Ben Lennon was born into a musical family in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim, in 1928, the eldest of four sons.  His father, uncle and grand uncle all played fiddles and his mother Sally played piano and could also play fiddle, accordion and banjo.  Their home was always open to callers and many of the locality’s musicians [...]

Concertina player Noel Hill was born in 1958 in Lissycasey, eight miles south west of Ennis in Co Clare into a large family with seven siblings. His parents and grandparents, on both sides, all played concertina. Initially Noel learnt from his mother and father and he was also particularly influenced by his uncle Paddy Hill, [...]

Irish Minstrels and Musicians, by Capt Francis O’Neill (1913). A key work in the bibliography of Irish music.
Irish Folk Music – A Fascinating Hobby, by Capt Francis O’Neill (1910). Includes ‘Hints to Amateur Pipers’, by Patsey Touhey.
Pipemaker Bill Haneman from Skerries is to be congratulated for putting online these two very important books in the [...]

Singers Sarah and Rita Keane were born in Caherlistrane, Co Galway – Rita in 1923, and Sarah c1919. They were the daughters of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello). Their father played Jew’s harp, while their mother, from a family of singers and musicians, collected songs; her large repertoire included Lord Donegal, a [...]

Bobby Gardiner was born in Aughdara, near Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare, in 1939 into a family steeped in traditional music. His mother Delia palyed concertina and melodeon and his brother Mick was an accordionist, while his uncles Mick, Tom and Peadar Doolan played melodeon and fiddle.
The young Bobby soon began playing himself, starting on the concertina [...]

Co Sligo flute and fiddle player Peter Horan died on October 17, 2010, in the North West Hospice, Sligo.
Peter Horan was born on June 25, 1926, in Bunnanadden, Killavil, in Co Sligo. Killavil lies near Ballymote in that musical part of south Sligo which also gave birth to Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, Lad [...]

Anne Byrne had the classic ’show biz’ start to her singing career, appearing on stage at the age of three with her mother and father in amateur pantomime and musical shows. Her mother’s family, the Bradys, hail from Dun Laoghaire in Co. Dublin and were all extremely musical.
Her uncle, the famous Willie Brady,  who in [...]

Maire Ni Scolai was born in Dublin and learned her Irish in the Ring Gaeltacht of Co Waterford. After she moved to Galway  in the 1920s she organised classes in Irish singing and dancing with her sister Mona.
A very early broadcaster on Radio Eireann – or 2RN as it was then called – Maire Ni [...]

Song collector and folklorist Tom Munnelly was born in Rathmines in Dublin on May 25, 1944, and grew up in Crumlin. His parents, Tom Munnelly and Christina Gannon were Dubliners. From an early age, his love of singing was evident, whether in the midst of family gatherings or hostelling with An Óige.
His interest in collecting songs [...]

Ed Reavy was born in Barnagrove, Mudabawn, Co Cavan in 1898. He emigrated to the USA as a teenager with his family in 1912 and settled in the predominantly Irish area of  Philadelphia known as Corktown. Barring visits home in 1922 and much later in 1969, he spent his life there until his death [...]

Joe Shannon was born in 1920 near Kiltimagh, in Co Mayo. All of his seven older brothers played traditional music. When he was a young boy, his cousins and neighbours gathered at night at his family’s home to play fiddles, flutes, tin whistles, and melodeons. Joe began to play the tin whistle, [...]

Joe Derrane was born in Boston on March 16, 1930, and by the age of 14 he was playing at Irish house parties, locally known as “rackets” and at dances. He learned to play first on the melodeon from Jerry O’Brien, originally from Kinsale, Co Cork.
While a senior at Roxbury Mission High School in Massachusetts, [...]

Mick Moloney was born November 15, 1944, in Limerick. He began playing tenor banjo at 16 years of age. As a teenager he listened to American folk singers, especially the music of the Weavers and Burl Ives. He remembers that there was not a lot of traditional instrumental music being played where [...]

Born in 1926, Mike Rafferty grew up in Ballinakill, East Galway, on a 12-acre farm. In the heart of a locality steeped in the very best of traditional music, he learned to play music from his father, Tom “Barrel” (because people thought he could fill a barrel w ith wind), who played flute [...]

Johnny O’Leary was born on June 6, 1923, in Maulykevane, about seven miles from Rathmore and four miles from Gneeveguilla in County Kerry. The young Johnny was always listening to the tunes when Tom Billy Murphy from Ballydesmond, also known as The Blind Fiddler, used to teach Johnny’s uncle, Dan O’Leary, to play the fiddle.
Johnny’s [...]

Piper Seán McKiernan lives in Carna in Co. Galway, and is a native Irish speaker. His mother’s family home in Coillín, Carna, where he now lives, is situated in the heartland of the great sean nós and folklore tradition. Seán’s grandfather Pádraic Mac Con Iomaire was acknowledged as man [...]

FAME came in his 60th year to singer and fiddle player Dessie O’Halloran of Inishboffin The year 2001 saw him travel from his Atlantic island home off the Galway/Mayo coast to perform in Europe and [...]

Born near Bodyke in East Clare in 1916, Martin Rochford started learning fiddle aged ten. He was won over to the uilleann pipes when he heard the travelling piper Tony Rainey [...]

BORN in Nelson, New Zealand, his grandfather came from Wexford. As a child he would hear Irish music on some of his father’s record collection, including fiddler Sean Maguire.
He was inspired to buy a harmonica after hearing the blues playing of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee in concert. He developed an eclectic range of styles [...]

Broadcaster Ciaran Mac Mathuna’s contribution to Irish music was invaluable.