The Fleadh Cowboys are a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-based folk-rock/country band. The Fleadh Cowboys were formed in 1985 by

Johnny Moynihan John Moynihan (born 29 October 1946, Phibsboro) is an Irish folk singer, based in Dublin. He is often credited with introducing the bouzouki into Irish music in the mid-1960s. Music career Sweeney's Men Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", he ...

, Pete Cummins and Frankie Lane, in Kenny's pub in Westland Row in Dublin. They recruited

Jimmy Faulkner Jimmy Faulkner (31 January 1950 – 4 March 2008) was one of Ireland's top guitarists, who in a four-decade career played with many of Ireland's leading rock and roll, blues, folk and jazz musicians. He was born in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin to a m ...

on electric guitar and Garvan Gallagher on bass and along with Fran Breen on drums they moved to The Harcourt Hotel on Harcourt Street. Adding Phil Donnelly and Paul Kelly amongst others, they had a long-running residency in Dublin's Olympia Theatre. The band established a format where every week a guest or guests would join them on stage. Guests at the venue included Mary Coughlan,

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 195730 November 2023) was a British-born Irish singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He won acclaim for his lyrics, whic ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott (Scottish musician), Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Britain and Ireland, with Scott re ...

The Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successfu ...

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

and

Joe Ely Joe Ely (; born February 9, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas' progressive country scene in the 1970s and '80s. He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce ...

. The Fleadhs toured with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, The

Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish phrase ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my ...

, The Waterboys and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

. The band broke up in 1990 though they later reformed for gigs and to record. The individual musicians continued to play and record in different formations. Paul Kelly and Frankie Lane, accompanied by

Eleanor Shanley Eleanor Shanley is an Irish Roots musician, from Keshcarrigan in County Leitrim in the North West of Ireland. Early life Shanley was born into a musical family and comes from a line of traditional singers. After finishing school she moved ...

, play and tour together in Ireland and throughout Europe. Pete Cummins (the band's main songwriter) released his debut solo album ''The Brilliant Architect'' in 2008 to critical acclaim. His anti-war song "Flowers in Baghdad" was in the

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

anti-war charts Living with War, for almost two years. He continues to tour with guitarist Ger Kiely. In May 2011 the band was reformed by Pete Cummins to organize a charity event at Dublin's Button Factory, with guests

Lisa Hannigan Lisa Margaret Hannigan (born 12 February 1981) is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. She began her musical career as a member of Damien Rice's band. Since beginning her solo career in 2007 she has released three albums: '' S ...

, Gay Woods,

Liam Ó Maonlaí Liam Ó Maonlaí (born 7 November 1964 in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician best known as a member of Hothouse Flowers. Ó Maonlaí formed the band in 1985 with his schoolmate Fiachna Ó Braonáin. Biography He attended ...

Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, the Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He al ...

, Siobhán O'Brien, Mundy,

Tír na nÓg In Irish mythology, Tír na nÓg ( , ; ) or Tír na hÓige ('Land of Youth') is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of it. Tír na nÓg is best known from the tale of Oisín ("''uh''-''sheen''") and Niamh ("''neev ...

and others.Hot Press, 1 April 2011
/ref> On 3 March 2013, Pete Cummins once again reformed the band this time to honor one of its own past members Guitarist Henry McCullouhg. Henry suffered a heart attack in Dec 2012 and died in March 2013. Artists who contributed were The Fleadh Cowboys, Christy Moore, Sweeny's Men, Mick Spillane, Johnny Duhan, Honor Heffernan, James Delaney, Philip Donnelly, Mick Flannery, Ed Deane Band, Siobhan O Brien, Sara Petite, Victor McCullough, Alan Murphy, Kevin Doherty. Compares were BP Fallon and Ronan Collins.

Discography

* "Johnny da Vinci" (1987 single) * ''High Ace to Heaven'' (1988) * ''Time of Your Life'' (1997)

References

External links

Fleadh Cowboys
at

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{{Dead link, date=June 2025 Musical groups from Dublin (city) Irish folk rock groups