There are not many bands nowadays who can boast about still being together 23 years after they had formed and still have three of the - four original members present - namely Liam Reilly, John O'Brien and Ken Doyle. Bagatelle's success is the continuation of a career which started in August 1978, and which saw the band playing in the United States, Canada, England and Ireland for six years non-stop, creating several Gold and Platinum albums and singles along the way. Bagatelle, who brought us such memorable hits as "Second Violin," "Love is the Reason," and "Leeson Street Lady," still play to packed houses. "Summer in Dublin" was an overnight success when it was first released in 1978.

Bagatelle have shared stages with artist's such as Bob Marley and Don McLean. They also appeared on the now famous Self Aid concert in the mid 80's with U2 and Van Morrison.

Diarmuid O'Leary and The Bards, with several major hit songs to their credit, are now firmly established among the top entertainers in Ireland today. The leader and front man of the group is Diarmuid O'Leary (Vocals & Guitar), Christy Sheridan (Mandolin, Banjo & Vocals), From Curry (Piano, Synthesizers & Accordion) and Smithy (Electric & Double Bass & Vocals). The group's first recording success came in 1980 with a #1 hit single "Lannigan's Ball," one of the biggest selling records ever in Ireland. It featured "Groovy Julia" and had a phenomenal impact on the Irish public. Then in February 1984 came the release of "Oldest Swinger In Town." Again this song had a similar dramatic impact and was in the National Top 30 Charts for three months. While The Bards are popular with their comedy hit songs; an equally strong facet of the group is their ability to render a wide range of more serious and contemporary material.


Formed in Dublin in 1958, the group was originally known as both The Harmony Chords and Harmonichords and featured brothers Conleth Cluskey, Declan Cluskey and John Stokes. The Dublin-born trio initially worked as a mainstream folk act, all three playing harmonicas. In 1961, entrepreneur Phil Solomon and his wife Dorothy discovered them in Scotland. Solomon introduced them to Decca's A8tR head Dick Rowe. After signing the trio, Rowe suggested a name change to The Bachelors. The group enjoyed a UK Top 10 hit with a revival of the song "Charmaine" in the summer of 1963. After three unsuccessful follow-ups ("Far Away," "Whispering" and "I'Il See You") they struck again with a string of easy listening pop hits including several revivals suggested by Rowe: "Diane," "I Believe," "Ramona," "I Wouldn't Trade You For The World" and "No Arms Can Ever Hold You". In 1966, they revealed their former folk roots by taking Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence" to #3 in the UK charts. The Bachelors achieved great success on the cabaret circuit with a line-up that remained unchanged for 25 years. However, in 1984, a dispute arose between the members and John Stokes was asked to leave. He duly took legal action against the brothers and the company Bachelors Ltd. Stokes received compensation and left with plans to form a duo. He was replaced by Peter Phipps who was inducted into the second generation New Bachelors.


Irish folk singer Frances Black, sister of Mary, found instant success in 1994 with her debut solo album, a #1 success in Ireland. Her first recording came in 1986 as a contributor to The Black Family ALbum with her renowned sibling, Mary, before work with Arcady, and a duet with Newry man Kieran Goss. Talk To Me, completed with help from musicians James Blennerhassett, Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey, plus Ray Dodds and Graham Henderson of Fairground Attraction, featured new songs written expressly for her by Nanci Griffith, alongside standards drawn from the repertoires of Christy Hennessy andJohn Lennon. The album's success earned her a major record label deal with Sony, the fruits of which was 1998's "Don't Get Me Wrong."


A member of the Black Family, who all have musical backgrounds, Mary Black reached #4 in the Irish charts in 1983 with her first solo album, and was awarded the Irish Independent Arts Award for Music for the album. Shortly after this, Black joined De Dannan, recording two albums with them, Song For Ireland and Anthem, before leaving the group in 1986. Black maintained her solo career while with De Dannan, and teamed up with producer Declan Sinnott for Without The Fanfare, featuring mostly contemporary songs, which subsequently went gold. No Frontiers, apart from being one of Ireland's bestselling albums in 1989, also reached the Top 20 of the New Adult Contemporary charts in the USA, in 1990. The album also had a great deal of success in Japan, resulting in Black's first Japanese tour in December 1990.

