The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st century, despite globalising cultural forces. In spite of emigration and a well-developed connection to music influences from Britain and the United States, Irish traditional music has kept many of its elements and has itself influenced many forms of music, such as country and roots music in the United States, which in turn have had some influence on modern rock music. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk rock, and other genres. Some of these fusion artists have attained mainstream success, at home and abroad.

In art music, Ireland has a history reaching back to Gregorian chants in the Middle Ages, choral and harp music of the Renaissance, court music of the Baroque and early Classical period, as well as many Romantic, late Romantic and twentieth-century modernist music. It is still a vibrant genre with many composers and ensembles writing and performing avant-garde art music in the classical tradition.


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Early Irish poetry and song has been translated into modern Irish and English by notable Irish poets, song collectors and musicians.[1] The 6th century hymn Rop t mo baile by Dalln Forgaill for example, was published in 1905 in English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne, and is widely known as Be Thou My Vision. The Blackbird of Belfast Lough (Old Irish: Int n bec; Irish: An t-an beag) has been notably translated by poets such as Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Frank O'Connor. Notable recordings of modern interpretations of early Irish music include Pdraign N Uallachin's Songs of the Scribe, various music albums by choral group Anna, and the recordings of Caitrona O'Leary with Dlra and the eX Ensemble.[2]

Irish traditional music includes many kinds of songs, including drinking songs, ballads and laments, sung unaccompanied 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).[6] The polka arrived at the start of the nineteenth century, spread by itinerant dancing masters and mercenary soldiers, returning from Europe.[7] Set dancing may have arrived in the eighteenth century.[8] Later imported dance-signatures include the mazurka and the highlands (a sort of Irished version of the Scottish strathspey).[9]

A revival of Irish traditional music took place around the turn of the 20th century. The button accordion and the concertina were becoming common.[12] Irish stepdance was performed at cils, organised competitions and at some country houses where local and itinerant musicians were welcome.[13] Irish dancing was supported by the educational system and patriotic organisations. An older style of singing called sean-ns ("in the old style"), which is a form of traditional Irish singing was still found, mainly for very poetic songs in the Irish language.[14]

From 1820 to 1920 over 4,400,000 Irish emigrated to the US, creating an Irish diaspora in Philadelphia, Chicago (see Francis O'Neill), Boston, New York and other cities.[15] O'Neill made the first recordings of Irish music on Edison wax cylinders.[16] Later, Irish musicians who were successful in the USA made commercial recordings which found their way around the world and re-invigorated musical styles back in the homeland.[17] For example, American-based fiddlers like Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran did much to popularise Irish music in the 1920s and 1930s, while Ed Reavy composed over a hundred tunes that have since entered the tradition in both Ireland and the diaspora.

After a lull in the 1940s and 1950s, when (except for Cilidh bands) traditional music was at a low ebb, Sen  Riada's Ceoltir Chualann, The Chieftains, Tom Lenihan, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Irish Rovers, The Dubliners, Ryan's Fancy and Sweeney's Men were in large part responsible for a second wave of revitalisation of Irish folk music in the 1960s. Several of these were featured in the 2010 TV movie "My Music: When Irish Eyes are Smiling".[18] Sean O'Riada in particular was singled out as a force who did much for Irish music, through programming on Radio ireann in the late 1940s through the 1960s. He worked to promote and encourage the performing of traditional Irish music, and his work as a promoter and performer led directly to the formation of the Chieftains. His work inspired the likes of Planxty, The Bothy Band and Clannad in the 70s. Later came such bands as Stockton's Wing, De Dannan, Altan, Arcady, Dervish and Patrick Street, along with a wealth of individual performers.[19]

There is evidence of music in the "classical" tradition since the early 15th century when a polyphonic choir was established at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and "city musicians" were employed in the major cities and towns, who performed on festive occasions. In the 18th century, Dublin was known as the "Second City" of the British Isles, with an active musical life culminating in, among other events, the first performance of Handel's famous oratorio Messiah. The ballad opera trend, caused by the success of the Beggar's Opera, has left noticeable traces in Ireland, with many works that influenced the genre in England and on the continent, by musicians such as Charles Coffey and Kane O'Hara.

