50 of Ireland’s finest

I can see the reasons why Irish music is loved the world over : people grow up with music there and it’s part of the culture; there’s a rich living tradition of acoustic music styles played with real instruments; Ireland has its own resonant history which is the subject of many of its songs and ballads; the art of songwriting seems to be taken more seriously there, maybe because there are so many frustrated poets and novelists around; and I’ve also noticed a touch of humour in a number of songs, which I also associate with the Irish psyche.

This list represents the diversity of the music being made in Ireland, but it also seeks to focus attention on what is unique and distinctive in Irish music, so I make no apology for including many songs which come within, or pay homage to Irish folk traditions. As usual, one song is included per artist. I’ve allowed myself to be guided by my taste, and where a successful or highly acclaimed artist hasn’t been included it’s probably because their songs made less impression on me than those included here. Two omissions in particular deserve comment. Irish tax exiles U2 don’t move mountains for me : I find them musically unoriginal and their lyrics unremarkable. So I decided to make space for other less celebrated acts. Representatives of van Morrison (or of his record company) have been recently going about having his videos (and I believe even cover versions of his songs) removed from youtube and other sites, and in these circumstances it seems appropriate, though regrettable, to leave Van the man out of this list.

Click on the artist’s name for links to pages with more information about the artist, or click on the song titles for links to youtube videos of the songs.

50 Shaun Davey – The Parting Glass
Traditional song about the parting of friends, this version taken from the movie Waking Ned Devine

49 Christy Sheridan – Roisín Dubh
Christy Sheridan is a great banjo and mandolin player,he now plays with Diarmud O’Leary and the Bards

48 The Redneck Manifesto – We Still Got It
Funky rock instrumentalists – myspace

47 Niamh Parsons – The Water Is Wide
Love ballad with piano accompaniment – myspace

46 Beoga – title inaudible
Accordion frolics – myspace

45 Bothy Band feat Tríona Ní Dhomhnail – The Maid of Coolmore
1970s traditional Irish folk. Steve Martin claims this song provided the original inspiration for the film L.A. Story.

44 The Saw Doctors – N17
At their best, I think, when performing on the big stage : their recordings lack finesse – myspace

43 Hal – Worry About The Wind
The indie rockers impressive 2004 debut single – myspace

42 Roisin Murphy – If we’re in love
2005 single from her debut solo album Ruby Blue, following the breakup of Moloko – myspace

41 The Wolfe Tones – Only Our Rivers Run Free
Popular Republican ballad written by Mickey MacConnell, sung here by the Wolfe Tones who have made a career out of singing Irish rebel songs – myspace

40 God Is An Astronaut - Fragile
Electronic instrumental mood music – myspace

39 Therapy? – Diane
1995 single from punk influenced Northern Ireland rock band – myspace

38 Clannad – Siúil A Rún
Traditional song about a young girl and her lover, who enlisted in the ‘Wild Geese’, the Irish brigade who went to serve in the French army in the 1690s. Recorded by Clannad in 1976.

37 Leanne Harte – Hard to grasp
She started singing and playing acoustic guitar at the age of 8, formed her first band and signed her first record deal at 16, released her debut album in 2007 in 22 countries, and is tipped for big things in 2008. – myspace

36 Sharon Shannon – Bag Of Cats
Sharon recently suffered a terrible loss when her partner Leo Healy died unexpectedly on 7th May 2008. – myspace

35 Mary Black – Heart like a wheel
Award winning singer with seven platinum solo albums to her name. This song was written by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. – myspace

34 David Munnelly – Flatbush Waltz / Killarney boys of pleasure
Beautiful slow-fast medley – myspace

33 Karan Casey – Pastures of plenty
A true artist and innovator, Karan is backed here by piano, guitar and cello – myspace

32 Rollerskate Skinny – Speed To My Side
Wailing guitar sound and psychedelic feel which suggests a Happy Mondays influence at work

31 Messiah J & The Expert – Superfamous supertune
Original hip hop about the relationship between bands and their fans – myspace

30 Cathy Davey - All of you
Quality pop from Tales of Silversleeve, her 2007 collaboration with Sneaker Pimps Liam Howe – myspace

29 Flogging Molly – The rebels of the sacred heart
Pogues inspired folk punk band from their 2002 album Drunken Lullabies. They’re American based but the lead singer Dave King is Irish. – myspace

28 Stiff Little Fingers – Alternative Ulster
Jake Burns : ‘It was a song written in the classic punk mode about having nothing to do, because that was the over-riding reality of life in Belfast for a teenager in the mid-70s. Not the fear of riots or bombs or whatever. It was the sheer tedium of having nowhere to go and nothing to do when you got there’

27 Republic of Loose – Girl I’m going to fuck you up
‘Republic of Loose grabbed the Celtic tiger by the tail, swung it around their heads and threw it out the window into the cosmos’ – Bono – myspace

26 The Cranberries – Ode To My Family
Dolores O’Riordan was the youngest of seven children. Their father was incapacitated, so their mother had to earn a wage as well as raising them. This is perhaps more of a generic song about Irish family life, but it still packs an emotional punch.