In April 1991, Black returned from an American tour in order to finish Babes In The Wood, released in July the same year. The album went straight to #1 in the Irish charts, staying there for five weeks. Further albums built on her success, culminating in Shine and Speaking With The Angel, her most commercial outings to date.

Formed by Larry Kirwan and Chris Byrne in 1989 after several pints in Paddy Reilly's bar in New York. They burst on the American music scene in 1993 with their hit single, "Funky Ceili," becoming immediately controversial because of their eclectic mix of rock, reggae, hip-hop and downtown noise fused with Irish traditional music. Their lyrics spoke of hope and despair in the immigrant communities and were often overtly political.

Their residency in Paddy Reilly's Bar in Manhattan became the talk of the town and they were signed to EMI for whom they recorded Black 47 EP, Fire of Freedom, and Home of the Brave. They appeared on every major TV show (including Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien) and their two videos for Funky Ceili and Marias Wedding became staples on MTV: Chris Byrne left the band to dedicate more time to his own band Seanchai and the Unity Squad, but the line up of Larry Kirwan, Andrew Goodsight, Thomas Hamlin, Geoffrey Blythe, Fred Parcells and Joseph Mulvanerty continue to record and perform to sell out crowds all over the U.S., Canada and beyond.

The Blades were formed in the punk era of 1977, in the south Dublin neighborhood of Ringsend. With Paul Cleary on bass, his older brother Lar on guitar and Pat Larkin on drums, they made their name with a series of raucous gigs at the nearby Magnet bar. A short-lived singles deal with the Energy label followed before Larkin and then Lar departed, allowing Cleary to switch to guitar, bring in drummer Jake Reilly and bassist Brian Foley and add a brass section. It was this line-up that produced "Downmarket," which captured 1980sera Dublin in all its gloomy, fatalistic solidarity.

The Blades had, by the mid-1980s, built up a fanatical live following and they signed a $100,000 deal with the American label Elektra. Their debut album, The Last Man in Europe, was recorded in 1984, but it was given an Ireland-only release on the Reekus label. The band soldiered on until 1986, releasing the compilation Raytown Revisited; they made one last grand gesture, shunning 1986's 'backslapping' Self Aid concert. Though Cleary was blasted at the time for his stance, Christy Moore, a Self Aid headliner, has since backed him.

Aka Brian Moore, this folk-singer and guitarist is the brother of the legendary Christy Moore. He recorded several albums under his own name, beginning with 1978's Treaty Stone, before developing 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome', which halted the finger-picking guitar style that he had favored. Forced to adapt to an open-string approach, he relocated to New Jersey, USA, before relaunching his career in the late 80s as Luka Bloom adapting the first name from Suzanne Vega's song about child abuse, and the surname from Leopold Bloom, the character in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. He displayed a Celtic soul on 1990's Riverside, particularly in "This Is For Life," a defiant tale of sweethearts torn apart and put in an English prison. His third album impressed while 1994's Turf included some of his best songs, such as "Cold Comfort," and "Sanctuary." Now resident in Ireland, Bloom returned to the studio to record 1998's acclaimed Salty Heaven, his first album for the Sony label. The 2000 album Keeper Of The Flame featured cover versions of material by a wide range of artists, including Bob Dylan, the Cure, Bob Marley and Abba, while the 2001 release Between the Motmtain and the A/loon featured Sinead O'Connor on vocals.


Although existing in Ireland for centuries, this drum was introduced into traditional music performance only in the 1960s, and only became common in the 1970s. Some believe that the drum originated in Africa and came to Ireland by way of Spain. Other people believe that it originated in Central Asia, and was carried through Europe to Ireland by the Celtic migrations. Sean O'Riada was one of the first to stick his neck out, brazenly describing the bodhran as, "our native drum" and introduced to modern traditional music using it in his arrangements for Ceoltoiri Chualann and The Chieftains.


