Máire Ní Chathasaigh (; born 1956) is 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 ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist, composer and singer.

Biography

She was born in

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in a musical family. She learned to playthe harp when she was eleven. She created new harp ornamentation techniques that made its stylistically accurate performance possible. Having won

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

(Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann) harp competitions at under-fourteen and under-eighteen levels, she then, in the mid-1970s, won the Senior All-Ireland competition three years in succession. She also won the Pan-Celtic Harp Competition at junior and senior levels. She was the 2001 recipient of TG4 Gradam Ceoil Ceoltóir na Bliana / Musician of the Year, awarded for "for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp and for the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers". In 1985 she recorded ''The New-Strung Harp,'' the first harp album to concentrate primarily on traditional Irish dance music. Her stylistic innovations made her famous in the

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

scene. Her partnership with English guitarist Chris Newman made its début on the main stage at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival. Since then they have toured as a duo all over Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. In 1988 they recorded ''The Living Wood'', their first duo album, and since then they have recorded six further duo albums and a quartet album, ''Heartstring Sessions'', with Ní Chathasaigh's sister

Nollaig Casey Nollaig Casey ( ga, Nollaig Ní Chathasaigh) is an Irish fiddle player, and has an international reputation as one of Ireland's finest fiddle players. By the time she was eleven years old she could play violin, piano, tin whistle and uilleann pipe ...

and Nollaig's husband

Arty McGlynn Arty McGlynn (7 August 1944 – 18 December 2019) was an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan and ...

(all four toured together in Europe, North America and Australasia as the Heartstring Quartet). In 2015 Ní Chathasaigh recorded a trio album, ''Sibling Revelry'', with her sisters

and Mairéad Ní Chathasaigh. All albums were critically-acclaimed. She features on the cover of the book ''Bringing It All Back Home'' and the June-July 2017 issue of Germany's ''Folk Magazin'' and of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann's magazine, ''Treoir''. She and Chris Newman were featured on the cover, and in a article within, the April / May 2021 issue of ''

The Living Tradition ''The Living Tradition'' was a bi-monthly music magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1993 and 2022. It specialised in traditional folk music from the UK, Ireland and beyond. The original editors were Peter and Heather Heywood. In 20 ...

'' magazine. She is profiled in ''Celtic Women in Music'' by Mairéad Sullivan, ''The Rough Guide to Irish Music'' and a number of magazine and newspaper articles. A TV documentary programme about Ní Chathasaigh and her sister Nollaig (also featuring their sister Mairéad, together with Chris Newman and Nollaig's late husband Arty McGlynn) was originally broadcast on TG4 on November 29th, 2020, and re-broadcast 13 February, 2022, as part of its '''Sé mo Laoch'' series. It can currently be watched on the TG4 Player here. Máire has been giving masterclasses and disseminating her ideas and techniques in Ireland, the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia since the mid-1970s. Her arrangements have been published in two books, ''The Irish Harper Vols. I and II'', and she has an honours degree in Celtic Studies from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

Albums

*''The New Strung Harp'' (Temple Records, 1985) *''The Living Wood'' (first released by Green Linnet, 1988; reissued by Black Crow 1989; re-mastered and reissued by Old Bridge Music 1995, OBMCD07) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Out Of Court'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD03, 1991) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''The Carolan Albums'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD06,1991) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Live In The Highlands'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD08,1995) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Dialogues / Agallaimh'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD014, 2001) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Firewire'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD017, 2007) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Heartstring Sessions'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD018, 2008) - with guitarist Chris Newman, fiddler / singer Nollaig Casey and guitarist Arty McGlynn *''Christmas Lights'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD20, 2013) - with guitarist Chris Newman *''Sibling Revelry'' (Old Bridge Music OBMCD22, 2015) - with her sisters, fiddler / composer / singer Nollaig Casey and fiddler / singer Mairéad Ní Chathasaigh (The Casey Sisters)

Books

*''The Irish Harper'' (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)

References

External links

Máire Ní Chathasaigh
official solo site
Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman
official duo site
The Casey Sisters
official site for Máire's trio with her sisters Nollaig Casey and Mairéad Ní Chathasaigh
The Heartstring Quartet
official Heartstring Quartet (with Chris Newman, Nollaig Casey & Arty McGlynn) site
Old Bridge Music
official label site {{DEFAULTSORT:Ni Chathasaigh, Maire 1956 births Living people Irish folk singers Irish folk harpists 20th-century Irish women singers Irish harpists Musicians of New College, Oxford Irish-language singers 21st-century Irish women singers