Biography
Singer/songwriter Robbie O'Connell earned descriptions as “a national treasure” across Ireland and “a master of Irish music” throughout the United States. His independent path opened in 1982 upon issuing the debut album Close to the Bone. Earlier he had belonged to the Green Fields of America, sharing membership with Seamus Egan and Eileen Ivers. He further collaborated onstage and in the studio with the Clancy Brothers—his uncles—producing multiple CDs and delivering a 1992 concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Born in Waterford, O’Connell grew up in Carrick-on-Suir within County Tipperary. At age thirteen he first performed as vocalist and guitarist in his parents’ hotel, which presented weekly folk concerts. He subsequently spent a year playing English folk pubs, then enrolled at University College Dublin. During academic breaks from philosophy and literature he traveled to the United States, securing work as an Irish singer that financed his studies and confirmed his commitment to a performing life. In 1977 he joined the Clancy Brothers lineup and completed three albums with them. By decade’s end he had established permanent residence in Franklin, Massachusetts. Following the release of Close to the Bone he maintained an active touring schedule alongside the Green Fields of America, Jimmy Keane, and Mick Moloney.
O’Connell maintains that participation in diverse musical projects sustains freshness in his own work. He conducts songwriting classes at Boston College’s Gaelic Roots Week, the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop in West Virginia, and Boston’s Summer Acoustic Music Week. In 1989 Boston’s WUMB designated his album Love of the Land the Top Acoustic Album of the Year. Two years afterward he received a Boston Music Award as Outstanding Celtic Act. During 1994 he served as headliner for a Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts salute to Irish music. Throughout the 1990s he contributed to several recordings, among them his own Never Learned to Dance in 1993, the Clancy Brothers’ Older But No Wiser in 1995, Clancy, O’Connell & Clancy in 1997, and The Wild & Wasteful Ocean in 1998. That same year he issued Live, Humorous Songs. Since then he has continued as an active performer and producer, additionally serving as artistic director for Boston’s 2006 Christmas Celtic Sojourn concert series.
Born in Waterford, O’Connell grew up in Carrick-on-Suir within County Tipperary. At age thirteen he first performed as vocalist and guitarist in his parents’ hotel, which presented weekly folk concerts. He subsequently spent a year playing English folk pubs, then enrolled at University College Dublin. During academic breaks from philosophy and literature he traveled to the United States, securing work as an Irish singer that financed his studies and confirmed his commitment to a performing life. In 1977 he joined the Clancy Brothers lineup and completed three albums with them. By decade’s end he had established permanent residence in Franklin, Massachusetts. Following the release of Close to the Bone he maintained an active touring schedule alongside the Green Fields of America, Jimmy Keane, and Mick Moloney.
O’Connell maintains that participation in diverse musical projects sustains freshness in his own work. He conducts songwriting classes at Boston College’s Gaelic Roots Week, the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop in West Virginia, and Boston’s Summer Acoustic Music Week. In 1989 Boston’s WUMB designated his album Love of the Land the Top Acoustic Album of the Year. Two years afterward he received a Boston Music Award as Outstanding Celtic Act. During 1994 he served as headliner for a Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts salute to Irish music. Throughout the 1990s he contributed to several recordings, among them his own Never Learned to Dance in 1993, the Clancy Brothers’ Older But No Wiser in 1995, Clancy, O’Connell & Clancy in 1997, and The Wild & Wasteful Ocean in 1998. That same year he issued Live, Humorous Songs. Since then he has continued as an active performer and producer, additionally serving as artistic director for Boston’s 2006 Christmas Celtic Sojourn concert series.
Albums
