donal lunny

Featuring  Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, Mike McGoldrick and John Doyle, the mighty Usher’s Island announce UK dates for November 2021.

Our Song of the Day is My Son David, the sublime new single from Dónal Lunny’s Atlantic Arc featuring the man himself and Pauline Scanlon, Jarlath Henderson, Aidan O’Rourke, Sharon Howley, Davie Ryan, Ewen Vernal, Graham Henderson and Pádraig Rynne. Outstanding.

So summing up, the long and the short of this review is a hearty, unqualified recommendation for this impeccably packaged disc – a seriously uplifting set from Andy Irvine and his chums. Bravo and encore!

The fire and fury and commitment of Planxty as a hell of a performing unit is there in full force. Live sets are by their nature usually best aimed at the converted, but for someone outside of the established Planxty fan-base One Night In Bremen certainly steers closer into the “worth acquiring” category than the majority of live releases.

Uilliann piper Liam O’Flynn has died after a long period of illness. To most, he will best be remembered as a founding member of the groundbreaking Irish traditional group Planxty in which he played alongside  Christy Moore, Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny.

This morning BBC Radio 2 announced that singer-songwriter Nick Drake will be inducted into the Folk Awards Hall of Fame at this years’ Radio 2 Folk Awards and that Dónal Lunny will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

One of the highlights of this year’s FolkEast Festival was Ushers Island whose lineup reads like an Irish traditional music hall of fame: Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, Michael McGoldrick and John Doyle.

We head back to the Embankment, Tallaght, Co.Dublin 1976 for today’s Song of the Day, a great horse-racing classic – ‘Plains of Kildare’. It’s performed by Andy Irvine, Paul Brady and Dónal Lunny.

Irish band The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock announce the debut performance of ‘Lockout’ in Dublin. Joining them at the Hangar will be 18 musicians along with the legendary Dónal Lunny. Watch their new video performance of Lockout Movement 1.

You only need to read through The Bothy Band history to realise how big they were. All the names are world famous now and there is no escaping that they changed the face of irish traditional music forever.

Andy Irvine makes a welcome return after a decade with his new solo release, Abocurragh. Andy has maintained his magic and makes a cracking album with a string of renowned musicians in support.