De Dannan

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De Dannan
De Dannan, featuring two of their noted female singers at the 1985 Trowbridge Folk Festival. L-R: Frankie Gavin; Martin O'Connor; Alec Finn; Mary Black and Dolores Keane.
Background information
Origin	Galway, Ireland
Genres	Folk Celtic
Years active	1975–2003
Labels	Gael-Linn, Shanachie[1]
Spinoffs	Frankie Gavin with Hibernian Rhapsody a.k.a Frankie Gavin & The New De Dannan
Past members	Alec Finn Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh Charlie Piggott Mickey Finn Dolores Keane Andy Irvine Johnny Moynihan Tim Lyons Jackie Daly Maura O'Connell Mary Black Martin O'Connor Aidan Coffey Eleanor Shanley Colm Murphy Tommy Fleming Derek Hickey Andrew Murray

De Dannan (originally Dé Danann) is an Irish folk music group. It was formed in 1975 by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott (banjo) as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in Spiddal, County Galway, Ireland,^{[citation needed]} with Dolores Keane (vocals) subsequently being invited to join the band. The fiddler Mickey Finn (1951–1987) is also acknowledged to have been a founder member.

The band was named after the legendary Irish tribe Tuatha Dé Danann.^{[citation needed]} In 1985 the spelling of the name was changed from "Dé Danann" to "De Dannan" for reasons that have never been made clear.^{[citation needed]} Since 2010, however, Finn and McDonagh have recorded and performed with a line-up named "De Danann", and, since 2012, Gavin has recorded and performed with another line-up named "De Dannan".^{[citation needed]}