Judith Coe (University of Colorado Denver)
Nation/Culture. Ireland (also known as the Republic of Ireland) is a sovereign state in Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain. Slightly larger than West Virginia, Ireland is a member of the European Union. The largest cities are Dublin (the capital), Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Ireland is a unitary parliamentary republic with an elected president serving as head of state. The head of government (Taoiseach) is nominated by the lower house of parliament (Dáil Éireann). The state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. The modern Irish state gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1922 following a war of independence resulting in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, with Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom. Initially a dominion within the British Empire called the Irish Free State, a new constitution and the name of "Ireland" were adopted in 1937. In 1949, Ireland was declared a republic, and although the state had no formal relations with Northern Ireland for most of the twentieth century, since 1999 they have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North-South Ministerial Council created under the Good Friday Agreement.
Ireland, once one of the poorest nations in Western Europe, ranked until very recently amongst the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita. Rapid economic expansion from 1995 to 2007 ushered in the Celtic Tiger period. An unprecedented financial crisis beginning in 2008 ended this era of rapid economic growth.
The two official languages of Ireland are English and Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge). Irish is spoken mainly in areas along the western coast known as the Gaeltacht (or an Ghaeltacht). The Gaeltacht refers to the districts where Irish is the predominant language, and the vernacular spoken at home. These districts were first officially recognized during the early years of the Irish Free State, after the Gaelic Revival, as part of government policy to restore the Irish language. The official Gaeltacht regions in Ireland are Ulster, Connacht, and Munster. Part of the Gaeltacht today, the Blasket Islands (Na Blascaodaí) are a group of islands off the west coast of Ireland, in County Kerry. A completely Irish-speaking population inhabited them until 1953, when the island people were evacuated to the mainland. Many of the descendants currently live in Springfield, MA (some former residents still live on the Dingle Peninsula, within sight of their former home).
The islanders were the subject of anthropological and linguistic study at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries particularly from writers and linguists such as Robin Flower, George Derwent Thomson and Kenneth H. Jackson. Thanks to their encouragement and that of others, a number of books were written by islanders that record much of the islands’ traditions and way of life – notably, An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. The Blasket Centre in Dún Chaoin celebrates the story of the Blasket Islanders, the unique literary achievements of the island writers and their native language, culture and tradition. The beautiful and iconic slow air Port na bPúcaí (The Music of the Fairies or Song of the Pooka) is from the Blasket Islands. Legend has it that islanders heard a mystical music and, thinking it was disquieted spirits, composed this air using the notes they heard in an attempt to placate the unhappy fairies. Recent thinking suggests that they were, in fact, listening to whale-song reverberating through the felt hulls of their boats.
Music. Music has played a deeply significant role in the history and culture of Ireland since ancient times, and it continues to symbolize one of the most important cultural means of expression and exploration of contemporary Irish identity.
Art Music – The Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) is Ireland's national archive and resource centre for new music, supporting the work of composers throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland. The CMC engages in an ongoing program of development work to promote new Irish music at home and abroad, and is a member of the International Association of Music Information Centres (IAMIC). Their “Meet the Composer” program sends composers across Ireland and occasionally abroad to give interval and pre-concert talks in conjunction with performances of their music. New Music performance ensembles are listed on the site, as well as sources for music news and media, support organizations, music education, and Irish cultural links. A composer’s page links 20th- and 21st-century Irish composers. The best-known living Irish composer is Gerald Barry whose operatic works have been particularly successful in the UK and Europe. Born in County Clare, he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel.
Choral music in Ireland has produced Anúna, Ireland's National Choir, known for their contribution to Riverdance in the early 1990s. They have also been nominated for a Classical Brit Award in the UK and principally funded by the Arts Council of Ireland. Resurgam is also an important professional choral group that has begun to make an impact upon the awareness of vocal music beyond that of opera or contemporary popular music, while there are several high-quality church choirs, particularly in Dublin – The Palestrina Choir (St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral), Christ Church Cathedral Choir (Christ Church Cathedral) and St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir.
