The Green Fields of America is an ensemble that performs and promotes

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was formed in 1977 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, led by musician and folklorist

Mick Moloney Michael Moloney (15 November 1944 – 27 July 2022) was an Irish-born American musician and scholar. He was the artistic director of several major arts tours and co-founded Green Fields of America. Early life Moloney was born in Limerick, Ire ...

. They perform Irish and Irish-American culture with American musicians and dancers.

Origin

As a student in Philadelphia, Moloney met the director of the

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

, who encouraged him to gather a set of performers for the 1976 festival. This received a positive response, and Moloney decided to form an ensemble that would bring together Irish vocal, instrumental, and dance traditions at concerts and festivals. Moloney cofounded the Green Fields of America in 1977.

Work

The critically acclaimed album ''The Green Fields of America Live in Concert'' in 1989 subtitled "Irish Music, Song and Dance in America" credited

Robbie O'Connell Robbie O'Connell (born 1951) is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded ...

, Jimmy Keane (all three members of the famous Moloney, O'Connell & Keane trio) and

Eileen Ivers Eileen Ivers (born July 13, 1965) is an American fiddler. Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents, grew up in the Bronx and attended St. Barnabas High School. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of n ...

Séamus Egan Séamus Egan is an Irish-American musician. Early days Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Mike and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland. He learned acc ...

, Donny Golden and Eileen Golden. Many had their performing starts with The Green Fields, including Egan, Ivers, Golden, Marie Reilly,

Jean Butler Jean Butler (born March 14, 1971) is an American stepdancer, a master of Irish Dance, choreographer, and actress. She is best known for originating the principal female role in the Irish dance theatrical production ''Riverdance''. In January 202 ...

and

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and ''Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 milli ...

. Playing such venues as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Wolf Trap A wolf trap (Spanish ''lobera'', Italian ''luparia'') was a chase ending in a pit with trapdoor and stakes used by beaters in hunting wolves in medieval Europe.Towards a History of the Basque Language José Ignacio Hualde, Joseba A. Lakarra, Rob ...

, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the Festival of American Folklife (now the

), the Milwaukee Irish Fest, and The National Folk Festival, the five members of the band at the time –

Liz Carroll Liz Carroll (born September 19, 1956) is an American fiddler and composer. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship Award. Carroll and collaborator Irish guitarist John Doyle were nominated for a ...

, Jack Coen, Michael Flatley, Donny Golden and Mick Moloney – have all received National Heritage Awards. Radio Telefís Éireann, Ireland’s national broadcaster, commemorated the twentieth-anniversary of the group on

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

's Day, 1999. A nationally televised documentary on their history and cultural contributions was presented. Among the musicians joining Mick Moloney for the performance at Re-Imagining Ireland, were singer-songwriter Robbie O'Connell, Jerry O'Sullivan (uilleann pipes), and the dancers Donny Golden and Sinead Lawlor. Old-time fiddler, guitarist, banjoist, and singer

Bruce Molsky Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region. Early years As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but ...

and singer-composer

Tommy Sands Thomas Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937) is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on ''Kraft Television Theater'' in January 19 ...

were also guest appearances. As of 2018, membership in the group consisted of Moloney, O'Connell, long-time associate Billy McComiskey (button-accordion), Athena Tergis (fiddle), Liz Hanley (fiddle and vocals), Brenda Castles (concertina and vocals), Brendan Dolan (keyboards) and Niall O'Leary (Irish dance and spoons).

Recordings

*''The Green Fields of America Live in Concert'' • Green Linnet CSIF 1096 (1989) *''The Greenfields of America'' • The Greenfields of America • Compass 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Fields Of America Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups from Philadelphia American folk musical groups Irish-American culture in Philadelphia Irish-American culture in Pennsylvania Green Linnet Records artists Compass Records artists