One of the first new wave acts to emerge during the musical shake-ups of 1977, The Boomtown Rats were also significant for spearheading an interest in young Irish rock Originally formed in Dun Laoghaire in 1975 as the Nightlife Thugs, the Dublin-based band comprised Bob Geldof, Carry Roberts, Cerry Cott lohrmie Fingers, Pete Briquette and Simon Crowe. They named themselves after Woody Guthrie's term for oilfield workers in his autobiography, BottnA For Glory. Their 1977 self-titled debut album was a UK chart success and included tWo memorable singles, "Lookin' After No. 1" and "Mary Of The 4th Form," which both reached the UK Top 20. The following summer, A Tonic For The Troops was released to critical acclaim. Among its hit singles were the biting "She's So Modern" and "Like Clockwork." By November 1978, a third hit from the album, the acerbic urban protest "Rat Trap," secured them their first U.K. #1.

In spite of their RB(B leanings, the band was initially considered in some quarters as part of the punk upsurge. A third album, The Fine Art Of Surfacing, coincided with their finest moment, "I Don't Like Mondays," the harrowing true-life story of an American teenage girl who wounded eight children and killed her school janitor and headmaster. A massive UK #1, the single proved almost impossible to match, as the energetic but average follow-up, "Someone's Looking At You," proved. Nevertheless, the Rats were still hitting the Top 5 in the UK and released an understated but effective comment on Northern Ireland in "Banana Republic". By 1982, however, the band had fallen from critical and commercial grace and the same year's V Deep was recorded as a quintet following the departure of Cott. For Geldof, more important work lay ahead with the founding of Band Aid and much-needed world publicity on the devastating famine in Ethiopia. The Rats performed at the Live Aid concert on 13 July 1985 before bowing out the following year at Dublin's Self Aid benefit.

Formed in 1975, this Irish folk-rock outfit originally featured Donal Lunny (bouzouki), who had formerly been with Planxty, MichaelO Dhomhnaill (guitar, vocals), Triona Ni Domhnaill (davinet, harpsichord), Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Tony MacMahon (accordion), and Matt Molloy (flute, whistle). Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Kevin Burke (fiddle) and Paddy Keenan (uillean pipes, whistle) also played in the band during its relatively short lifespan, which lasted until only 1979. After five albums the individual members went their separate ways.


Boyzone was formed in November 1993 following an audition in Dublin. The six boys originally selected were Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Mark Walton and Richie Rock. The day after forming, the band performed a hastily arranged dance routine to "Burn Baby Burn" on the Irish Late Late Show presented by Gay Byme. Far from well received, the performance saw them virtually written off by many critics. Within six months Mark Walton left, unable to cope with the pressure, and Richie Rock was sacked after skipping rehearsals and some early gigs.

Michael Graham was brought in to replace them and the line up was complete. Now it's a very different story, Boyzone's last album By Request spent a staggering 7 weeks at the top of the UK album chart and when the boys release a single it is usually a safe bet to top the charts.

Ronan Keating's first solo single "When You Say Nothing At All" was released inJuly 1998 and remained at #1 for 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Steve made his acting debut as the voice of one of the rabbits in the TV cartoon adaptation of Watership Down. He also sang the theme song, Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes," which was released as a single in June and hit the Top 10. Unfortunately, Mikey Graham's first solo effort,''You're My Girl," which was released the same week, didn't do quite so well, peaking at #13.

Born in Waterford Brendan began his career with the Royal Showband in 1957. The Royal and Brendan became so successful that the Beatles once opened for them on tour! Brendan's ability to tailor American Rock'n'Roll musig to the tastes of Irish audiences, and his athletic and spirited on-stage performances, made him by far the most popular vocalist of the showband era of the 1960s. The Royal had an unsurpassed Seven #1 hits in Ireland, including "Kiss Me Quick," "No More" and the enormously successful "The Hucklebuck." The Royal Showband broke up in 1971 and Brendan, together with Tom Dunphy formed The Big 8 Showband. The Band are still together although Tom Dunphy was tragically killed in a car accident in 1975, on his way to the 'Mary from Dunloe Festival.' Brendan first went to Las Vegas with the Royal Showband in 1967. Back in those days they just went for one month each year but so popular was their show in Las Vegas that by the mid '709, due to demand Brendan was spending six months a year in Las Vegas and six months in Ireland.