Folk/Traditional Music – Irish traditional music, once a medium only for dancing is now a sophisticated, global music whose singers and players are incredibly skilled, sensitive, and accomplished multi-instrumentalists. Irish traditional music includes many kinds of songs – including drinking songs, ballads and laments, sung unaccompanied (sean-nós) or with accompaniment by a variety of instruments. Traditional dance music includes reels (4/4), hornpipes and jigs (the common double jig is in 6/8 time). A revival of Irish traditional music took place around the turn of the 20th century. Irish stepdance was performed at céilís, organized competitions and country houses where local and itinerant musicians were welcome. Irish dancing was supported by the educational system and patriotic organizations. Instruments in traditional music include – fiddle, flute, whistle (tin and low), uilleann pipes, harp, Accordion and concertina, banjo, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, harmonica, and occasionally, the piano. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Society of the Musicians of Ireland) is the primary Irish organization dedicated to the promotion of Irish music, song, dance and language. The organization was founded in 1951 and has since been extremely successful in promoting Irish music and culture among the Irish people and the Irish diaspora. Comhaltas is responsible for organizing the annual national Irish music festival/competition called the Fleadh Cheoil. Many students of traditional music participate in the Scrúdu Ceol Tíre (SCT) program, a graded system of 12 progressive exams emphasizing performance and music theory. Teachers wishing to be certified in teaching Irish traditional music participate in the Teastais Teagaisc Cheol Tíre (TTCT) diploma course.
Popular Music – Popular music in Ireland started in the late 1940s with popularized Irish folk songs and continued in to the 1950s with dance hall showbands playing standard dance numbers, cover versions of pop music hits, ranging from rock and roll, country and western to jazz standards. Key to the showband’s success was the ability to learn and perform songs currently in the record charts. They sometimes played Irish traditional or Céilidh music and a few included self-composed songs. “Country and Irish” music was formed by fusing American Country music with Irish influences and incorporating Irish folk music. Traditional music played a part in Irish popular music later in the century, with Clannad, Van Morrison, Hothouse Flowers and Sinéad O'Connor using traditional elements in popular songs. Enya achieved international success with New Age/Celtic fusions. The Afro-Celt Sound System achieved fame adding West African influences and drum and bass in the 1990s while bands such as Kíla fuse traditional Irish with rock and world music representing the Irish tradition at world music festivals across Europe and America. A notable first fusion band in Ireland was Horslips, who combined Irish themes and music with heavy rock. Riverdance, a musical and dancing interval act, originally starred Michael Flatley and Jean Butler and featured the choir Anúna. It was performed during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994. Popular reaction to the act was so immense that an entire musical revue was built around the act and it subsequently became a global entertainment phenomenon.
Irish rock was born during a time of rapid and fundamental changes – cultural, economic, political and social. The 1960s saw the emergence of major Irish rock bands and artists, such as Them, Van Morrison, Emmet Spiceland, Taste, Rory Gallagher, and Thin Lizzy. Chris de Burgh achieved international acclaim with his 1986 hit “Lady in Red”. Groups who formed during the emergence of Punk rock in the mid-late 1970s included U2, The Boomtown Rats, Gavin Friday, and Stiff Little Fingers. Later in the 1980s and into the 1990s, Irish punk fractured into new styles of alternative rock, which included My Bloody Valentine and Ash. The Pogues fused punk with traditional Irish songs. In the 1990s, pop bands like the Corrs, Boyzone, Westlife and The Cranberries emerged. In the same decade, Ireland also contributed a subgenre of folk metal known as Celtic metal. Other artists well known as popular music performers include Paddy Casey, Dolores Keane, Damien Dempsey, Eleanor McEvoy, Frances Black, Sharon Shannon, Mary Black, The Frames and Stockton's Wing. Since the 2000s, big names in Celtic music include Kíla, Gemma Hayes, The Script, and Time Is A Thief. The 5 biggest selling Irish acts are U2 (170 million), Enya (80 million), Van Morrison (55 million), The Cranberries (50 million), and Westlife (44 million).
