Nollaig Casey () is an Irish fiddle player, and has an international reputation as one of Ireland's finest fiddle players. By the time she was eleven years old she could play violin, piano,

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

and uilleann pipes. During her teenage years she learned to play in both the classical and traditional musical traditions. She won several All-Ireland titles for fiddle and traditional singing culminating in an award for her in 1972 for the best all-round performer.

Life

She graduated from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

with a B.Mus. degree at the age of nineteen, and started her career with the

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; previously known as Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra) is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, D ...

where she remained for five years. She began performing live with the band

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

in 1980, touring with them throughout Europe and appearing on their final album, 1983's '' Words & Music''. Casey has also recorded and toured with

Moving Hearts Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining music of Ireland, Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.Harris, Craig''Movin ...

Liam O'Flynn Liam O'Flynn, Óg Flynn (, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish people, Irish Uilleann pipes, uilleann piper and Folk music of Ireland, Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn re ...

, Frances Black,

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

. Her television appearances include the BBC TV series ''Bringing It All Back Home'' and ''A River of Sound''. She has also performed as a featured artist in

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD ...

's Coolfin band with whom she has recorded and toured extensively. More recently she has performed as a soloist with the phenomenally successful ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

'' as well as featuring in

Shaun Davey Shaun Davey (born 18 January 1948) is an Irish composer. Early years Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948 and attended Rockport School in County Down. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a ...

's ''Granuaile'' and ''May We Never Have To Say Goodbye'' which was the theme song of the 2003 Special Olympic World Games which were hosted by Ireland. She also performed frequently with her husband guitarist Arty McGlynn, and performed with her sister harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh and guitarist Chris Newman.

References

External links

Music reviews, Old Bridge Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Nollaig Living people 20th-century Irish women musicians Planxty members 21st-century Irish fiddlers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Irish fiddlers 21st-century Irish women musicians