Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan: ‘Music is like experiences you haven’t had before, and don’t have the words for’
Change characterises Altan’s sound since the aptly titled Donegal, says singer and fiddle player Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Córas Trio review: Belfast avant-garde folk trio break new ground
An audacious and self-assured eponmyous collection that heralds yet another welcome hairpin bend in the folk and traditional music
Bassekou Kouyate: ‘I am on a mission to promote my instrument, the ngoni, which predates Jesus Christ’
The Malian musician is bringing his pioneering blend of old and new to Earagail Arts Festival, joining Úna Monaghan in a deliciously eclectic programme
The Companion to Irish Traditional Music: A gargantuan endeavour and an essential resource
This knowledgeable companion can be leaned on when a question arises in conversation or a fact needs to be checked
Riverdance composer Bill Whelan: ‘I think we forget how important ritual is, and we’re losing it’
Composer, arranger and performer on Riverdance’s effect on Ireland, contemporary trad music, AI and facing down eternity
Steve Cooney, Pat Fleming and Timmy O’Connor: Tunes from Toureendarby – Fiery polkas and slides from Sliabh Luachra trio
Turn your amps up to 11 and rejoice in the sheer joie de vivre of this trio’s playing
Trad singer Ruth Clinton: ‘I got a little tired of certain tropes being repeated about women in songs’
At the Tradition Now festival, the singer will be showcasing songs from the folk canon that challenge stereotypes
‘We’re lucky in Irish music that players we look up to and have listened to all our lives are so accessible. It’s pretty unique’
Kerry piper Leonard Barry’s new album, Littoral, features a host of well-known names, including Kevin Burke of The Bothy Band
Niamh Bury: Yellow Roses – A testament to the vibrancy of Ireland’s folk scene
Debut album is a highly cohesive body of work that reveals itself gradually through a series of original songs
Notify: Airneán – Contemporary and traditional worlds intersect effortlessly
This is an organic, deeply thoughtful collection infused with a curiosity and an appetite for exploration
How one seller became unwittingly entangled in Michael Lynn’s Celtic Tiger property dealings
Journalist Siobhan Long faced a stressful period in 2007 when Lynn, then a solicitor amassing a sizeable property portfolio, briefly ran out of finance trying to buy her home
The Bothy Band: Traditional music’s most influential group blaze back after four decades
The revolutionary group, reunited for the making of a documentary, now plan to perform a series of shows in Belfast and Dublin
Toner Quinn: ‘There has been a thaw around issues of Irishness, but now we see a hardening again’
The Journal of Music’s editor has turned a selection of his writing over the past 23 years into the formidable What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music
The Henry Girls: Time to Grow – A gracious and gutsy collection
Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin do not cleave to any narrow definitions of folk or tradition
Ralph McTell: ‘My room was like a little Catholic shrine. I had pictures of Jesus – that was the father figure I was seeking out’
As he prepares for his 80th-birthday concert at Tradfest, the English folk singer-songwriter takes stock of his life and of five decades in music