Notable Musicians.
Irish Traditional Musicians. Brendan Begley (Breandán Ó Beaglaoich, c. 1950) – a west Kerry singer and accordion player, inspired by the mountains, seas and storms of his native “Corca Dhuibhne” more commonly known as the Dingle Peninsula, has been featured repeatedly on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”, does work with TG4 (Irish-language TV station), is involved in the organizing of Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh which is held in west Kerry each February, and has recorded 4 acclaimed albums.
Karan Casey (b. 1969) – traditional and contemporary singer/songwriter, learned to copy Ella Fitzgerald's scat singing and performed in a Dublin bistro several nights per week while still a student, she studied classical music and sang in a jazz band and a folk-ballad band, influenced by Dublin folk singer Frank Harte, studied jazz at Long Island University and only began to sing Irish traditional music again when she started to attend Irish traditional sessions in New York where she mostly sang in bars and local centers, joined the enormously popular band Solas, and has recorded 5 critically-acclaimed solo albums.
Danú – Irish traditional band (Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh – lead singer, sean-nós and contemporary in both Irish and English, flute, whistle, Tom Doorley – flute, Dónal Clancy – guitar, his father is balladeer Liam Clancy (of Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem), Oisín McAuley – four- and five-string fiddle, and Éamon Doorley – bazouki and fiddle), their second album, Think Before You Think (2000) was voted Best Overall Traditional Act by Dublin's magazine Irish Music, the only band to have been voted Best Traditional Group twice in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, in 2001 and again in 2004 when their version of Tommy Sands’s "County Down" also won Best Traditional Song.
Martin Hayes (b. 1961) – east Co. Clare fiddler, splits his time between Co. Clare, Ireland and West Hartford, CT, has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion 6 times, has won a National Entertainment Award and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year, plays regularly with The Tulla Céilí Band (his late father was a founder member), is the musical director of the Masters of Tradition festival, held since 2003 in Bantry House (Bantry, Co. Cork) every summer.
Joe Heaney (Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, 1919-84) – sean-nós (“old-style) singer, Irish-speaking songs and storytelling, won 1st prize a the 1942 Oireachtas (championship competition) where he met Séamus Ennis, performer and educator (University of Washington, Seattle), NEA National Heritage Award for Excellence in Folk Arts.
Lúnasa – Irish folk, Celtic band (current lineup is Seán Smyth – fiddle, whistles,
Kevin Crawford – flutes, whistles, Trevor Hutchinson – double bass, Cillian Vallely – uilleann pipes, whistles and Ed Boyd – guitar), recording contracts with Green Linnet and Compass Records, started own record label, Lúnasa Records, in 2010, the group tours for a majority of each year and has performed in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Iarla Ó Lionáird (b. 1964) – Irish singer and producer well known for his involvement with the Afro Celt Sound System, one of the most prominent artists of the Irish sean-nós singing tradition, has released four solo albums through Real World Records, sings on the Peter Gabriel album OVO, his music has appeared on many film soundtracks including The Gangs of New York and Hotel Rwanda, it’s widely recognized that through this time he has had a major influence on the increase of awareness of the Irish ancient vocal tradition internationally.
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (b. 1950) – pianist, composer known for his integration of traditional and classical musics; 9 albums, doctoral dissertation (Queen’s university, Belfast) is on the music of Tommy Potts
Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin (b. 1950) – singer/songwriter, academic.
Solas – Irish-American Irish traditional band (Séamus Egan – flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, low whistle, guitars, bodhran, Winifred Horan – fiddle, vocals, Mick McAuley – accordians, contertina, low whistle, vocals, Niamh Varian-Barry – singer, and Éamon McElholm – guitars, keyboards, vocals), demonstrating an inclination towards Country music in recent albums.
