Event Phone: 0863389619

Mairtin O’Connor with his Daughters, and Garry O’Briain

Mairtin O’Connor – Button Accordian

Garry O Briain – Vocals & Mandocello and Guitar

Ciara O’Connor – Fiddle & Cello

Sinead O’Connor – Fiddle & Keyboards

For the last show of 2018, we are delighted to host the Irish premiere of this great show, featuring Mairtin O’Connor. He has put together a great lineup especially for us. Máirtín will be joined by his daughters Ciara, who plays Cello and fiddle, and Sinéad, who plays Fiddle and keyboards, and the great Garry O Briain on guitar, Mandocello, vocals)

Máirtín O’Connor is one of the most outstanding and creative forces in Irish traditional music. He began playing the accordion at the age of nine, and his remarkable career has seen him as a member of many of traditional music’s leading groups including, Midnight Well, De Dannan, The Boys of the Lough, Skylark.He has also played with Christy Moore.

His first solo album ‘A Connachtman’s Rambles’ established him as a solo musician and proved a major critical success. The album remained in the British Folk charts for a considerable period. Máirtín’s second solo album ‘Perpetual Motion’, released in 1990 is one of the best accordion albums ever produced by an Irish artist and displays his astounding skill, dexterity and versatility to the full. The release in 1993 of his ‘Chatterbox’ album gave further evidence of his outstanding technique, imagination and compositional talent.

Máirtín’s infectious and irresistible style and constantly growing status has kept him very busy not only with live concerts but also as a session musician on recordings by many national and international musicians such as Rod Stewart, Elvis Costello, Mark Knofler, Tanita Tikaram, Townes Van Zandt, Chieftains, the Dubliners, Davy Spillane, Maire Brennan, the Waterboys…..

In 1995 Máirtín became the first recipient of the Allied Irish Banks, Traditional Musician of the Year award at a ceremony in his home town of Galway. The award was to acknowledge the tremendous contribution made by Máirtín to traditional Irish Music and in particular accordion music.

As a soloist he has performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra on Bill Whelan’s Seville Suite and in 1995 he played a major role in Bill’s world renowned ‘Riverdance’ . He has also worked on the music for Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ featuring Ben Kingsley and written by Shaun Davey, plus Bill Whelan’s ‘Some Mother’s Son’.

For the last decade has has worked with Cathal Hayden, Seamie
O’Dowd and Jimmy Higgins, recording two albums Crossroads and Going Places

As well as his two daughters, Mairtin will be joined in stage by fellow Galwegian, Garry O’Briain. Garry  has been a member of a number of Irish bands, including Aengus, Buttons and Bows, Skylark, and The Brothers, and he has appeared on an extensive list of recordings as a session player. He has written music for stage, film and television, as well as over a hundred songs.

“Technical brilliance, a flamboyant style and a versatility that seems to encompass every form of traditional music of countless countries, as well as classical music, mark out Máirtín O’Connor as a squeeze box player in the very top echelon.”

Doors 8 pm.

Mairtin O’Connor onstage 9.00 pm sharp