#OTD in 1959 – Birth of musician, Gavin Friday, in Dublin.

08/10/2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Birth of Gavin Friday (born Fionán Martin Hanvey) in Dublin. He is a singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter and founder of post-punk band The Virgin Prunes. Friday was born in Dublin and grew up in Ballygall a neighbourhood located on Dublin’s Northside located between Finglas and Glasnevin where he went to school. When […]

#OTD in 1971 – Birth of musician, singer and songwriter, Dolores O’Riordan, in Co Limerick.

06/09/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Dolores O’Riordan led The Cranberries to worldwide success and fame for 13 years before the band took a hiatus in 2003. Her first solo album Are You Listening? was released in May 2007. Her second solo album No Baggage was released in August 2009. Her first solo album Are You Listening? was released in May […]

#OTD in 1935 – Birth of Liam Clancy, of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem fame.

02/09/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem shot to fame after appearing with his brothers on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1961. Scheduled to perform two songs, they were forced to extend their appearance when the show’s headliner cancelled. The following year they sold out audiences. After the Clancy brothers stopped touring / broke up, Liam […]

#OTD in 1961 – Enya (Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) is born in Gweedore, Co Donegal.

17/05/2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Enya began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to perform solo. Enya is a four-time Grammy Award-winning singer, an Academy Award-nominated songwriter, and Ireland’s best-selling solo artist (her record sales stand at 80 million as of 2009). As a musical group, Enya is a collaboration between […]

#OTD in 1945 – Birth of folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Christy Moore in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

07/05/2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Christy Moore is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. In 2007, he was named as Ireland’s greatest living musician in RTÉ’s People of the Year Awards. The former lead-vocalist and chief songwriter of Planxty and Moving Hearts, Moore helped to bring the musical traditions of Ireland up to modern standards and […]

#OTD in 1861 – Birth of poet and songwriter, Patrick McCall, in Dublin.

06/03/2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Known mostly as the author of lyrics for popular ballads: ‘Follow me up to Carlow’, “The Boys of Wexford”, ‘Boolavogue’ and ‘Kelly the Boy from Killanne’. He was assisted in putting the Wexford ballads, dealing with the 1798 Rising, to music by Arthur Warren Darley using traditional Irish airs. His surname is one of the […]

#OTD in 1852 – Death of popular poet and editor of Irish Melodies, Thomas Moore, who was born in Dublin.

25/02/2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Poet, singer, entertainer and songwriter, Thomas Moore, dies at the age of 72. Best remembered for the lyrics of ‘The Minstrel Boy’ and ‘The Last Rose of Summer’. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron’s memoirs after his death. In his lifetime he was often referred to as ‘Anacreon Moore’. Moore was […]

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

19/02/2018.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 […]

#OTD in 1923 – Birth of poet and playwright, Brendan Behan, in Dublin.

09/02/2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Much of Brendan Behan’s work was autobiographical, showcasing working class, Republican Dublin. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish writers and poets of all time. Born in Dublin into a republican family, he became a member of the IRA’s youth organisation Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. However, there was also […]

#OTD in 1955 – Birth of singer/songwriter, Liam Reilly, in Dundalk, Co Louth. He is a former member of the group Bagatelle.

29/01/2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Liam Reilly is 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 […]

Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland

Tag: songwriter