Folk and Rock Musicians. Afro Celt Sound System – a musical group that fuses modern electronic dance rhythms (trip-hop, techno, etc.) with traditional Irish (Celtic) and West African music, albums have been released through Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, cited as the second best-selling band on the label, exceeded in sales only by Gabriel himself, striking live performances have often been the highlights of the WOMAD concert festivals.
Rory Gallagher (1948-1995), blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader, recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste during the late 1960s, talented guitarist known for his charismatic performances and dedication to his craft, his albums have sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide.
Andy Irvine (b. 1942) – singer/songwriter, bouzouki, guitar, performed with Ronny Drew and Luke Kelly, member of Sweeney’s Men, toured and recorded with Dónal Lunny, Christy Moore, Liam O’Flynn and Patrick Street, among others.
Kíla – Irish folk/world music group (Rossa Ó Snodaigh – composer and wind, skin and stringed instruments, Rónán Ó Snodaigh – bodhrán, Colm Ó Snodaigh – flute, tin whistle, guitar, saxophone and percussion, Dee Armstrong – fiddle and percussion, Eoin Dillon – piper, Seanán Brennan – guitar, bass and mandoline, and Brian Hogan – bass, double bass, guitar, mandolin, drums and vocals), originally formed in 1987 in the Irish language secondary school, Coláiste Eoin in County Dublin and associated with Irish rock bands The Frames (an Irish rock band founded by Glen Hansard) ,and Hothouse Flowers (an Irish rock group that combines traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel and rock), collaborated with French composer Bruno Coulais on the soundtrack of The Secret of Kells, an animated film by the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, nominated for best animated film in 2010, music also featured in two other feature films – Beyond the Fire, Trafficked, and the award-winning documentary film Fight or Flight.
Thin Lizzy – Dublin hard rock band, (Brian Downey – drummer, Phil Lynott – bass guitarist/vocalist, a variety of members since Lynott’s death in 1986), Lynott was the first black Irishman to achieve commercial success in the field of hard rock music.
Dónal Lunny (b. 1947) – bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, composer, arranger, records producer, performed with Christy Moore and Emmet Spiceland, member of Planxty, the Bothy Band, and Moving Hearts
Sinéad O’Connor (b. 1966) – singer/songwriter and provocative political activist, in addition to her nine solo albums her work includes many singles, songs for films, collaborations with many other artists and appearances at charity fundraising concerts.
Snow Patrol – Northern Irish alternative rock band (Gary Lightbody – vocals, guitar, Jonny Quinn – drums, Nathan Connolly – guitar, backing vocals, Paul Wilson – bass guitar, backing vocals, Tom Simpson – keyboards) and Johnny McDaid – piano, guitar, backing vocals), have won five Meteor Ireland Music Awards and have been nominated for three BRIT Awards, has sold over ten million albums worldwide.
U2 – Ireland’s best-known export and the world’s largest rock band (Larry Mullen – drums, Bono – vocalist and lyricist, The Edge – guitar, Adam Clayton - bass), attended Mount Temple School in Dublin’s north side in late 1970s,
Van Morrison (b. 1945) – Northern Irish singer-songwriter and soul/R&B musician, performed and recorded with Georgie Fame and The Chieftains, has received considerable acclaim, including six Grammy Awards, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, being inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and appearing on several "Greatest Artists" lists.