25 Luka Bloom – City of Chicago
Guitarist and singer songwriter. Somewhat over-melancholy song about the Irish diaspora written by Luka and also often performed by his brother, Christy Moore. – myspace

24 Julie Feeney – Fictitious Richard
Eccentric but engaging operatic song – myspace

23 Virgin Prunes – Theme for thought
Groundbreaking gothic rock

22 The Undertones – Jimmy Jimmy
Two minutes 25 seconds of vibrant pop, with its quirky lyrics and Feargal Sharkey’s emotionally charged vocal delivery

21 Roesy – Hell bent on you
Singer songwriter with a guitar and real passion in his voice – myspace

20 the frames - fake
Cracking lyrics : Come on the guys a fake / What do you love him for / And it was my mistake / Kicking in his door / And if its just a game / Then what are we crying for – myspace

19 Planxty – Follow Me Up To Carlow
Old rebel song performed here by Christy Moore’s Planxty and taken from their debut 1973 album

18 Calibre feat DRS – Hustlin
Drum and bass artist from Belfast – myspace

17 Bon Lavogue with Davy Spillane – Mrs McLeod
Davy Spillane is a uilleann pipe player, and a former member of Moving Hearts

16 Thin Lizzy – The Boys are Back in Town
Classic rock

15 Sinead O Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U
1990 blackbuster which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic – myspace

14 Fionn Regan – Be Good or Be Gone
Singer songwriter shortlisted for the 2007 Mercury music prize – myspace

13 Dubliners – Boulavogue Bearded Irish folk legends who have been through many incarnations since they formed in 1962. This famous ballad commemorates the 1798 Irish rebellion. – myspace

12 Rory Gallagher – Fuel to the Fire
Rock guitar legend

11 Lunasa – Morning Nightcap
Video looks like it was recorded on someone’s mobile phone … but the musicianship is of the highest standard – myspace

10 Boomtown Rats – Rat Trap
I’ve always loved this Boomtown Rats song. Enjoy watching a very fresh faced Bob Geldof.

9 Jinx Lennon – The Batchelors of Pearse Park Yah
“i have never had a fucking clue what i was doing except i just became a human sponge to all the good shit i was listening to over the past and all the really best shit is simple ,minimal is maximal , most Irish acts try to be too glossy and are afraid of simplicity ,i became tired of being a nanny in every band i was in feeding pizza to bass players who were afraid to play one note songs in case they were laughed at,drummers who had self esteem problems and who had to be courted like debs ball debutantes,with my stuff the voice is everything it has to be basic raw ” – myspace

8 Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh – Ta Ma Chleamanas Deanta
Timeless melody. Mairead is fiddler and lead vocalist for Donegal folk group Altan

7 Luke Kelly – The Galway Races
Revered former singer of the Dubliners. The Pogues did a rousing version of this song, but this tops it.

6 Waterboys – Red Army Blues
Folk rockers who enjoyed most success during the 80s. Taken from the album A Pagan Place, this narrative of a Soviet soldier during WWII is based upon the book The Diary of Vikenty Angorov. – myspace

5 Andy White – Religious persuasion
Belfast born singer songwriter now living in Melbourne. Surely only someone with a Catholic upbringing could write about religion so humorously and irreverently.

4 Frances Black – This love will carry
Beautiful song written by the Scottish folk singer Dougie Maclean – myspace

3 The Pogues – Thousands Are Sailing
Captures wonderfully the sometimes irrational sentiments of the Irish consciousness : ‘Where eer we go, we celebrate the land that makes us refugees, from fear of priests with empty plates, from guilt and weeping effigies’

2 Christy Moore – Ride On
Ride on was written by Jimmy McCarthy, who says of it “People often ask me about this song but, purely and simply, it is a song of parting. The parting of lovers, the parting of emigrants from their homeland and friends, the parting when illness or accident takes the life of a loved one. I have been asked to sing this song at many funerals services and, somehow, it always feels right.”

1 Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem – The Wild Rover
Tommy Makem and the Clancys have sung the definitive versions of many Irish traditional and rebel songs and set the standard against which all other Irish folk singers are judged