De Dannan was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin (fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

), Alec Finn

Alec Finn

Alec Finn is an English-born Irish traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki. He is best known for founding De Dannan with Frankie Gavin, Ringo MacDonagh and Charlie Piggott after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, Co. Galway in...

 (guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, bouzouki

Bouzouki

The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...

), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán

Bodhrán

The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...

) and Charlie Piggott (banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

) as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane is an Irish folk singer and occasional actress. She was a founding member of the successful group De Dannan, and has since embarked on a very successful solo career, establishing herself as one of the most loved interpreters of Irish song.-Background:Keane was born in a small village...

 (vocals) to join the band. They named themselves Dé Danann after the legendary Irish tribe, Tuatha Dé Danann

Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....

. The late fiddler Mickey Finn

Mickey Finn (Irish fiddler)

Mickey Finn was a traditional Irish fiddler. He was fixture in Galway's traditional music scene during the 1970s and 1980s, playing with artists such as Mary Coughlan, Mick Lally, and Christy Moore.-Early life:...

 is also acknowledged to have been a founder member of De Dannan.

The group released their eponymous debut album Dé Danann in 1975. Keane left to marry John Faulkner in 1977. (Multi-instrumentalist Faulkner recorded 3 folk albums together with singer Keane.) To fill the vacancy, Dé Danann brought in Johnny Moynihan

Johnny Moynihan

John "Johnny" Moynihan , is a folk singer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is often credited as being responsible for introducing the bouzouki and the Irish bouzouki into Irish music in the mid 1960s. Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", as a young man he played in the band Sweeney's Men with Andy Irvine,...

 for the second album Selected Jigs Reels and Songs, which featured a bodhrán solo by McDonagh (this album has never been released on CD, reportedly because the master tapes were lost). The Mist Covered Mountain featured various older traditional singers, and on Star-Spangled Molly they were joined by Maura O'Connell

Maura O'Connell

Maura O'Connell is an Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music.-Background:...

. For reasons that have never been made clear, they changed the spelling of the group from "Dé Danann" to "De Dannan".

After the departure of Maura, they brought in Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....

 for two albums. Like Maura and Dolores before her, she has gone on to explore country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, hopping backwards and forwards between Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 and Dublin. After Mary Black, Dolores Keane returned to the fold for two albums. Other singers with the group have included Eleanor Shanley

Eleanor Shanley

One of Irelands foremost singers, Eleanor Shanley, from Keshcarrigan in County Leitrim in the North West of Ireland, is renowned for her unique interpretation of Irish and Roots songs. She has been at the top of her profession since her first appearance as the singer with traditional group De...

(1988-1992), Tommy Fleming (1994 - 1997) and Andrew Murray (1997 - 2000).

On the instrumental side, Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn were the only constant members of the group. Jackie Daly

Jackie Daly

Jackie Daly is an Irish button accordion and concertina player. He has been a member of a number of prominent Irish traditional-music bands, including De Dannan, Patrick Street, Arcady, and Buttons & Bows.-Biography:...

 (accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

) is a star in his own right and later went on to join the group Patrick Street

Patrick Street

Patrick Street is an Irish folk group.The band was formed in Dublin in 1986 with Kevin Burke on fiddle, Jackie Daly on button accordion, Andy Irvine on bouzouki and vocals, and Arty McGlynn on guitar...

. He was replaced on accordion in 1983 by Martin O'Connor

Martin O'Connor

Martin O'Connor may refer to:*Martin O'Connor , English former football and manager*Martin J. O'Connor , British television producer and executive...

 until 1987, Aidan Coffey

Aidan Coffey

Aidan Coffey is an Irish traditional accordionist from Ballylaneen, Co. Waterford . He recorded with Irish traditional fiddle players Seamus Creagh and Frankie Gavin and with guitar players Mick Daly and Arty McGlynn...

 until 1995, and Derek Hickey until 2001. The fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

-accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

-bouzouki

Bouzouki

The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...

 combination became synonymous with the inspirational De Dannan instrumental sound. In 1988 Colm Murphy

Colm Murphy

Colm Murphy is an Irish publican and building contractor who was the first person to be convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing, but whose conviction was overturned on appeal...

 replaced Johnny McDonagh playing the bodhrán. In 1980 De Dannan had a surprise hit single in Ireland with the Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 song Hey Jude

Hey Jude

"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...

. As an indication of their diversity, they also recorded Handel

HANDEL

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon (Handel)

Solomon, HWV 67, is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. Its libretto is based on the biblical stories of wise king Solomon and is attributed to Newburgh Hamilton...

" (which they jokingly retitled "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (in Galway)"), Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...

, and Jewish klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 tunes, learned from bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 and Klezmer

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 superstar, Andy Statman

Andy Statman

Andy Statman is a noted Klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.Andy Statman was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He first gained acclaim as a mandolinist in pioneering bluegrass bands Country Cookin' and Breakfast Special. Statman, who grew up in a traditional but secular Jewish...

.

The band members went their separate ways in 2003 at which point, the name De Dannan was copyrighted by Alec Finn

Alec Finn

Alec Finn is an English-born Irish traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki. He is best known for founding De Dannan with Frankie Gavin, Ringo MacDonagh and Charlie Piggott after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, Co. Galway in...

. This led to a high-profile dispute with Frankie Gavin

Frankie Gavin

Frankie Gavin, b.1956, Corrandulla, County Galway, is a fiddle player of traditional Irish music.Frankie Gavin is from a musical family; parents and siblings being players of the fiddle and accordion. As a child he played the tin whistle and, later, the flute. He received some formal training in...

 in 2009 when the latter used the name for his pre-existing Hibernian Rapsody band.

Discography

• De Danann (1975)
• Selected Jigs Reels and Songs (1977)
• The Mist Covered Mountain (1980)
• Star-Spangled Molly (1981) (see The De Dannan Collection
  The De Dannan Collection
  The De Dannan Collection is an album by Irish traditional music group De Dannan. It is a 2003 version of their 1981 album "Star-Spangled Molly" with the tracks put into a different order, and two additional tracks .- Track listing :# The Cuckoo's Next Medley # Come Back again To Me Mavournenn #...
  
  )
• Best of De Dannan (1981)
• Song For Ireland (1983)
• The Irish RM (1984)
• Anthem (1985)
• Ballroom (1987)
• A Jacket of Batteries (1988)
• Half Set in Harlem (1991)
• Hibernian Rhapsody (1995)
• How the West Was Won (1999)
• Welcome to the Hotel Connemara (2000)