Music in Higher Education. There are 27 institutions of higher learning (also known as “third-level”) in Ireland, including: government-funded universities (9); those built under the sponsorship of private foundations and religious organizations and serving as constituent or linked colleges to universities (6); those established as National Institutions (7); independent Institutes of Technology (13); Colleges of Education (7); and Independent Institutions (39). Music features in clubs and student organizations at these institutions, and there are courses, certificate programs and degree programs at others, including: Royal Irish Academy of Music at Dublin City University (B.A. in music performance, music composition); National University Ireland/NUI – which includes University College Cork (diploma in music, MA in music composition, ethnomusicology, music and cultural history, MRes in research, and MPhil and PhD), University College Dublin (BA, BMus, MMus, MLit, PhD), and NUI Maynooth (BMus, BA, and BA in music technology); University of Limerick (Irish World Academy of Music and Dance – BA in Irish music and dance, and voice and dance, graduate diploma in music education, MA in classical string performance, community music, dance performance community/traditional, education, ethnochoreology, ethnomusicology, Irish traditional music performance, music therapy, ritual chant and song, festive arts, and PhD in arts practice); and University of Dublin – which includes Trinity College (BA in composition, musicology, and music technology, music and another subject, and MPhil in music composition, music and media technologies, and MLit and PhD). The University of Limerick is home to the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (an internationally acclaimed center for innovation and research in music and dance performance and scholarship) and the Irish Chamber Orchestra (Ireland's leading international chamber orchestra, funded by An Chomhairle Ealaíon, The Irish Arts Council). Since 1998, the IWA has been host to Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance, where sessions by renowned musicians, singers and dancers are combined with classes and lectures given by experts in the academic study of Irish traditions. The school embraces an ethos in which performance and reflection are seen as equal of stature and mutually beneficial. The ‘Of Our Times/Comhaimseartha’ brochure is published each semester and chronicles Academy events, including seminars, the lunchtime concert series, concerts and special events and distinguished symposia and presenters.
Music in Schools. Many aspects of Irish life continue to be organized on denominational lines, especially education. Until very recently the Catholic Church was the leading provider of education in Ireland, with more than 3,500 primary schools and over 800 secondary schools (in the Republic and in Northern Ireland), which educate 650,000 pupils. The Anglican Church of Ireland is also heavily involved in education in the Republic, and has its own schools. The period of compulsory education in the Republic is from ages six to fifteen though many students go on to take higher exams at seventeen. At fifteen, students take public exams called the “junior Certificate,” and at seventeen they take the “Leaving Certificate.” Since primary schools, called “National Schools,” are all denominational. After primary education, the second-level sector comprises secondary, vocational, community, and comprehensive schools, all publicly aided. Of these, some 60% are the more academic secondary schools, which are mostly managed by religious orders. Although the majority are Catholic, many Protestant students attend them because of the comparative lack of provision for Protestants at this level. All students have to study Irish, but examinations are no longer compulsory. The state meets about 95% of the cost of the teachers’ salaries. Music education in Ireland provides children at the primary level with opportunities to engage with a wide range of musical styles and traditions, to become involved in moving, dancing, illustrating, story telling and making drama. The curriculum introduces children to music reading and writing, to song singing and to playing classroom instruments and is comprised of three strands – listening and responding, performing, and composing. Implementation of the music curriculum started in primary schools in September of 2005, following a period of national in-service for primary school staffs. Implementation continues to be supported by the advisory service provided by the Primary Professional Development Service (PPDS) and is organized according to three levels – 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and 5th and 6th. Assessment is central to an educational ethos of effective teaching and learning of music in Ireland – concerned with knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes within the strands and re: musical elements, and utilizes teacher observation, work samples and portfolios, projects and curriculum profiles.
The Junior Cycle Curriculum offers a broad and balanced education in class music by providing students with the musical knowledge, understanding, practical competencies and attitudes appropriate to their age, needs, abilities and interests. In performing, students may choose from a variety of individual and group performance categories. In composition, students may select from a range of prescribed exercises, including a higher-level option in free composition.
Approximately 60% of the listening requirements can be chosen from a broad range of given categories. Junior Certificate Music is examined at two levels, Ordinary level and Higher level. The modes of assessment include a practical examination in individual and/or group performing, and a combined aural and written examination in composing and listening to music.
