Tag: Irish Music

#OTD in 1942 – Birth of artist and musician, Phil Coulter, in Co Derry.

19/02/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Coulter’s father, also called Phil, encouraged music in the house. He played the fiddle whilst his wife played the upright piano. The younger Coulter recalls this piano, made by Challen, as ‘the most important piece of furniture in the house’. ‘I always stayed away from the fiddle, having inflicted enough pain on my family with […]

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#OTD in 1955 – Birth of singer/songwriter, Liam Reilly, in Dundalk, Co Louth.

29/01/2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Liam Reilly was an Irish singer/songwriter and a member of the popular Irish rock band Bagatelle. After receiving an offer from Gus Dudgeon (Elton John’s producer, now deceased) Reilly began a solo career. It didn’t gain much popularity but he wrote some of Bagatelle’s most popular songs during this time such as ‘Somewhere In Europe’. Reilly […]

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#OTD in 1951 – Birth of drummer and a founder member of the rock band Thin Lizzy, Brian Downey, in Dublin.

27/01/2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

In his youth, he met friend, co-founder and bass guitarist Phil Lynott, who attended the same school as did Downey. Along with Lynott, Downey was the only constant founder and member of the pioneering hard rock group until their break-up in 1984, although he did opt out of a 1978 tour claiming “exhaustion.” Today, he […]

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#OTD in 1918 – Birth of uilleann piper, Willie Clancy.

24/12/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Clancy was born into a musical family in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute. Clancy’s father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry. Willie started playing the whistle at age 5, and later took up the flute. He first saw […]

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#OTD in 1987 – ‘Fairytale of New York’ by the Pogues and Kirsty McColl reaches no. 2 in the UK charts.

16/12/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Recorded in the summer of 1987 and released later that year, The Pogues‘ ‘Fairytale of New York’ famously never made it to number one in the UK first time around, held off the top spot by Pet Shop Boys’ version of ‘Always On My Mind.’     The song, which took over two years to write and features […]

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#OTD in 1971 – RTÉ bans several patriotic ballads including Dublin In The Green and The Patriot Game.

12/11/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

‘Merry Ploughboy’ | ’Off to Dublin in the Green’ (Dominic Behan) Performed by The Dubliners Oh, I am a merry ploughboy and I plough the fields all day Till a sudden thought came to my head, that I should roam away For I’m sick and tired of slavery since the day that I was born […]

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#OTD in 1945 – Birth of Van Morrison “Van the Man” in Belfast.

31/08/2022.Reading time 1 minute.

The Belfast Cowboy first achieved fame with R&B band, Them, with whom he recorded Gloria, a song that still as fresh today as in 1964. A strong claim could be made that Van Morrison is the finest composer ever produced by the Emerald Isle. His body of work ranges from glorious pop like Brown Eyed […]

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#OTD in 1848 – Birth of Francis O’Neill, the Police Chief who saved Irish Music is born near Bantry, Co Cork.

28/08/2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Francis O’Neill, the Police Chief who saved Irish Music is born in Tralibane, Co Cork. After emigrating to the United States, he joined the Chicago police force in 1873, eventually serving as Chief of Police from 1901-1905. Chief O’Neill had a strong interest in Irish music from his childhood, an Irish music and tradition that […]

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The Uilleann Pipes

06/07/2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

The importance of piping during the years of the Irish chieftains is evident in the 9th century representation of a piper on the great stone High Cross of Clanmacnoise in Co Offaly. This seat of Irish culture in Clanmacnoise fostered the great ancient school there which at its height involved six to seven thousand students. […]

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