Three decades in Vegas with countless sold out shows in The Stardust Hotel, The Alladin and The Barbary Coast, have led to many #1 Band awards from The Las Vegas Review Journal, but Brendan has found time to return to the Irish charts with his tribute "Thank You, Elvis" in 1977.

Brendan Bowyer still lives with his family in Las Vegas - his daughter Aisling has followed in her Dad's footsteps and is now singing in his band. His son Brendan works as a tennis coach and has played tennis with Andre Agassi in Las Vegas and won the Irish Junior Open Tennis Championship in 1986. His youngest daughter Clodagh is acting in New York and recently appeared in The Playboy of the Western World.

From Strabane in County Tyrone. While a student in Dublin, Brady embraced folk music with The Johnstons. Renowned as a commercial attraction, the group enjoyed a minor success with a version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." Brady subsequently joined Planxty, where the multi-instrumentalist forged an empathy with fellow member Andy Irvine. Andy Irvine/Paul Brady prefaced Brady's solo career which began with Welcome Here Kind Stranger in 1978. The singer abandoned folk in 1981 with Hard Station, which included the Irish chart-topping single, "Crazy Dreams." The song was then covered by Roger Chapman and Dave Edmunds while a further inclusion, "Night Hunting Time", was later recorded by Santana. True For You followed a prolific period where Brady toured supporting Dire Straits and Eric Clapton. Bob Dylan and Ut's Bone also professed admiration for the artist's talents while Tina Turner's versions of "Steel Claw" and "Paradise Is Here" cemented Brady's reputation as a songwriter.

He collaborated with Mark Knopfler on the soundtrack to the movie Cal, before completing a live album, Full Moon. His Trick Or Treat album was recorded with former Steely Dan producer Gary Katz. Bonnie Raitt, an admirer of Brady's work, gave his career a significant boost by including two of his songs on her outstanding 1991 album, including the title track, "Luck Of The Draw". He enlisted outside help in the shape of Ronan Keating, Conner Reeves, Carole King and Will Jennings on May 2000's Oh What A World, his first album in over five years.

The Earl of Thomond built Bunratty Castle in the Isth Century, today the world renowned Bunratty Medieval Banquet is held twice nightly throughout the year. For 35 years the entertainment has been provided by the superb Bunratty Singers who are a fitting compliment to a four course meal, a lively meal reception and of course some good wine.


A former member of The Bothy Band, Patrick Street and a duo he shared with Irish guitarist Michael O'Domhnaill, Burke has also performed as a soloist and with his own band, Open House. A native of London, England, Burke inherited his love of Irish music from his parents who had emigrated from Sligo County, Ireland. His music career began shortly after moving to Ireland in 1974, when he teamed up with singer-songwriter Christy Moore, who had just left Planxty. Replacing Tommy Peoples in The Bothy Band in 1976, he remained with the group until 1979 and was featured on three of their albums, Old Hag You Have Killed A/le, After Hours (Live in Paris) and Out of the Wind, Into the Sun.

When The Bothy Band separated, Burke emigrated to Portland, Oregon. In addition to making a guest appearance on Arlo Guthrie's album, Washington County, he joined The Bothy Band's guitarist Michael O'Domhnaill for several tours and two albums, Promenade and Portland. An early-1980s tour, "Legends of Irish Music," brought Burke together with influential Irish musicians Andy Irvine (vocals, bouzouki, mandolin and harmonica) and Jackie Daly (accordion). Following the tour, they continued to perform together as Patrick Street. Recording a solo album, Open House, in 1992, Burke assembled the musicians Mark Graham (harmonica, clarinet, vocals), Paul Kotopish (guitar, mandolin, cittern, bass) and Sandy Silva (percussion)-- who became his current band.

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