A Little Irish Music

What do Van Morrison, Enya, and U2 have in common? I’m sure many of you guessed correctly that they are all Irish musicians who have been wildly successful internationally.

Traditional Irish music can be hauntingly sad, reflecting a troubled past that includes the potato famine and troubles in Northern Ireland, or rollicking and joyful. Irish musicians have much to sing about and they still do in pubs throughout the island, often in their original Gaelic language. I had the chance to visit Ireland a couple of years ago and loved the fact that the musicians would often casually sit at a table in the pub and play their music. One evening a lone accordion player had the whole pub entranced by his song. You could hear a pin drop in the room.

This traditional music exerts its influence on all Irish musicians, whatever their genre. And you can see this clearly at a wonderful page called Irish Music for St. Patricks’s Day by Richard aka Waxing-Lyrical, a Brit, now living in the United States. Richard writes about music on the Squidoo Music Blog at Crabbysbeach and his passion for music shines through his writing.

On this page he tells us about Irish musicians from many different genres, including rock (Thin Lizzy), pop (The Corrs) and folk music (The Chieftains). Each musician or band has achieved success well beyond Ireland’s shores. Richard calls it “a collection of some of the finest Irish musical artists that the Emerald Isle has to offer.” See and hear videos of Thin Lizzy singing “Whiskey in the Jar” or Celtic Women sing “Danny Boy.” Or how about the pop group The Corrs singing “Breathless” and U2, Ireland’s most famous rock band, singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Richard has highlighted his write-ups on each musician or band beautifully with green rounded borders and a little shamrock.

I hope you have a happy and musical St. Patrick’s Day!

Visit: Irish Music for St. Patrick's Day

Image Credit: KRW Irish Music by KRWDesigns