Danú: Traditional Music of Ireland

Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 8pm

Nell Ní Chróinín: Lead Vocals & Piano Accordion
Benny McCarthy: Button Accordion
Oisin McAuley: Fiddle and Backing Vocals
Éamon Doorley: The Irish Bouzouki
Ivan Goff: Uilleann Pipes, Flute and Whistles
Tony Byrne: Guitar and Backing Vocals
Billy Sutton: Bodhran (Irish Drum) and Mandolin

This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.

Repertoire will be selected from the following and announced from the stage

The Trip To Clarina/Ag Filleadh Abhaile (Instrumental)
All Traditional tunes arranged by Danú 

Reels-The Poor Mans Fortune/The Long Strand/Reel Gan Ainm (Instrumental)
Composed by P.O’Brien/Traditional/Traditional 
Arranged by Danú

Master McGrath (Song)
Traditional
Arranged by Danú

The Flight of the Earls of Ulster/ Kitty O’Hea/ The Leitrim Bucks (Instrumental)
Composed by O.McAuley/Traditional/Traditional
Arranged by Danú

Maidin Mhoch ar leabaigh Bhoig (Song)
Composed by Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaoire
Arranged by Danú 

The Bright Lady/Kilfenora Jig (Instrumental)
All Traditional/Traditional
Arranged by Danú

The New House/Brown-Eyed Bridget/The Humours of Holliston (Instrumental)
Composed by Paddy O'Brien/O.McAuley/O.McAuley
Arranged by Danú

Snowbird (Song)
Composed by Gene MacLellan
Arranged by Danú

Program is subject to change

PROGRAM NOTES

JIG/REEL: The Trip To Clarina/Ag Filleadh Abhaile 

Trad./P.ÓFaoláin, Arr. Danú

Here’s a newly arranged instrumental set we recently put together. It begins with the beautiful old jig “Turas Go Clár Aidhne” (The Trip to Clarina), which we learned from a recording by the great box player Mick Mulcahy. The second tune is a newly composed reel by the outstanding fiddler Pax Ó Faoláin from An Rinn, Co. Waterford, titled “Ag Filleadh Abhaile” (Returning Home).

REELS:The Poor Mans Fortune/The Long Strand/Reel Gan Ainm

P.O'Brien/Trad./Trad., Arr. Danú

The first of these lovely reels was composed by the great Offaly accordionist Paddy O’Brien. The second reel comes from O’Neill’s 1001 Collection of Irish Music. The final tune was learned from the esteemed Dublin piper Mick O’Brien.

SONG: Master McGrath

Trad., Arr. Danú

Master McGrath was a legendary racing greyhound in Ireland, born in Colligan, a small townland near Dungarvan in County Waterford. He gained fame by winning the prestigious Waterloo Cup, a major dog racing event in England. Master McGrath secured victory in this race three times—1868, 1869, and 1871—making him one of the most celebrated and successful greyhounds of his time. Several monuments in Ireland commemorate his legacy, including one near his birthplace. This song tells the remarkable story of Master McGrath.

MARCH/SLIG JIG/ REEL: The Flight of the Earls of Ulster/ Kitty O’Hea/ The Leitrim Bucks 

O.McAuley/Trad./Trad., Arr. Danú

"The Flight of the Earls of Ulster" refers to the departure of the last of the old Irish leaders, led by Red Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O’Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, Donegal. After losing the Nine Years' War against England, they fled to Spain and later to Rome. The slip jig comes from the mid-19th-century Petrie Collection (No. 512), where it is noted as a "Donegal tune from Mr. Allingham." A beautiful Scottish tune called "The Piper’s Whim" appears to be closely related to it. "The Leitrim Bucks" is a reel that Ivan often played with fiddle player Tom Morrow during their weekly sessions at The Ferryman in Dublin in the early 1990s. The tune can be found in Martin Mulvihill’s First Collection (1986, No. 120), where Mulvihill attributes its source to The Desmond Céilí Band from Castleisland, Co. Kerry, which included the renowned fiddle player Denis Murphy.

SONG: Maidin Mhoch ar leabaigh Bhoig

Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaoire, Arr. Danú

Nell learned this song from a recording of the renowned Gougane Barra singer Cáit Ní Mhuineacháin. The song is an Aisling (vision poem) written by the esteemed poet Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaire (1774–1848), who was from Tuirín na nÉan, near Ballingeary in County Cork. Though Máire could neither read nor write, she was a remarkably prolific poet, and her work continues to endure. The song tells a love story in which a man encounters a woman of extraordinary beauty and struggles to place who she is, believing he has never seen anyone like her before. Eventually, she reveals her identity and expresses interest in making a match with him, only for him to respond that he is already spoken for.

SLOW AIR/JIG: The Bright Lady/Kilfenora Jig

Trad., Arr. Danú

Ivan’s rendition of this beautiful air is inspired by recordings of Willie Clancy and Ronan Browne. If lyrics ever existed for this melody, they have been lost over time. The eponymous “Lady” likely refers to a spéirbhean, or celestial woman—a common figure in Irish-language aisling (vision) poems, a genre from the 17th and 18th centuries that provided the texts for many great sean-nós songs. "The Kilfenora Jig" is a traditional jig famously recorded by the Kilfenora Céilí Band in 1959.

JIGS: The New House (Paddy O'Brien), Brown-Eyed Bridget

(Oisín McAuley), The Humours of Holliston (Oisín McAuley), Arr. Danú

The first jig of this set is composed by the great accordion player Paddy O'Brien from Nenagh, County Tipperary. Our own Oisín McAuley composed the second and third jigs.

SONG: Snowbird

Gene MacLellan, Arr. Danú

“Snowbird” was written in the late 1960s by the great Gene MacLellan from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and was made famous by the great Anne Murray. Our rendition was inspired by a recent version we heard from the songwriter’s daughter, Catherine MacLellan, who is also a great singer-songwriter.

Hailing from historic Counties Waterford, Cork, Donegal and Dublin, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. Their standing-room-only concerts throughout Ireland are true events, featuring high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire.

For 30 years, Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English), have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums. Their live DVD, One Night Stand, was filmed at Vicar St. Dublin. Winners of numerous awards from the BBC and Irish Music Magazine, Danú has toured throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North America with stops at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Symphony Space in New York City, and major concert engagements in the United Kingdom, India, Israel, and across Europe. Danú takes its audiences on a musical journey to their native Ireland, offering a moving and memorable concert experience. Danú’s popular recordings are available on the Shanachie label, and live performances are often broadcast on NPR, the CBC, and the BBC.

Danú has 10 CDs and a DVD which are all available in stores or online at www.danu.net

Danú Debut (CD) 1997; Think Before You Think (CD) 2000; All Things Considered (CD) 2002; The Road Less Traveled (CD) 2003; Up In The Air (CD) 2004; When All Is Said And Done (CD) 2005; One Night Stand (DVD) 2005; Seanchas (CD) 2010; Buan (CD) 2015; Ten Thousand Miles (CD) 2018; The Pearl Album-Live In Celebration (CD) 2025

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