TG4 Irish Traditional Musician of the Year 2001

“The doyenne of Irish harp players” - Scotland on Sunday

"The most interesting & original player of our Irish harp today"
- Derek Bell

Welcome / Fáilte!

Máire Ní Chathasaigh is “the great innovator of modern Irish harping, a player of outstanding technique and imagination” (THE ROUGH GUIDE TO IRISH MUSIC), “the doyenne of Irish harp players” (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY), and one of Ireland’s most important and influential traditional musicians. She was the 2001 recipient of Irish music’s most prestigious Award, that of TRADITIONAL MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR - GRADAM CEOIL TG4 - "for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp and for the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers".

As a teenager in the 1970s she invented a whole new “traditional Irish” style of harping that quickly became the norm amongst both her contemporaries and the younger generation of Irish players, thereby spearheading the re-introduction of the harp into the mainstream of the living tradition. She was described by the late Derek Bell as “the most interesting and original player of the Irish harp today”. She won the All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic Harp Competitions several times and in 1985 recorded the first harp album ever to concentrate on traditional Irish dance music, The New-Strung Harp - "an intensely passionate and intelligent record and a milestone in Irish harp music" THE IRISH EXAMINER. (Listen to it on Spotify here.)

"Her work restores the harp to its true voice." THE IRISH TIMES

She has subsequently made seven duo albums with guitarist Chris Newman, two quartet albums with the Heartstring Quartet (Chris, Máire, her sister Nollaig and Nollaig's late husband, Arty McGlynn) and a trio album with her sisters Nollaig and Mairéad (The Casey Sisters).

Her partnership with Chris Newman, “one of the UK’s greatest guitarists” (BBC RADIO 2), has toured in twenty-three countries to venues ranging from the tiniest of village halls and historic European churches to palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul, London’s Barbican, Sydney Town Hall and Cologne's Philharmonie with their distinctive mix of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque - and striking new compositions.

“Dazzling virtuosity” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH “Music of fire and brilliance from the high-wire act in traditional music” * * * * THE IRISH TIMES “Their blinding technique, sizzling Irish reels and hot jazz improvisation brought an extended standing ovation… Newman has the great gift of being informative and hilarious simultaneously” THE WEST AUSTRALIAN “An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling" THE TIMES “Blazing guitar and dancing harp” DIRTY LINEN (USA)·”Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility”
* * * * SONGLINES

Further information about Máire is here.

Watch a TG4 TV documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig here - originally broadcast November 2020 and re-broadcast 13 February 2022.

Máire's albums (in CD & download format); books (in hard copy & download format); and downloadable individual harp pieces and arrangements can be ordered from our Old Bridge Music online shop.

Listen...
....to Máire & Chris play Maurice O'Connor, George Brabazon & The Crooked Road live on KALW (California) Radio's Folk Music & Beyond:

Listen...
...to Máire's ground-breaking 1985 solo album The New-Strung Harp on Spotify here.

Watch...
...Máire playing her own compositions (slip-jig 'The Chestnut Tree' and reels 'Ríl an tSuaimhnis' and 'The Copper Hills of Beara') with Chris at the televised ceremony at the Cork Opera House on the night she was awarded Gradam Ceoil TG4 - Musician of the Year.

Latest: In-person & Online concerts; New Magazine Cover Feature; TV documentary, new harp sheet music etc...

The Casey Sisters' Sibling Revelry album listed on Soundtrack for Wild Atlantic Way! Perceptive Travel's Soundtrack For Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way: 8 Albums To Discover

Máire and Chris' duo concerts February / March 2022
In-person concerts in Worcestershire, Derbyshire and Lancashire in February / March! - see here for details.

TV programme in TG4's Hup! series featuring performance by Máire and Chris re-broadcast
A TV programme in TG4's Hup! series celebrating the International Festival for Irish Harp (An Chúirt Chruitireachta) and featuring a performance by Máire and Chris, originally broadcast 11 October 2015, has recently been re-broadcast (February 2022) and can be watched on the TG4 Player here. Máire and Chris' contribution starts at 10:54.

Casey Sisters London concert Jan 30th
Máire had a fantastic time playing with her sisters, fiddlers and singers Nollaig and Mairéad (The Casey Sisters), at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith for its St Brigid’s Day celebrations, and is looking forward to playing with them at a couple of festivals this summer!

Máire featured in TG4 TV programme Chistmas Day 2021!
A TV programme celebrating the late legendary Irish accordeon-player Joe Burke, featuring lots of wonderful musicians and to which Máire was honoured to be asked to contribute, was broadcast on TG4 on Christmas Day 2021.You can still watch the whole programme on the TG4 Player here. Some archive footage of Máire playing with Joe in 1983 starts at 22:14, followed at at 23:49 by new specially-recorded footage of her playing her arrangement of iconic slow air 'Róisín Dubh'.

(TG4 is Ireland's national Irish-language TV station.)

Máire and Chris' online concert for Harp Day 2021
Saturday October 16th 2021 was Harp Day, the amazing annual international event coordinated by Harp Ireland. Máire and Chris were commisioned to contribute the culminatiing set to the final concert of the day, HARPS FROM ALL CORNERS. Watch it here. (Their set starts at 2:40:48 and to watch that only, click here.)

Details of previous online concerts are below.

