Altan

Altan ranks among Ireland's leading traditional ensembles. Their initial appearance took place at the start of the 1990s, showcasing the Irish-language songs and vigorous twin-fiddle approach native to Donegal, and they have sustained that reach on the global stage through multiple acclaimed recordings, beginning with the Celtic-focused Green Linnet imprint before moving to Virgin, Narada, and Compass Records. Drawing on fiddle, flute, guitars, accordion, bouzouki, and the graceful bilingual singing of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, the group has cultivated and retained an international following across years of far-reaching tours and notable releases including 1993's Island Angel, 2002's The Blue Idol, and 2015's The Widening Gyre, an album that merges Celtic and American roots traditions. Even while pursuing outside partnerships and stylistic explorations, Altan has stayed firmly rooted in Irish traditional music, regularly spotlighting their home region of Donegal in Northern Ireland. That connection received explicit tribute on the 2024 album Donegal.

Their story opened with the collaboration between fiddler and vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, born in Donegal, and flute and whistle player Frankie Kennedy, born in Belfast. Growing up immersed in traditional music within an Irish-speaking household, Ní Mhaonaigh first studied fiddle with her father Francie, who had acquired it from his mother Roise; she further benefited from the guidance of fiddler Dinny McLaughlin, a frequent visitor to the family home. Kennedy, who had trained on flute from childhood, developed a deep interest in Irish music and made regular journeys to Donegal to join local sessions. After an initial encounter at an informal gathering, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy began performing together whenever possible. Although both accepted trainee teaching posts at St. Patrick's College in Dublin, music remained their common focus. In 1979 they made their first recording appearance as accompanists to Gaelic singer Albert Fry on his self-titled debut album. Two years later they completed their studies, married, and joined bouzouki player Donal O'Hanlan and Ní Mhaonaigh's brother Gearóid Ó Maoinaigh on guitar to form the band Ragaime. After recording for RTE, the group dissolved before Gael-Linn issued the duo's debut album Ceol Aduaidh in December 1983.

In 1987 Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy cut their second duo album, titled Altan after a lake in northwest Donegal. Produced by Dónal Lunny and issued on Green Linnet Records, it included bouzouki from Ciarán Curran, guitar from Mark Kelly, and contributions from Ní Mhaonaigh's sister Anna Ní Mhaonaigh, then performing with the all-woman group Macella. Shortly afterward the musicians decided to continue as a unit and adopted the album title as their band name. During summer 1988 they began recording their first proper band album, now featuring twin fiddle from Paul O'Shaughnessy. Produced by Phil Cunningham and released in 1989, Horse with a Heart presented a more energetic sound than earlier efforts. As touring increased, O'Shaughnessy and Kelly limited their involvement to recordings and nearby shows because of their day jobs; Daíthí Sproule on guitar and Ciarán Tourish on fiddle substituted during U.S. dates. Wider recognition arrived with 1990's Red Crow, which earned a NAIRD award for Best Celtic Traditional Album, an honor repeated for 1992's Harvest Storm. That year Kennedy received a diagnosis of Ewing's Sarcoma. Despite treatment he remained active, contributing to the 1994 release Island Angel, which Billboard ranked among the year's top-selling world music albums. While his health declined, Kennedy joined Altan for a White House performance at President Bill Clinton's invitation and helped secure a Virgin Records contract shortly before his death on September 19, 1994.

Fulfilling their late colleague's wish that the band continue, former guest accordionist Dermot Byrne joined full-time and appeared on the 1996 Virgin debut Blackwater. The lineup had stabilized with Tourish on fiddle alongside Ní Mhaonaigh, Curran on bouzouki, Kelly and Sproule on guitar, and Byrne on accordion, remaining intact for nearly two decades. After 1997's Runaway Sunday, Altan moved to Narada and opened the new decade with 2000's Another Sky, which introduced modest departures from their predominantly Irish repertoire through a Bob Dylan cover of "Girl from the North Country" and a Scots-language setting of Robert Burns' "Green Grow the Rushes." That cross-genre impulse extended to 2002's The Blue Idol, which included an appearance by American country icon Dolly Parton. Following the more traditionally oriented 2005 album Local Ground, the group entered a hiatus during which several members issued solo projects, among them Ní Mhaonaigh's 2009 album Imeall.

Early in 2009 Altan returned to the studio to re-record selected highlights from their catalog with Dublin's RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Released in January 2010 on the Compass label, the resulting 25th Anniversary Collection marked both their first quarter-century and their initial Compass outing. The ensemble marked the anniversary with tours across Ireland, Europe, and the U.S. Their subsequent studio album, 2012's Gleann Nimhe: The Poison Glen, adopted a back-to-basics approach by avoiding both the orchestral scale of the prior project and the occasional synths and new-age touches found in some earlier work. In early 2014 accordionist Dermot Byrne departed; Martin Tourish assumed the role and participated on the next release, 2015's The Widening Gyre. This fusion of Altan's traditional Irish material with American roots music featured guests including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Darol Anger, Alison Brown, and Sam Bush. Further touring followed, and in 2017 longtime fiddler Ciarán Tourish left. Returning to Attica Studios in Donegal, the group recorded their twelfth studio album, The Gap of Dreams, issued in 2018.

After a scheduled U.S. tour was canceled at the onset of the 2020 pandemic, the musicians resumed live performances in 2022, revisiting Europe and North America. They also welcomed Scottish fiddler and vocalist Clare Friel, previously of the Friel Sisters, as the first new female member since the band's formation; she made her recording debut on the 2024 album Donegal.