Choral music has been practised in Ireland for centuries, initially at the larger churches such as Christ Church Cathedral, St Patrick's Cathedral, and St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, as well as the University of Dublin Choral Society (founded in 1837).

Founded and directed by composer Michael McGlynn in 1987, Anna contributed significantly to raising the profile of choral music, particularly through their contributions to Riverdance which they were a part of from 1994 to 1996. They were nominated for a Classical Brit Award in the UK and appeared at the BBC Proms series in the Royal Albert Hall in 1999. In 2012 they featured as the voices of Hell in the video game Diablo III.[22] In February 2018 the group won the Outstanding Ensemble category of the Annual Game Music Awards 2017 for their contributions to the video game Xenoblade Chronicles 2.[23]

There have been subsequent attempts to revive the Irish-language tradition in opera. A brother-sister team previewed sections of the opera Clann Tuireann publicly,[26] and in 2017 musician John Spillane told the Evening Echo that he was then working on a Gaelic opera to be titled Legends of the Lough.[27][needs update]

Performers of popular music began appearing as early as the late 1940s; Delia Murphy popularised Irish folk songs that she recorded for HMV in 1949; Margaret Barry is also credited with bringing traditional songs to the fore; Donegal's Bridie Gallagher shot to fame in 1956 and is considered 'Ireland's first international pop star';[28] Belfast-born singer Ruby Murray achieved unprecedented chart success in the UK in the mid-1950s; Dublin native Carmel Quinn emigrated to the US and became a regular singer on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and appeared frequently on other TV variety shows in the 1950s and '60s. The Bachelors were an all-male harmony group from Dublin who had hits in the UK, Europe, US, Australia and Russia; Mary O'Hara was a soprano and harpist who was successful on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1950s and early 1960s; Waterford crooner Val Doonican had a string of UK hits and presented his own TV show on the BBC from 1965 to 1986.

Irish Showbands were a major force in Irish popular music, particularly in rural areas, for twenty years from the mid-1950s. The showband played in dance halls and was loosely based on the six or seven piece Dixieland dance band. The basic showband repertoire included 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 Cilidh music and a few included self-composed songs.[29]

With the rise in popularity of American country music, a new subgenre developed in Ireland known as 'Country and Irish'. It was formed by mixing American Country music with Irish influences, incorporating Irish folk music. This often resulted in traditional Irish songs being sung in a country music style. It is especially popular in the rural Midlands and North-West of the country. It also remains popular among Irish emigrants in Great Britain. Big Tom and The Mainliners were the first major contenders in this genre, having crossed over from the showband era of the 1960s. Other major artists were Philomena Begley and Margo, the latter even being bestowed the unofficial title of Queen of Country & Irish.[30][31] The most successful performer in the genre today is Daniel O'Donnell, who has garnered success in the UK, US and Australia.[32] O'Donnell's frequent singing partner Mary Duff has also had success in this genre and most recently County Carlow native Derek Ryan has enjoyed Irish chart hits doing this type of music.

Traditional music played a part in Irish popular music later in the century, with Clannad, Van Morrison, Hothouse Flowers and Sinad 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 electronic dance rhythms in the 1990s while bands such as Kla fuse traditional Irish with rock and world music representing the Irish tradition at world music festivals across Europe and America. The most notable fusion band in Ireland was Horslips, who combined Irish themes and music with heavy rock. The Shamrock Wings is a Colombian band that fuses Irish music with Caribbean rhythms.[citation needed]

Riverdance is a musical and dancing interval act which originally starred Michael Flatley and Jean Butler and featuring the choir Anna. It was performed during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 as "Riverdance". Popular reaction to the act was so immense that an entire musical revue was built around the act. 0852c4b9a8

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