In their brief three-year existence, the Bothy Band quickly established themselves among the most dynamic ensembles in Celtic music. Although their material drew heavily from Ireland’s traditional repertoire, the players’ technical brilliance and sheer energy created ripples that musicians still feel today.
The ensemble took shape in 1975 after bouzouki player Dónal Lunny departed Planxty to launch the Mulligan label. One of his earliest recording projects united him with uilleann piper Paddy Keenan, flute and whistle player Matt Molloy, fiddler Paddy Glackin, and accordion player Tony MacMahon. The lineup soon expanded when siblings Mícháel Ó Domhnaill on acoustic guitar and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill on clavinet and vocals came aboard; the pair, whose aunt had supplied 286 songs to the Dublin University folklore collection, had earlier performed with their sister Maighread in the traditional group Skara Brae. Originally known as Seachtar—the Irish word for “seven”—the musicians adopted the name the Bothy Band once MacMahon departed to become a BBC producer. Their first public appearance took place on February 2, 1975, at Trinity College in Dublin.
Despite the enduring influence they would exert, the Bothy Band issued only three studio albums—The Bothy Band, Old Hag You Have Killed Me, and Out of the Wind Into the Sun. A 1979 live recording, After Hours, captured their performance at the Palace des Arts in Paris. Ten years later, Live in Concert appeared, drawing on BBC material taped at London’s Pares Theater in July 1976 and the Kilburn National Theater in July 1978.
During the group’s short run, several fiddlers passed through its ranks. Paddy Glackin was succeeded first by Donegal-style fiddler Tommy Peoples, who appeared on the debut album, and then by heavily ornamented fiddler Kevin Burke, featured on the second release.
Following the Bothy Band’s dissolution in 1979, its members pursued influential paths. Lunny rejoined Planxty briefly before co-founding the Celtic rock outfit Moving Hearts; he later concentrated on production work and occasional collaborations with former Silly Wizard vocalist Andy Stewart. Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill relocated to the United States, where she formed the short-lived Touchstone before reuniting with her brother in Relativity and Nightnoise. Matt Molloy and Kevin Burke have continued their partnership in Patrick Street.
