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ALTAN
had its beginnings in the late ’70s as a partnership between Mairéad
Ní Mhaonaigh and the late Frankie Kennedy, an expert flute player
from Belfast. The duo made their recording debut as accompanists
on Albert Fry’s 1979 self-titled album (Gael-Linn Records). Two
years later, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy formed the band Ragaime with
bouzouki player Donal O’Hanlan and Mairéad’s brother, Gearoid O’Maoinaigh,
who played guitar. Although they recorded for RTE, the group had
disbanded by the time Ní Maoinaigh and Kennedy released their debut
album, Ceol Adualigh (Gael-Linn) in December of 1983. Their second
album as a duo, recorded in 1987, was named Altan, after a lake
in northwest Donegal. It featured accompaniment by Ciarán Curran
on bouzouki, Mark Kelly on guitar, and Mairéad’s sister, Anna Ní
Mhaoinaigh. After completing the album, the musicians agreed to
continue working together. In 1989, the band released its first
album, Horse With A Heart (Green Linnet). They have since released
a total of nine records, the latest of which is Another Sky (Narada).
The band’s line-up has changed over the years, but their sound remains
the same. Their music reflects the music of its namesake area. The
traditional Irish sound has a distinctive Scottish flavor brought
home by Donegal natives who did seasonal work in the potato fields
of Scotland. Performing tonight are: Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (fiddle),
Dermot Byrne (button accordion, melodeon), Ciarán Tourish (fiddle,
tin whistle), Mark Kelly (guitar), Ciarán Curran (bouzouki, bouzouki
guitar). (www.altan.ie)
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FRANK HARTE
was born, raised, and still lives in Chapelizod on the banks of
the Liffey, where his family ran The Tap pub. He was introduced
to traditional Irish songs at the age of fourteen, when he heard
a tinker singing and selling ballad sheets at a fair in Boyle. After
receiving his secondary education in Blackrock College, Harte earned
his professional qualification as an architect from The Dublin Institute
of Technology. He emigrated to the US in 1958 and worked as an architect
in Boston before returning to Ireland in 1961. Since his teens,
Harte has been obsessed with songs that tell stories and has been
an avid collector for many years. He has amassed over 20,000 songs,
some purchased from a man who sold them by the sheet at the side
of the Adelphi Cinema. He has lectured extensively on the rebellion
of 1798 and the songs it inspired, some of which are included on
his latest recording, 1798 - The First Year of Liberty (Hummingbird
Records). It contains many of the traditional songs of ’98, including
"Henry Joy," "Roddy McCorley," and "General Munro." Harte was a
regular at the Sunday morning sessions in the Brazen Head pub along
with the late Liam Weldon. He is also an enthusiastic supporter
of the Goilin Singers Club, now in its 21st year, which meets in
the Trinity Inn on Friday nights. A regular at singers’ sessions
in Ireland, he has appeared at clubs, seminars and festivals in
France, Britain, and the US, where he holds an annual seminar in
the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia.
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DEIRDRE MONAGHAN
was born in Dublin and started her career there at the Gate Theatre.
She has worked on over 300 radio dramas with Radio Telefis Eireann,
and has also worked with the BBC and ABC. Among her favorite radio
roles are Viktoria in Ingmar Bergman’s A Matter of Soul, Mary in
W.B. Yeats’ The Land of Heart’s Desire, and Linda Loman in Arthur
Miller’s Death of Salesman. One of her most challenging radio engagements
was the live RTE series Midnight Court, for which she read through
the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, with interjections from
garrulous and heated theologians. She has also participated in reenactments
of the current and long-running Irish tribunals investigation into
political corruption. Her most current project is playing the mother
of a dysfunctional family on the BBC television series Custer’s
Last Stand Up.
Sisters MAIGHRÉAD
AND TRÍONA NÍ DHOMHNAILL were born in Rann na Feireste (Rannafast),
County Donegal, and were raised in Kells, County Meath. Music played
an essential role in their early family life. From their mother
Bríd came a love of song
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Maighréad
and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill
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of all kinds. Their
emphasis on the music of Rannafast came from their father Aodh, and
from his sister Neili, who contributed over 300 folk songs to the
folklore collection of Dublin University. While still teenagers, Maighréad
and Tríona formed the band Skara Brae with their brother Michael and
multi-instrumentalist Daithe Sproule. The Gaelic-language group existed
formally for just two years, and their only recording, a self-titled
album, was reissued by Gael-Linn in 1998. Tríona recorded a solo album
on Gael-Linn in 1975, then joined The Bothy Band. After the group
broke up in 1979, she moved to the US and played with the bands Touchstone,
Relativity, and Nightnoise. Maighréad maintained a low profile in
the ’80s, and released a solo album, Gan Dhá Phingin Spré (No Dowry)
(Gael Linn), in 1999. Tríona has now returned to Ireland, and she
and Maighréad are working together again. Their latest CD, Idir an
Dá Sholas (Green Linnet Records), represents a return to the source
for both sisters. |
