Ceoltóirí Chualann (pronounced ) was an Irish traditional band, led by

Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...

, which included many of the founding members of The Chieftains. Ceoltóirí is the Irish word for musicians, and

Cualann Cualu or Cuala (genitive ) was a territory in Gaelic Ireland south of the River Liffey encompassing the Wicklow Mountains. History Edmund Hogan concludes from primary sources that it "seems to extend from Arklow to the Liffey, and to be coexten ...

is the name of an area just outside Dublin where Ó Riada lived. Ó Riada's work with Ceoltóirí Chualann is credited with revitalizing the use of the

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...

as a

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considera ...

. In 1960 Ó Riada was looking for musicians to perform music for the play "The Song of the Anvil" by

Bryan MacMahon Bryan MacMahon may refer to: * Bryan MacMahon (writer) (1909–1998), Irish playwright, novelist and short story writer * Bryan MacMahon (judge) Bryan M. E. MacMahon (born 10 April 1941Gaughan, J. Anthony: "Listowel and its vicinity: Since 1873 ...

. Paddy Moloney, at the age of 20, was called to participate in the project, along with his friend Sean Potts on

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteri ...

, Sonny Brogan on accordion and John Kelly on fiddle. They rehearsed weekly in Ó Riada's house in Galloping Green, on the outskirts of Dublin. Following its success, Ó Riada had the idea of forming Ceoltóirí Chualann, a band to play traditional Irish songs with accompaniment and traditional dance tunes and slow airs, arranged with instruments: harpsichord, bodhran, piano, fiddle, accordions, flute, pipes and whistles. The idea of actually arranging folk music, or dance music, had been done on at least one or two 78rpm recordings in the past, but they were folk tunes done in a classical way, highly orchestrated. Another aim was to revitalize the work of blind harpist and composer

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ga, Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin ; 167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, ...

. The band was launched during the Dublin Theatre Festival in September 1960, at the Shelbourne Hotel, at an event called ''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'' (Ó Riada's Recital). Included in the program were traditional singers, writer Seán Ó Ríordáin and poet

Seán Ó Tuama Seán Ó Tuama (1926 – 14 October 2006) was an Irish poet, playwright and academic. Life Raised in the southern city of Cork and educated at the North Monastery (North Mon) school and University College Cork, Ó Tuama first came to promi ...

. In March of the following year Ó Riada recorded the first of a series of radio programmes for which he retained the name ''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'', and included music played by Ceoltóirí Chualann. Soon after the band's formation, Peadar Mercier and Seán Keane joined. Ceoltóirí Chualann continued to play until 1969. Their music was featured in the 1968 documentary, '' The Village'', by Mark McCarty (director) and Paul Hockings (anthropologist). During 1969 they recorded two albums, ''Ó Riada'' and ''Ó Riada Sa Gaiety''. The latter of those two albums was not released until after 1971, when Seán Ó Riada died.

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*''An Poc ar Buile EP'': Seán Ó Riada with

Seán Ó Sé Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angliciz ...

and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL2 (196?). *''Néilí EP'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL3 (196?). *''Mo Chailín Bán EP'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann GL5 (196?). *''Reacaireacht an Riadaigh'':

Gael-Linn Gael Linn (, " Gael-with-us") is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources. History Gael Linn was founded i ...

CEF 010 (LP, 1961). *''The Playboy of the Western World'': Gael-Linn CEF 012 (LP, 1962). *: Gael-Linn CEF 015 (LP, 1967). *''Ding Dong'': Gael-Linn CEF 016 (LP, 1967). *''An Poc ar Buile (single)'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann CES 011 *''Do Bhí Bean Uasal'': Seán Ó Riada with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann CES 012 *''Ó Riada sa Gaiety with Seán Ó Sé and Ceoltóirí Chualann'': (LP, 1971) currently available a
Gael-Linn ORIADACD01
*''Ó Riada's Farewell'':

Claddagh Records Claddagh Records is a record label, based in Dublin's Temple Bar area, was founded in 1959 by Garech Browne and Ivor Browne. It specialises in Irish traditional music and spoken word. Garech had been taking lessons at the time from the master ...

CC 12 (LP, 1972). *''Port na bPúcaí'' (Ó Riada solo, but with trad. material, previously unreleased recordings)
Gael-Linn ORIADACD07
(CD, 2014)

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References

Further reading