Senior cycle education in Ireland may be of two or of three year's duration (some students take an optional Transition Year in the first year of senior cycle – before they follow the two-year Leaving Certificate program). A majority of students take the Leaving Certificate and students normally choose 6 to 8 subjects from the list of approved subjects. Students following the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) take 6 or 7 Leaving Certificate subjects and two additional Link Modules: Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education. Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) students follow a self-contained pre-vocational programme made up of a range of courses that are structured round three elements: Vocational Preparation, Vocational Education and General Education. The Leaving Certificate Music syllabus provides continuity and progression from Junior Certificate Music. The general aims and overall shape of both is broadly similar. In providing the musical knowledge, understanding, practical competencies and attitudes appropriate to their age, abilities and interests, the syllabus caters for the varying needs of all students including those who wish to pursue further studies in music. The content of this syllabus involves a series of interrelated musical activities within each of the three core areas of musical experience – performing, composing and listening. In performing, students may choose from a variety of individual and/or group performing activities. In composing, students may select from a range of prescribed exercises or, at higher level, choose to present free composition in part fulfillment of the composing requirement. The listening component spans different musical periods, styles and genres. Students may specialize in one of the three areas of musical experience. The structure of the syllabus allows them to undertake 50% of their work in the musical activity that best suits their interests and talents. The syllabus content allows for considerable diversity in the choice of teaching materials and approaches. All musical genres are encouraged.
The syllabus is designed to allow for mixed ability teaching. Ordinary level students undertake exercises appropriate to their stage of musical development. Higher level students undertake similar exercises, but at a more advanced level, together with additional work in a chosen specialist area. Leaving Certificate Music is examined at two levels, Ordinary level and Higher level. The modes of assessment include a practical examination in individual and/or group performing a combined aural and written examination in composing and listening to music. Higher level students whose specialist options is composing will also present samples of their work for assessment. Students have multiple opportunities to equally focus on Classical, Irish traditional, and popular genres.
Contacts. CMC – Music Education/Universities and Institutes of Technology Listings
http://www.cmc.ie/addresses/universities.html
Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Founding Director
Irish World Academy, University of Limerick
http://www.irishworldacademy.ie/professor-micheal-o-suilleabhain/
Dr. Sandra Joyce, Acting Director
Irish World Academy, University of Limerick
http://www.irishworldacademy.ie/joyce-sandra/
Niall Keegan, Course Director BA Irish Music and Dance
Irish World Academy, University of Limerick
http://www.irishworldacademy.ie/keegan-niall/
Recommendations for Listening. Afro Celt Sound System, "Whirl-y-Reel 2 (Folk Police Mix)", from Volume 1: Sound Magic. Real World Records CAR 2359-2, 1996.
Brendan Begley, “Fonn Mall/Slow Air: Port na bPúcaí” and “Poirt/Jigs: Melodeon” from Fé Scáth/In The Shadow. CD Baby, Brendan Begley (884501619257), 2011.
Karan Casey, “Black is the Colour” from Ships in the Forest. Compass Records COM4476, 2008.
Danú, “The Glen Cottage, John Brosnans, Peata An Mhaoir (Polkas)” and “Malai na gCuach Ni Chuilleannain (Song)” from Seanchas (lore, tradition, mythos). CD Universe 8373431, 2010.
Rory Gallagher, “Moonchild” from Calling Card. Eagle Records B004Z1896C, 2011 (recorded 1971).
Martin Hayes, “The Morning Star/The Caoiltes Mountain” from Martin Hayes. Green Linnett GLI1127, 1992.
Joe Heaney, “The Rocks of Bawn” from Say a Song: Joe Heaney in the Pacific Northwest. Northwest Folklife and the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives, 1996. Found on track 7, Hast, Dorothea E. and Stanley Scott. Music in Ireland: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. [Global Music Series, ed. Bonnie C. Wade and Patricia Shehan Campbell] NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Andy Irvine, “Edward Connors” from Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams.” CD TÜT 72.141, with Andy Irvine (vocals and Fylde bouzouki), Dónal Lunny (harmonium and guitar), and Frankie Gavin (fiddle). Wundertüte Musik, 1989.