Online interview with Máire
In the run-up to her October 29, 2021 performance with Chris at the Tyneside Irish Festival, Máire chats with Michael McNally for the Tyneside Irish Cultural Society's August 2021 Podcast.

The Living Tradition magazine cover feature!
Máire and Chris were delighted to be featured in the April / May 2021 issue of The Living Tradition magazine - and to be on the cover of course! The magazine features an interview with them too Click here to read it...

Previous online concerts
Máire and Chris performed at an online concert on 1 July for the 36th International Festival for Irish Harp ( An Chúirt Chruitireachta), the oldest and most prestigious festival for Irish harp in existence. It had been specially filmed at the Courthouse Arts Centre, Otley, West Yorkshire and was available to watch for 30 days after broadcast to those who had purchased tickets.

Back in the autumn of 2020, Karen Ryan of Irish Music and Dance in London (IMDL) invited Máire and Chris to take part in a series of concerts she had arranged for spring 2021 in King's Place, London. When the lockdown arrived, all concerts migrated online. As travelling to London was impossible because of Covid restrictions, IMDL arranged for Chris and Máire to be filmed at the Courthouse Arts Centre, Otley, West Yorkshire. They really enjoyed playing on an actual stage again, with actual PA and lights! The hour-long concert (sponsored by IMDL and the Irish Embassy in London and presented in association with the Irish Arts Foundation) was streamed on Friday 26th March and was available to watch for 30 days afterwards to those who had purchased tickets.

TV documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig
A documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig (also featuring their sister Mairéad in addition to Chris and Nollaig's late husband Arty McGlynn) was broadcast on TG4 on November 29th, 2020, as part of its 'SéŽ mo Laoch' series. (TG4 is Ireland's national Irish-language TV station.) You can watch it on the TG4 Player here.

(You don't need to speak Irish to enjoy watching the programme: just remember to enable the subtitles. When you click on the link above, you'll see three buttons at the bottom of the picture on the right hand side. The first is 'Subtitles', the second is 'Picture-in-Picture' and the third is 'Fullscreen'. Just click on the 'Subtitles' button and choose "English".)

The programme was Critics's Choice in The Sunday Times Culture Magazine on November 29th, 2020.

New harp sheet music
Máire's arrangements of 'DonOíche Úd i mBeithil', 'Fan mar a bhfuil tú, a Chladhaire' (Stay where you are, you rogue), 'Molly St George', 'Connamara', 'Lady Gethin', 'The Lost Summer' and 'The Song of the Harp' (the latter available for both solo harp and harp duet) are now available in downloadable pdf format and can be purchased here. Her books of harp arrangements, The Irish Harper Volume One and The Irish Harper Volume Two, are available in both hard copy and downloadable pdf format here (just scroll down the page).

Joe Burke R.I.P.
Máire was sad to hear of the death on February 20th of accordeon-player Joe Burke, one of the all-time giants of Irish music, the wittiest of men and the best company imaginable. She had the huge pleasure of doing some gigs with him in Ireland and the USA in the early '80s (and an album too in 1983, The Tailor's Choice). Here is a very nice article by Toner Quinn containing reminiscences about him from Frankie Gavin, Charlie Lennon, Daithí Gormley and Máire, published in The Journal of Music. Máire was one of a number of interviewees on the March 28 edition of RTÉ Radio 1's long-running Irish music series The Rolling Wave, the second of two programmes that the series has made in memory of Joe (also available as a podcast).

Archive footage recently posted...
...of Máire singing on a Tyne Tees TV programme about the Newcastle Irish Festival in 1988! Click here - her bit starts at 12.58. (Chris is playing in the background, but not visible!) A huge thank-you to John McGowan for sending us the link - we were delighted to get it!

More news...

Máire and Chris on the front cover of the new April / May 2021 issue of The Living Tradition.
More covers below, here and here...

Máire on the front cover of the June-July 2017 issue of Folk Magazin (Germany).
The accompanying interview is here.
More covers above, here and here...

A documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig (also featuring their sister Mairéad in addition to Chris and Nollaig's late husband Arty McGlynn) was broadcast on TG4 on November 29th, 2020, as part of its 'SéŽ mo Laoch' series. (TG4 is Ireland's national Irish-language TV station.)
You can watch it on the TG4 Player here.

Gradam Ceoil TG4:
TG4 Irish Traditional Musician
of the Year Award 2001
- the highest, most prestigious honour for a traditional Irish musician.
Information about the award is here.
Press coverage of the award is here .

Watch Máire playing with Chris at the televised ceremony at the Cork Opera House on the night she was awarded Gradam Ceoil TG4 - Musician of the Year 2001.

Poster for the premiere of the Casey Sisters' work, Corcach: A Journey, commissioned by the 2018 Cork Folk Festival.
Corcach Mór na Mumhan, or the Great Marsh of Munster, gave Cork its name.·Corcach·is a collection of original·music inspired by the city’s·colourful history,·from its 7th century monastic origins through to its vibrant present.

"First-class musicianship... wonderfully
atmospheric" * * * * The Daily Telegraph

"Intimacy and intuition are at the heart of this radiant collection... a treat" * * * * The Irish Times

"Blissfully beautiful... channelling mythology, nostalgia and geography to bewitching effect in heartfelt music" * * * * Songlines
More reviews here and here...

Latest

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