Skara Brae were an

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 we ...

group from Kells,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

with origins in

Ranafast Ranafast or Rinnafarset, officially only known by its Irish language, Irish name Rann na Feirste () is a Gaeltacht village and townland in the Rosses region of northwest County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Name Ranafast, or sometimes ...

(Rann na Feirste),

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

. The group consisted of three siblings, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill,

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer, keyboard player, and composer, considered one of the most influential female vocalists in the history of Irish music. She is famed for her work with traditional Irish groups such as Skara ...

, and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, with

Dáithí Sproule Dáithí Sproule (born 23 May 1950) is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music. He is the grandson of Frank Carney and uncle of singer Claire Sproule. Biography Born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, at the age of 18 he moved ...

from Derry. Their debut and only album ''

Skara Brae Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. Consisting of ten clustered houses, made of flagstones, in earthen dams ...

'' is considered a seminal album in the Irish music tradition.

Origin

Though brought up in

, the Ó Domhnaill siblings had their roots in

(Rann na Feirste), where their father's family originated. Mícheál, Maighread, and Tríona came together with Dáithí during Irish language summer schools held in Rannafast during the late 1960s and subsequently formed the band Skara Brae while Triona and Maighread were still attending school. Mícheál and Dáithí were attending

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

and performed in the city over the next year.

History

Unique album

In 1971, Skara Brae released ''

'', a self-titled album of "beautifully performed Gaelic songs" on Gael-Linn Records. It is considered one of the most important albums in its genre, notable as the first recording to include vocal harmonization in

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

songs.

Post-breakup

The group disbanded in 1972. Dáithi Sproule went on to perform with numerous musicians before joining Irish supergroup Altan in 1992. Mícheál Ó Domhnaill and

later co-founded the highly influential Bothy Band in 1974, with flute player

Matt Molloy Matt Molloy (born 12 January 1947) is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen. Considered one of the most brilliant ...

, a succession of renowned fiddlers Paddy Glackin,

Tommy Peoples Tommy Peoples (20 September 1948 – 4 August 2018) was an Irish fiddler who played in the Donegal fiddle tradition. Biography Peoples was born near St. Johnston, County Donegal, Ireland. He was a member of traditional Irish music groups, ...

, and Kevin Burke, piper Paddy Keenan, and

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...

Reunions

Skara Brae reunited for two concerts for the Scoil Gheimhridh Frankie Kennedy in Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal: the first one on 27 December 1997 (at Ionad Cois Locha in Dunlewey, Co. Donegal) and the second one in 2005. On 12 September 2013, Dáithí Sproule announced the first Skara Brae (5-date) US tour to last from 25 to 30 October 2013 and to visit 5 US cities (Milwaukee, WI on 25; Madison, WI on 26; Saint Paul, MN on 27; Portland, OR on 29; Seattle, WA on 30). The newly reunited band will include Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill,

and

himself.

Discography

* ''

'' (1971)

References

{{Authority control Irish folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 1970 establishments in Ireland 1971 disestablishments in Ireland Musical groups from County Meath