Ceoltóirí Chualann (pronounced ) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

traditional band, led by

Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...

, which included many of the founding members of

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

. Ceoltóirí is the

word for musicians, and Cualann is the name of an area just outside Dublin where Ó Riada lived. Ó Riada's work with Ceoltóirí Chualann is credited with revitalizing the use of the

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...

as a

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

in Celtic music. In 1960 Ó Riada was looking for musicians to perform music for the play "The Song of the Anvil" by Bryan MacMahon.

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was part ...

, at the age of 20, was called to participate in the project, along with his friend

Sean Potts Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria ...

, Sonny Brogan on accordion and John Kelly on fiddle. They rehearsed weekly in Ó Riada's house in Galloping Green, on the outskirts of Dublin. Following its success, Ó Riada had the idea of forming Ceoltóirí Chualann, a band to play traditional Irish songs with accompaniment and traditional dance tunes and slow airs, arranged with instruments: harpsichord, bodhran, piano, fiddle, accordions, flute, pipes and whistles. The idea of actually arranging folk music, or dance music, had been done on at least one or two 78rpm recordings in the past, but they were folk tunes done in a classical way, highly orchestrated. Another aim was to revitalize the work of blind harpist and composer

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ga, Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin ; 167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, ...

. The band was launched during the

Dublin Theatre Festival The Dublin Theatre Festival is Europe's oldest specialised theatre festival. It was founded by theatre impresario Brendan Smith in 1957 and has, with the exception of two years, produced a season of international and Irish theatre each autumn. ...

in September 1960, at the Shelbourne Hotel, at an event called ''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'' (Ó Riada's Recital). Included in the program were traditional singers, writer

Seán Ó Ríordáin Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is wi ...

and poet Seán Ó Tuama. In March of the following year Ó Riada recorded the first of a series of radio programmes for which he retained the name ''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'', and included music played by Ceoltóirí Chualann. Soon after the band's formation, Peadar Mercier and Seán Keane joined. Ceoltóirí Chualann continued to play until 1969. Their music was featured in the 1968 documentary, '' The Village'', by Mark McCarty (director) and Paul Hockings (anthropologist). During 1969 they recorded two albums, ''Ó Riada'' and ''Ó Riada Sa Gaiety''. The latter of those two albums was not released until after 1971, when Seán Ó Riada died.

Select discography

*''An Poc ar Buile EP'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL2 (196?). *''Néilí EP'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL3 (196?). *''Mo Chailín Bán EP'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL5 (196?). *''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'': Gael-Linn CEF 010 (LP, 1961). *''The Playboy of the Western World'': Gael-Linn CEF 012 (LP, 1962). *: Gael-Linn CEF 015 (LP, 1967). *''Ding Dong'': Gael-Linn CEF 016 (LP, 1967). *''An Poc ar Buile (single)'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann CES 011 *''Do Bhí Bean Uasal'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann CES 012 *''Ó Riada sa Gaiety with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann'': (LP, 1971) currently available a
Gael-Linn ORIADACD01
*''Ó Riada's Farewell'': Claddagh Records CC 12 (LP, 1972). *''Port na bPúcaí'' (Ó Riada solo, but with trad. material, previously unreleased recordings)
Gael-Linn ORIADACD07
(CD, 2014)

Select discography

References

Further reading