Featured Blog Posts (100)

Here are several tasty treats for you. Let’s start with the new, new first. Sox in the Frying Pan has a self-titled album out. These three young men are terrific musicians with an obvious sense of humor. Brothers Shane and Fiachra Hayes on accordion/fiddle/banjo are accompanied by Aodan Coyne on guitar and vocals. We would expect these three from Clare to be excellent on their…

Five years ago, I was happily driving down the road, minding my own business and listening to the album, Fire In The Kitchen by The Chieftains. Isn’t that a great title? It is one of those Chieftains’ multi-artist things—this one featuring Nova Scotian and Quebecoix artists. You know the drill. Chieftains, plus several guest stars.

Then,…

Four skeletons were found in the grounds of Terryland Castle in Co Galway two weeks ago and experts are now saying that the graves may belong to Oliver Cromwell's army.

Historians and forensic scientists are very excited by the find. The site dates back to 1691 when French and Irish forces fought Cromwellian troops. It is believed that some of the remains may have noble and…

Niamh's latest album "Cuz - A Tribute to Terry 'Cuz' Teahan" is out now. A tribute to the music of Sliabh Luachra musician Cuz Teahan, who emigrated to Chicago in 1928, the album features many top class guest musicians. All welcome to celebrate its official release.

Available here at CopperPlate:…

If you are reading this column, you probably know who Lunasa is. Iconic in the tradition. One of the most popular groups of all time in trad, and rightly so. They are out with a new album—joined by The RTE Orchestra! Altan did an album like this last year. This one is better. Great to hear the symphonic treatment of some of the band’s favorite tunes, playing right…

Dublin Timelapse 2013 from Eoghan Hanrahan on Vimeo.

Welcome to the 2013 Livies. Along with TG4, these are the most eagerly anticipated Irish Traditional Music Awards of the year. The reason? LiveIreland's unprecedented and instantaneous worldwide reach in its readership. When any site like LiveIreland is the 900 pound gorilla in the room, it's paid attention to. It is our honor to recognize the Best of the Best with…

Tom Cruise arrived in Dublin earlier and checked into the Merrion Hotel on Stephens Green. Whilst launching his new film Oblivion, Cruise will be tracing his Irish roots

Patrick Cruise, his great-great-great grandfather, returned from America when he was told that his land agent had evicted tenants from lands in Co Westmeath in 1843.

He…

Iarla O’Lionaird has just released his latest, Foxlight. We could write for days about this sean nos singer. Well, he’s not sean nos.BBut, he’s not modern. He inhabits his own universe in which he lives creatively among a lot of strains of Irish music. Working against him, in terms of a big, broad, mass appeal, is the fact that almost all of what he sings is…

The roof has caved in. I’ve whined for years that I’m falling so far behind that soon I will be buried under 18 feet of cd’s and unable to find my way to the surface. It has happened. Therefore, this is a cop-out column. It will be filled with little short, proclamations with no backup or analysis of anything. By the end of it, however, you’ll know about some terrific new albums!

There…

Ten 28 ton brewing vessels have arrived at Dun Laoghaire harbour to be trucked to the Guinness Brewery at James's Gate in one of the biggest expansions at the brewery in years.

It's expected that the brewery will consolidate itself as the primary brewing area for Guinness for the foreseeable future as a result of this installation.

The…

http://mixlr.com/emerald-radio-2013/crowd

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfeild made history by being the first person to use the Gaelic language from outer space.

Hadfeild tweeted a photo of Dublin at night with the following tweets:

“@Cmdr_Hadfield: Tá Éire fíorálainn! Land of green hills & dark beer. With Dublin glowing in the Irish night.”

This was followed by Irish…

Irish actor Gabriel Byrne launches a new series called "Vikings" on the History Channel March 3rd.

From around A.D. 800 to the 11th century, a vast number of Scandinavians left their homelands to seek their fortunes elsewhere. These seafaring warriors--known collectively as Vikings or Norsemen ("Northmen")--began by raiding coastal sites, especially…

Guinness has moved its new large brewing vats from Dun Laoghaire to James’s Gate Brewery last night. The tanks are some 22 metres long x 6.6 metres wide and 5.4 metres in height [30 tons each] [a total of 10 this sailing] for the Guinness brewery extension. It was also the first commercial [cargo] vessel in Dun Laoghaire Harbour since 1988…

Enda Seery worked extensively in this new traditional album since last year. This is his follow up to The Winding Clock which received positive reviews. For the first time, Enda enhanced his repertoire which includes singing. This is the first track off Síocháin na Tuaithe(Peace of the Countryside).