Altan features fiddler Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ciarán Curran (bouzouki), Mark Kelly (guitar), Martin Tourish (accordion) and fiddler Clare Friel. 

Driven by many critically acclaimed albums and a relentless touring schedule, the band Altan emerged during the 1990s as one of Ireland’s premiere traditional musical groups. Armed with both instrumental virtuosity and a healthy respect for the musical traditions upon which it draws, Altan’s energetic vision came to be held in high regard by purists as well as those with more eclectic tastes. The band’s progress was temporarily derailed in 1994, however, when flutist Frankie Kennedy–co-founder of the group with his wife, lead vocalist Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh–died of cancer. Mhaonaigh and her bandmates struggled with that loss, but eventually recorded the highly regarded 1996 release Blackwater. “Nobody spoke about it, but it was understood that Frankie wasn’t going to be replaced,” said band member Mark Kelly. “He was missed in the studio, and the sound he produced on the flute was missed. But looking back on it, I think it’s right that he should be missed, that we weren’t just bashing ahead without him.” 

Band founders Kennedy and Ni Mhaonaigh launched their musical careers in Dublin, Ireland, where both worked as elementary school teachers in the early 1980s. The couple married in 1981 and began to play as a duo in local taverns and other venues. Even at that early juncture, Kennedy and Ni Mhaonaigh tapped into the rich and largely undiscovered musical tradition of Ni Mhaonaigh’s home region. 

Whereas Kennedy hailed from the strife-ridden city of Belfast, Ni Mhaonaigh grew up in northwest Donegal, Ireland, where Gaelic was still commonly spoken. The daughter of well-known fiddler Francie O’Mhaonaigh, Ni Mhaonaigh was exposed to the region’s music from an early age. When she and her husband looked about for material to incorporate into their act, they naturally turned to the county of Donegal, home of many learned and private traditional musicians. 

Arguably one of the world’s most popular traditional Irish groups, Ni Mhaonaigh told Bob Cannon of World of Hibernia that she believed the group’s music would have staying power. “Music is an enjoyable thing, and if you are successful that’s a plus. We’ve gained an audience that we never expected, and we find ourselves saying how fortunate we are. If we stopped playing as a band tomorrow, I think the music would live on.”  

[Text by Kevin Hillstrom]

Support: Aoife (flute) and Deirdre Granville (harp). Multi-instrumentalist musicians and singers Dr Aoife Granville and Deirdre Granville will launch their new album, Ceo Draíochtaat the 47th Cork Folk Festival. 

Aoife and Deirdre Granville are sisters from Dingle whose music is deeply rooted in the traditions of Corca Dhuibhne and the Blasket Islands. Acclaimed performers and recording artists, they have toured internationally and collaborated with many of Ireland’s leading traditional musicians.