Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (born 28 August 1979) is a fiddler, born in Dublin, Ireland, who attended Trinity College Dublin, becoming a Scholar in Theoretical Physics (1999) and earning a First Class BA degree (as the top student of his class) in 2001. He is known for developing a drone-based fiddle style heavily influenced by the uilleann pipes and the music of

Sliabh Luachra Sliabh Luachra (), sometimes anglicised Slieve Logher, is an upland region in Munster, Ireland. It is on the borders of counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, and bounded to the south by the River Blackwater. It includes the Mullaghareirk Mounta ...

. Ó Raghallaigh spent several summers working part- and full-time in the Irish Traditional Music Archives in Dublin, opening up a wealth of old recordings which influenced his repertoire and style. Together with uilleann piper Mick O'Brien, he recorded ''Kitty Lie Over'', named no.1 traditional album of 2003 by Earle Hitchner in American newspaper the Irish Echo. He performs regularly with West Kerry accordion player

Brendan Begley Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given ...

, and has collaborated many times with sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird. He has also performed with Icelandic group Amiina, Sam Amidon, The Waterboys among others. He is a member of two contemporary traditional music groups: The Gloaming (with Martin Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Dennis Cahill and Thomas Bartlett) and This Is How We Fly (with Petter Berndalen, Nic Gareiss and

Seán Mac Erlaine Seán Mac Erlaine (born 30 July 1976) is an Irish musician and composer specialising in woodwinds and electronics. He studied jazz performance in Newpark Music Centre under Ronan Guilfoyle where he also taught for a number of years before comple ...

). He has also worked in theatre, having been commissioned by the Abbey Theatre to write music, and works regularly with Gare St Lazare Players. He contributed music to the 2015 movie Brooklyn (film), a set of reels recorded especially for the purpose with Mayo accordion player Fiachna Ó Mongáin. As well as playing on violin and Hardanger fiddle, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh plays an instrument made by Norwegian luthier Salve Hakedal, a fiddle with five bowed strings and five sympathetic strings, a cross between a Hardanger fiddle and a five string violin or viola d'amore which he calls a Hardanger d'Amore, first made for American Hardanger fiddle player Dan Trueman, and commissioned by Caoimhín with the head and tailpiece of Salve Hakedal's Viola d’Amore model. Ó Raghallaigh uses crosstunings or scordatura (common in Norwegian and old-time American fiddling), and uses baroque and transitional bows made by Michel Jamonneau. Ó Raghallaigh also used to play a Viola Pellegrina Pomposa by American luthier David Rivinus, a highly asymmetrical five-string viola. Caoimhín also plays tin whistle,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and uilleann pipes, having been taught whistle and flute by Co. Clare flute-player Michael Tubridy of The Chieftains and

Ceoltóirí Chualann Ceoltóirí Chualann (pronounced ) was an Irish traditional band, led by Seán Ó Riada, which included many of the founding members of The Chieftains. Ceoltóirí is the Irish word for musicians, and Cualann is the name of an area just outsid ...

. In 2011 he premiered ''The Valley of the Lunatics'', a work written for him by Dave Flynn, at the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry. Part of this piece is used in the soundtrack to the film '' The Enigma of Frank Ryan.'' In 2019, he and fellow

Gloaming Gloaming may refer to: * Twilight, the period after sunset and before the darkness of night * The Gloaming, an Irish traditional music group ** ''The Gloaming'' (album), their first album * Gloaming (horse) (1915–1932), a Thoroughbred racehorse ...

member Thomas Bartlett released a special self-titled album of studio collaborations the pair had recorded together during gaps in the group's touring schedule.

Discography

*''Turas go Tír na nÓg'' (1999, out of print) *''Kitty Lie Over'' (2003, with Mick O'Brien) *''Where the One-Eyed Man is King'' (2007) *''Comb Your Hair and Curl It'' (2010, with

Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh Micheal is a masculine given name. It is sometimes an anglicized form of the Irish names Micheál, Mícheál and Michéal; or the Scottish Gaelic name Mìcheal. It is also a spelling variant of the common masculine given name ''Michael (given nam ...

and

Catherine McEvoy Catherine McEvoy is an Irish musician who plays the Irish traditional flute. She received the TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available ...

) *''Triúr sa Draighean'' (2010, with Peadar Ó Riada and Martin Hayes) *''A Moment of Madness'' (2010, with

) *''Deadly Buzz'' (2011, with Mick O'Brien) *''Triúr Arís'' (2012, with Peadar Ó Riada and Martin Hayes) *''Triúr Omós'' (2013, with Peadar Ó Riada and Martin Hayes) *''This is How we Fly'' (2013, with

, Nic Gareiss and Petter Berndalen) *''The Gloaming'' (2014, on Brassland Records and

Realworld Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

, with Iarla O Lionaird, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and Thomas Bartlett) *''Music for an Elliptical Orbit'' (2014, on Diatribe Records) *''Laghdú'' (2014, on IrishMusic.net Records, with Dan Trueman) *''The Gloaming 2'' (2016, on Brassland Records and

, with Iarla O Lionaird, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and Thomas Bartlett) *''Foreign Fields'' (2017, with

, Nic Gareiss and Petter Berndalen) *''All Soundings are True'' (2017, with

Garth Knox Garth Knox (born 8 October 1956 in Dublin, Ireland) is a violist and composer who specializes in contemporary classical music and new music. Biography Knox was the youngest of four siblings, and although he was born in Ireland, he was raised in S ...

, on Diatribe Records) *''The Gloaming: Live at the NCH'' (2018, on Brassland Records and

, with Iarla O Lionaird, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and Thomas Bartlett) *''The Gloaming 3'' (2019, on

, with Iarla O Lionaird, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and Thomas Bartlett) * ''Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett'' (2019, on

, with Thomas Bartlett)

References

External links

*
Official website - Caoimhin and Thomas
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oraghallaigh, Caoimhin 1979 births Living people 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people 21st-century violinists Alumni of Trinity College Dublin BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Dublin fiddlers Irish fiddlers Irish folk musicians Musicians from County Dublin People educated at The High School, Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin The Gloaming members