St Brigid's Day - The Casey Sisters

About the Casey / Ní Chathasaigh sisters:

These renowned sisters from West Cork - fiddler / singer / composer Nollaig, harper / composer Máire, and singer / fiddler / composer Mairéad – received great critical acclaim for their début CD together, Sibling Revelry - one of THE DAILY TELEGRAPH’s Folk Albums of the Year. “Blissfully beautiful... channelling mythology, nostalgia and geography to bewitching effect in heartfelt music" * * * * SONGLINES "Intimacy and intuition are at the heart of this radiant collection... a treat" * * * * THE IRISH TIMES "First-class musicianship... wonderfully atmospheric" * * * * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH “Une fratrie Irlandaise qui brille au pantheon de la musique de la verte Erin” * * * * TRAD MAGAZINE (France) "Elegant and beguiling" RTÉ LYRIC FM "Stunning... a superb album" THE LIVING TRADITION "Ils sont toutes trois des stars... très romantique... magnifique sonorité!" LE CANARD FOLK "Superbe" LE PEUPLE BRETON "Shows the mastery that’s given them global reputations... High-end music-making, virtuosic yet presented (with) warmth and intimacy, rich, flowing, soulful expression... (and) sheer depth of feeling for the Irish tradition" THE HERALD SCOTLAND

The Cork Folk Festival commissioned the sisters to write a suite of new music for its 40th anniversary. Corcach: A Journey, which received its premiere in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, is a 45-minute collection of original·music and song inspired by the city’s·colourful history,·from its 7th century monastic origins through to its vibrant present. It is hoped to record it in 2022 – pandemic allowing!

A documentary about Máire and Nollaig (with guests including Mairéad, Chris Newman and Nollaig's late husband Arty McGlynn) was first broadcast on TG4 on November 29th, 2020 as part of its 'Sé mo Laoch series, recently re-broadcast, and is still available to view on the TG4 Player. (TG4 is Ireland's national Irish-language TV station.) 

Máire (with Chris Newman) appears on the front cover of the April / May 2021 issue of THE LIVING TRADITION magazine, which also features an interview with them.

Nollaig Casey’s powerful presence has graced two of Ireland's most ground-breaking bands, Planxty and Coolfin and she now tours regularly with the immensely-popular Cherish the Ladies. Nollaig was appointed Traditional Artist in Residence for 2021 in her alma mater, University College Cork. She made her Carnegie Hall début in 2006 as soloist in a double concerto for classical violin and traditional fiddle by Evan Chambers. She’s toured the world with the hit show Riverdance and performed at the 2003 Special Olympics Opening Ceremony. A soloist in over 20 feature films, she’s recorded with Enya, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, Nanci Griffith, Ricky Skaggs, Rod Stewart, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Mary Black, Carlos Nuñez, Jim Rooney, Andy Irvine, Moving Hearts, Elvis Costello, Christy Moore, Liam O'Flynn, Dan ar Braz, Shaun Davey and Sharon Shannon; she’s played on innumerable TV programmes, including an appearance on BBC’s Transatlantic Sessions with Alison Krauss. Her solo album The Music of What Happened, featuring her “exquisite fiddle-playing and superb vocals” (THE IRISH TIMES), and both her duo albums with her late husband, Arty McGlynn, received great critical acclaim. "I would happily sit all night in a cold theatre to listen to Nollaig Casey." FORTNIGHT (Belfast) “Nollaig’s performance was stunning for its sheer musical artistry, seducing some into quiet amazement and inducing others to insist on encore after encore.” THEIRISH TIMES

Máire Ní Chathasaigh is “the doyenne of Irish harp players” (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY), “the great innovator of modern Irish harping” (THE ROUGH GUIDE TO IRISH MUSIC), and 2001 recipient of Irish music’s most prestigious Award, Gradam Cheoil TG4 – Traditional Musician of the Year - “for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp in Ireland and for the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers.” A multiple All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic winner, she developed profoundly influential techniques for harp performance of traditional Irish music, heard on her pioneering New-Strung Harp (1985) – “a milestone in Irish harp music” (THE IRISH EXAMINER) - and subsequent seven recordings with guitarist Chris Newman, with whom she tours worldwide. “Bewitching string fantasies and a wonderfully clear and expressive voice" THE TIMES “Dazzling virtuosity” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "In a class of her own" THE GUARDIAN "Takes one of the most effete instruments in traditional music and breathes a fire into its belly" * * * * THE IRISH TIMES   www.mairenichathasaigh.com

Multiple All-Ireland, Oireachtas- and Pan-Celtic-winning Mairéad Ní Chathasaigh‘s sweet soaring voice and subtle, very traditional fiddle-playing ground the music deeply in its roots. Mairéad has a deep knowledge of the Irish singing tradition and a special interest in the Sliabh Luachra fiddle repertoire and style. She has toured in the USA, Canada, Italy, Belgium and France, given traditional singing workshops in Ireland and the UK and is a regular adjudicator at Fleadhanna Cheoil throughout Ireland and at Fleadh Cheoil na h-Éireann.