriter Andy Stewart to signature songs like the "King of Ballyhooley" and the "Plains of Kildare," he proved that he was one of Ireland's more riveting storytellers in the ballad form with an eye for material that suits his unique voice.

Fiddler Kevin Burke burst on the wider stage with the equally influential Bothy Band some 30 years ago, but has managed to build a career well beyond that short-lived but exciting experience.

Known as one of the tastiest fiddlers in the Sligo style, his work with the Celtic Fiddle Festival and Patrick Street, as well as his solo and other collaborations, has him much in demand. His music, like fine wine, gets better with age, and his pairing with a multi-instrumental talent like Carty assures that the traditional flag will continue to fly at high mast during their shows.

Burke's sly sense of humor also helps lubricate their performance and is essential to keep the interest in the act that now must get on without Daly. But it is his fluid command of the jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas and occasional bits of world music like "Music for a Found Harmonium" and some French Canadian reels that he gleans from like-minded aficionados of the fiddle format that helps define the act.

Burke's new label Loftus Music (www.loftusmusic.com) also released the new Patrick Street CD called On the Fly, and much of the music got a good airing this night.

Like Burke, Carty was born in London raised by Irish parents and lured back to Ireland by the music scene. He has played a hugely important role in preserving the rich regional style to be found up in the Sligo/Roscommon area near his Boyle roots.

Instilled from the outset with music instruction by Clareman Brendan Mulkere and his own father, Carty has produced mighty music on the flute, fiddle and banjo that has been captured in three solo albums.

Newly installed in the Patrick Street lineup, he brings a spark and the new blood that has helped to reinvigorate any group that has been around for 20 years. His composition on the new CD Seanamhac Tube Station was a highlight of the concert, reflecting on the comings and goings in the bogland near his mother's homeplace in Co. Galway.

Foley has toured with Patrick Street for over a decade now, and the native of Durham in Northeast England now lives in east Clare after a number of years exile in the U.S. Midwest.

His broad experience with the Battlefield Band and the House Band, and even the Catskills Irish Arts Week where he was the artistic director for 2002-2003, helped him develop a sharp eye and ear for talent, and also arrangements which came in handy for their latest CD which he produced along with the other members of Patrick Street.

There is honesty to his singing and insightful song selection that garners more attention than his pedestrian voice would normally command that suits this folk band approach to performance. His own take on the "Galway Shawl" on the new CD and "Mick Ryan's Lament" from the duet recording with Burke "In Tandem" were offered at the concert and were warmly received.

Patrick Street was treated to a standing ovation after the finale, and the enthusiastic encore at the Fairfield Theater proved a worthy "investment" by Culture Ireland and their U.S. artistic partner and presenter in Connecticut, the Shamrock Irish Traditional Music Society.

Let's hope that Patrick Street and the trend of supporting the diaspora with the cream of Irish talent continues to provide entertainment for many years to come.