Kila, “Beilin Meala” from Luna Park. World Village USA B0000E32X8, 2003.
Iarla Ó Lionáird, “I'm Stretched On Your Grave” from I Can Read the Sky. Real World B00004R9C4, 2000.
Lúnasa, “An Buachaillin Ban” from Lunasa With The RTÊ Concert Orchestra by Lunasa. Lunasa Records B00BE9GE6K, 2013.
Dónal Lunny, “Millennium Suite: Gleaisaigi (Tog Out)” from Journey: The Best of Donal Lunny (Disc 2). Rounder/Umgd B000056CCT, 2001.
Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin , “Úirchill a’ Chreagáin” (Creegan Graveyard). Gael-linn CEFCD 174.
Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “I Am Stretched On Your Grave” from I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Capitol B000003JB7, 1990.
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, “In Search of Ancient Ireland” from Templum. Virgin Records, Ltd., B001I4NFSG, 2007.
Snow Patrol, “The Planets Bend Between Us” from A Hundred Million Suns. Geffen Records B001F290EE, 2008.
Solas, “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” and “The Maid On The Shore” from Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers. Shanachie B000000E5M, 1997.
Thin Lizzy, “The Boys Are Back In Town” from Dedication: The Very Best Of Thin Lizzy. Island Def Jam B000001G0L, 1991.
U2, “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” from Joshua Tree. Island B000WS4PCO, 2007.
Van Morrison, “Born to Sing” from Born To Sing: No Plan B. Blue Note Records B008EZVNO0, 2012.
Recommendations for Viewing. Bono – Ireland's Greatest? Part 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k299UQ2JgEw
Contemporary Music Centre
Geantraí – The Chieftains' 50th Anniversary 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdrNyjJaS1g
Irish Music, Peace, Politics, and Popular Culture
http://irishhonorsclass.weebly.com/index.html
‘Of Our Times/Comhaimseartha’
http://www.irishworldacademy.ie/events/
History and Heritage of the Blasket Islands
http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/blaskets.html
Ionad and Bhlascaoid Mhóir/The Blascaoid Centre, in Dún Chaoin
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/South-West/IonadandBhlascaoidMhoir-TheBlascaoidCentre/
Irish Folk Music Revival – Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=39D0J8SzQMA
Irish World Academy of Music and Dance
http://www.irishworldacademy.ie/
Living Memory: A Blasket Island Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBfQXbDBCA0&list=PL970C7DDF6100C95F
Lúnasa & The RTÉ Concert Orchestra live at the National Concert Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW4AYJdOn10
Na Blascaodaí – The Blasket Islands, music by sean-nós singer, Iarla Ó Lionaird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TTgdi4sVzU
Sinead O'Connor & the Chieftains – The Foggy Dew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=13MQFCfCYdQ
Recommendations for Reading. Campbell, Sean and Gerry Smyth. Beautiful Day: Forty Years of Irish Rock. Cork: Atrium (an imprint of Cork University Press), 2005.
Harper, Colin abd Trevor Hodgett. Irish Folk, Trad and Blues: A Secret History. Cork: The Collins Press, 2004.
Hast, Dorothea E. and Stanley Scott. Music in Ireland: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. [Global Music Series, ed. Bonnie C. Wade and Patricia Shehan Campbell] NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ó Beaglaoich, Breandán and Niamh Ní Bhaoill. Ceol Duibhneach: Ceol agus Ceoltóirí ó Chorca Dhuibhne (Music and Musicians from West Kerry). Dingle: Sibéal Teo, 2009.
Ó Canainn, Tomás. Traditional Music in Ireland. Cork: Ossian, 1993.
O'Connor, Nuala. “Dancing at the Virtual Crossroads,” in Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 170–188. London: Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books, 2000
Vallely, Fintan, ed. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music Cork: Cork University Press, 1999.
Vallely, Fintan and Charlie Piggott. Blooming Meadow: The World of Irish Traditional Musician. Dublin: Town House, 1998.