De Dannan

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.
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
OriginGalway, Ireland
GenresFolk
Celtic
Years active1975–2003
LabelsGael-Linn, Shanachie[1]
SpinoffsFrankie Gavin with Hibernian Rhapsody a.k.a Frankie Gavin & The New De Dannan
Past membersAlec 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]

  1. ^ "De Dannan". 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2012.