Niamh Parsons (born in Dublin, Ireland) is a singer of contemporary and traditional Irish music. [1] [2]
Niamh Parsons started her professional career in 1990, in Belfast. Having been singing at sessions around Dublin, Niamh first joined the band Killera from 1984 to 1989. Joining her ex-husband Dee with their band the Loose Connections in 1990, Parsons released two CDs with this band. Since then she has toured extensively in Europe and the US with the Loose Connections, the traditional group Arcady and with her partner Dublin guitarist Graham Dunne, with whom she has been playing since 1999. She has also appeared solo at many festivals and venues in Ireland, USA, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Japan and Great Britain. [3] [4]
She was asked to play before President Clinton and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Capitol Hill, Washington. She has also made several appearances on the Irish TV station RTÉ. She has released eight albums since 1992. 'In My Prime' was nominated for the 2002 BBC Folk Awards, as was the song 'Bonny Woodhall' and Niamh herself nominated as Singer of the year in the same year. Her 2002 album Heart's Desire won the 2003 Association for Independent Music award. [5]
Niamh is also on the Executive of the Musicians Union of Ireland. www.mui.ie
Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy. The group were primarily influenced by traditional Irish language songs from Donegal and have sold over a million records.
Cara Elizabeth Dillon is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving the group, she collaborated with Sam Lakeman under the name Polar Star. In 2001, she released her first solo album, Cara Dillon, which featured traditional songs and two original Dillon/Lakeman compositions. The album was an unexpected hit in the folk world, with Dillon receiving four nominations at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975 the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy Newton joined Null and Sky as operating officer. In 1976 Newton took over control of the now Green Linnet label and moved it to Danbury, Connecticut in 1985. Newton became sole owner in 1978. Newton's love of Irish music had been sparked during a visit to Ireland where she heard traditional music for the first time in a small pub in County Clare.
Andrew Kennedy Irvine is an Irish folk musician, singer-songwriter, and a founding member of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and Usher's Island. He also featured in duos, with Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Dick Gaughan, Rens van der Zalm, and Luke Plumb. Irvine plays the mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, harmonica, and hurdy-gurdy.
Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single "Gotta Tell You", which reached the top five in Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States. It has since been listed in Billboard's 100 Greatest Choruses of the 21st Century. Her album of the same name was released later that year and reached number four in Ireland and number nine in the UK. She has had seven top five hits in Ireland and six top ten hits in the United Kingdom.
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland.
Niamh Cusack is an Irish actress. Born to a family with deep roots in the performing arts, she has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre, and many others. Her most notable television role was as Dr. Kate Rowan in the UK series Heartbeat (1992–1995). Other TV and film credits include Always and Everyone (1999–2002), The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1992–1995), The Closer You Get (2000), Agatha Christie's Marple, Midsomer Murders (2008), A Touch of Frost (2010), In Love with Alma Cogan (2011), Testament of Youth (2014), Departure (2015), Chick Lit, The Ghoul (2016), The Virtues (2019), Death in Paradise (2021), The Tower (2023). She has been nominated at IFTA for her performance in Too Good to be True (2004).
Dolores Keane is an Irish folk singer. She was a founding member of the group De Dannan following which she pursued a solo recording and touring career.
Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
Frances Black is an Irish singer and politician. She came to prominence in the late 1980s when she began to play with her family's band, the Black Family, performing a mix of traditional and contemporary Irish music.
Redwood is an album by Lúnasa that was released in 2003 on Green Linnet Records. It was their fourth major release, and their last album on Green Linnet Records. The band conceived the album in October 2001 whilst staying in a Californian lodge; the band aimed to record an album that would capture the band's live feel whilst at the same time retaining the sonic quality that the band feature on their albums. The band took a ten-day break from their February 2002 American tour to record the album at Prairie Sun Recording Studios in California. It is characterised by a more relaxed sound than previous albums, and less guest musicians.
Dáithí Sproule is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music. He is the grandson of Frank Carney and uncle of singer Claire Sproule.
Heineken Green Energy was an Irish music festival that took place at Dublin Castle over the May bank holiday weekend. It attracted over 50,000 people per year for what was the opening of the music festival season in Ireland. The event, sponsored by Heineken International first took place in 1996 and occurred on an annual basis until 2008. While the main event occurred in Dublin Castle, smaller shows were held in other city venues.
James Keane is an Irish traditional musician and accordion player. The Italian Castagnari company issued and continues a line of signature instruments called keanebox in his honor.
Mary Dillon is an Irish folk singer from Northern Ireland, known for her work with the traditional band Déanta. She launched her solo career in 2010 with the release of an EP entitled Army Dreamers. She is the sister of singer Cara Dillon.
Robbie O'Connell is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded with The Clancy Brothers, being their nephew. For over 20 years, he has conducted small cultural tours to Ireland with Celtica Music & Tours and, for more than ten years, WGBH Learning Tours. Married with four grown children, he now spends his time between Bristol, Rhode Island and Waterford.
Beoga are an Irish folk band. They were formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh although the original four members of the band hail from County Antrim and County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The line-up features Damian McKee on accordion, multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham, pianist Liam Bradley and Eamon Murray on bodhrán. Niamh Dunne, from County Limerick, joined in 2005, on vocals and fiddle.
Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter, producer & director from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He was a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light and his parents group Lá Lugh.
Lankum are a contemporary Irish folk music group from Dublin, consisting of multi-instrumentalists Ian Lynch, Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat.