Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile

Granuaile (album)

Granuaile is a blend of Classical and Irish Folk Music written by Shaun Davey for singer Rita Connolly. It is based on the life and times of the 16th century Irish pirate queen Gráinne O'Mally, who was also known as Granuaile...

' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his works such as 'The Relief of Derry Symphony', 'The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim (1983 album)

In 1983, following the hugely successful performance of Shaun Davey's work The Brendan Voyage the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions and...

 Suite' and his Special Olympics

Special Olympics

Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....

 music which was specially composed in 2003. Rita sang the anthem song 'May We Never Have to Say Goodbye' which topped the charts for four weeks. She has also produced two solo albums one with the eponymous title 'Rita Connolly' and the second 'Valpariso'on the Tara Music label.

In more recent times she has collaborated again with Davey (who is also her husband) and Co. Kerry based musicians (Seamus Begley, Éilís Ní Chinneide, Laurence Courtney, Daithí Ó Sé, Eoin Begley)to produce a unique body of work based on local poet Caoimhin O Cinneide's poetry which they converted into a group of songs and they now perform these as a band called Beal Tuinne. Rita has also been performing with other musicians such as Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...

, Arty McGlynn

Arty McGlynn

Arty McGlynn is an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he has collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan and the Van Morrison Band. He played guitar on the critically acclaimed 1989 Van Morrison...

, Neil Martin, Sean Keane

Seán Keane (fiddler)

Seán Keane was born on July 12, 1946 in Dublin. He is a well-respected fiddler, and also a fiddle teacher. He was a member of Ceoltóirí Chualann in the 1960s, before joining The Chieftains in 1968...

, Noel Eccles and Shaun Davey in a new venture called The Funeral Band. She has also been performing in a quartet with her husband Shaun Davey and guitarist Gerry O'Beirne and concertina player Eoin Begley.

Rita has sung for and with many of the great names in Irish music including Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

, Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan, is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The end result, Riverdance, was a seven-minute display of traditional Irish dancing that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze...

, Donal Lunny

Dónal Lunny

Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...

, Andy Irvine, Christy Moore

Christy Moore

Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...

, Luka Bloom

Luka Bloom

Luka Bloom is an Irish folk-rock singer-songwriter. He is the younger brother of Irish folk singer Christy Moore.-Early life:...

 and Jimmy McCarthy

Jimmy McCarthy

James "Jimmy" MacCarthy is a singer/songwriter born in Macroom, County Cork, Ireland.- Early life and career :Jimmy MacCarthy was born in 1953 to Ted and Betty MacCarthy . He has 11 siblings. The family had a business distributing newspapers and magazines all over Munster. However the family soon...

. She has also sung songs for theatre, television and film including The Deer's Cry for 'Who Bombed Birmingham' and Todavia Cantamos for 'The Tailor of Panama'. She has sung in many great venues including the National Concert Hall, Dublin, The Albert Hall, London and Chicago Symphony Centre, Chicago.

Discography

Beal Tuinne - Live at St. James Church Dingle - Beal Tuinne (2007)

May We Never Have To Say Goodbye - Shaun Davey (2006)

Waking Ned Devine - Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 (1998)

Sur les Quais de Dublin - Gilles Servat

Gilles Servat

Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany.He spent his early childhood around Nantes and Cholet. His music evoques the Isle of Groix, off the coast of Morbihan.His music was originally inspired by the...

 (1996)

Valparaiso

Valparaiso (album)

Valparaiso is Rita Connolly's second solo recording, released in 1996. It features a guest appearance by Iarla O'Lionaird on vocals.-Track listing:#"Ocean Floor"–4:55 #"Valparaiso"–3:57...

 - Rita Connolly (1995)

Out To An Other Side

Out To An Other Side

As is the case with a number of Liam's albums the title Out To An Other Side come from the writing of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney with whom Liam has performed live on numerous occasions...

 - Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn

Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...

 (1992)

Rita Connolly

Rita Connolly (album)

Rita Connolly is the first solo recording by Rita Connolly. It features guest appearances by Davy Spillane, Liam O'Flynn, The Voice Squad, Máirtín O'Connor, Palle Mikkelborg, Ray Lynam, amidst others. The album includes a number of Connolly's own compositions.-Track listing:#"Venezuela" – 4:49 Rita...

 - Rita Connolly (1992)

The Relief of Derry Symphony - Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 (1990)

Granuaile

Granuaile (album)

Granuaile is a blend of Classical and Irish Folk Music written by Shaun Davey for singer Rita Connolly. It is based on the life and times of the 16th century Irish pirate queen Gráinne O'Mally, who was also known as Granuaile...

 - Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 (1986)

Ride On - Mary Coughlan

Mary Coughlan (singer)

Mary Coughlan is an Irish jazz and folk singer and actress. She has received great acclamation in her native country, for her emotional and heartfelt jazzy musical renditions.-Background:...

 (1984)

The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim (1983 album)

In 1983, following the hugely successful performance of Shaun Davey's work The Brendan Voyage the previous year, The Festival Interceltique de Lorient commissioned Shaun to compose The Lorient Festival Suite for orchestra and Celtic soloists representing the seven Celtic countries or regions and...

 - Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 (1983)

Arc of a Diver - Philip King

Philip King

Philip King may refer to:* Philip Gidley King , British colonial administrator* Philip King , American football player, coach, and lawyer* Philip Burke King , American geologist...

 (1982)

Scullion

Scullion (album)

Scullion is the first studio album by Irish band Scullion. It was released in 1979 by Mulligan Music and produced by P.J. Curtis.-Track listing:-Personnel:Scullion*Sonny Condell — vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, percussion...

 - Scullion

Scullion (group)

Scullion is an Irish folk rock band that came into being in the mid 1970s. They were quite popular in Ireland, and released several LPs, but only two CDs have been released to date - the compilation Ghosts And Heroes on the Kitten label in 1992 and another compilation Eyelids into Snow - A...

 (1979)

Sean O'Casey Songbook - Paul Brady

Paul Brady

Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...

 (1980)

Give a Little Love - Stagalee (1978)

Pride of the Heard - Shaun Davey (1978)

Ten Years On [with The Connolly Sisters] - Universal Folk Club (1977)

Films

2001 The Tailor of Panama

The Tailor of Panama

The Tailor of Panama is a 2001 American film based on the 1996 spy novel of the same name by John le Carré, which was inspired by Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana...

 

1998 Waking Ned Devine

Waking Ned

Waking Ned is a 1998 comedy film by English writer and director Kirk Jones. It stars Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionnula Flanagan. Kelly was nominated for a Screen Actors' Guild award for his role as Michael O'Sullivan. The film is set in Ireland but was filmed on location in the Isle of Man...

  Shaun Davey

1995 The Hanging Gael Shaun Davey

1987 Who Bombed Birmingham Shaun Davey

1984 Eat the Peach

Eat the Peach

Eat the Peach is a 1986 British-Irish comedy film, directed by Peter Ormrod. The title derives from the T.S.Eliot poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. It was written by Peter Ormrod with John Kelleher...

Donal Lunny & Paul Brady

1978 Tears Donal Lunny & Jimmy McCarthy

1977 Catchpenny Twist Shaun Davey