The Mahones are a Canadian Irish punk band, formed on

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...

in 1990, in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

Biography

The Mahones were formed in 1990 by

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 ...

-born Finny McConnell, as a one-off band for a St. Patrick's Day party. Encouraged by a positive reception, McConnell decided to pursue the band full-time. The Mahones have released thirteen albums to date with their most recent, ''Jameson Street'', being released in 2022 being named the top celtic punk album of the year and have continually received high praise for their energetic live show ever since. The Mahones’ music has been featured in several major motion pictures. They co-wrote and recorded the title track for the 1996 film ''

Celtic Pride ''Celtic Pride'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film written by Judd Apatow and Colin Quinn, and directed by Tom DeCerchio. It stars Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd as Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty, two passionate Boston Celtics fans, and Damo ...

'' with Dan Aykroyd. Their song "100 Bucks" was featured in the 1998 film ''

Dog Park A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a fence, separate double-gated entry an ...

''. Their song "Paint The Town Red" was featured in the climactic final fight scene of the 2010 Oscar Award-winning film ''

The Fighter ''The Fighter'' is a 2010 American Biographical film, biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and stars Mark Wahlberg (who also produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The film centers on the lives of profes ...

''. Their song "A Little Bit of Love" is in the 2011 film ''

Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy ''Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy'' is a 2011 Canadian film adaptation of the short story " The Undefeated" from the best-selling book ''Ecstasy'' by Irvine Welsh. Directed by Rob Heydon, the film stars Adam Sinclair as Lloyd Buist, a drug user who smu ...

''. The Mahones have shared stages and toured with bands such as

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a Northern Irish punk rock band from Belfast. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the Deep P ...

, Shane MacGowan and The Popes,

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

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, D.O.A.,

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, The Damned,

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and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

. The band’s cited influences included

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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 language, Irish phrase :wikt:póg mo thóin, ''p� ...

, Greenland Whalefishers,

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

, and

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...

. The group’s lineup has changed a number of times, with McConnell as the main constant member. Pogues members Terry Woods and Phil Chevron joined the band on tour in 2003. In 1999, bassist

Joe Chithalen Francis Joseph (Joe) Chithalen (November 17, 1967 – May 1, 1999) was a Canadian musician. He was a bassist for a number of bands in the Kingston music scene of the 1990s, most notably Weeping Tile, The Mahones, Bucket, and Wild Blues Yonder. ...

died in Amsterdam shortly after a concert. He had accidentally ingested food containing peanuts, to which he was allergic. The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library, Joe’s M.I.L.L., was established in Kingston soon after by Wally High. The Mahones perform fundraising concerts for Joe's M.I.L.L. annually. In 2010, The Mahones started their own record label, Whiskey Devil Records, and signed a distribution deal with eOne Music. In 2014, The Mahones were nominated Best Punk Band at the Sirius XM Indie Awards. In 2012, The Mahones' album The Black Irish won the Independent Music Award for Best Punk Album, and Angels & Devils won Paddy Rock Radio's album of the year, as well as Vandala Concepts' album of the year In 2016,

Scruffy Wallace Joshua L. "Scruffy" Wallace is a Canadian bagpipe player best known for his 12-year tenure with the Boston Celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys. Early life Wallace was born in the United Kingdom but moved to Canada at a young age.Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

for 12 years. Advertising for the band's 2023/2024 "The Last Call At The Bar" tour indicated that this would be the group's final tour.

Name

The Mahones cite

as a main influence. That band were originally called Pogue Mahone (an anglicisation of an Irish phrase meaning "kiss my arse"), but later shortened it to The Pogues. "The Mahones" is seen as similarly derived from Pogue Mahone, as a tribute to The Pogues.

Members

Current members * Finny McConnell - lead vocals, guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, songwriter * Guillaume Lauzon (The Brains, Ccomfortt)- drums * Sean "R!ot" Ryan - bass, vocals * Michael O'Grady -

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 ...

, vocals Former members * Katie "Kaboom" McConnell -

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, vocals * Dom Whelan - drums * Stephen McGrath *

Scruffy Wallace Joshua L. "Scruffy" Wallace is a Canadian bagpipe player best known for his 12-year tenure with the Boston Celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys. Early life Wallace was born in the United Kingdom but moved to Canada at a young age.bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

* Chris Ward * Colm McConnell * Paul Mancuso * "The" Barry Williams * Andrew Brown * Ger O'Sullivan * Mauro Sepe * Owen Warnica * David Allen * Kevan Williams *

Paddy Concannon Patrick Concannon (1918 – 26 February 2012) was an Irish local politician. He was born near Castlerea, County Roscommon in 1918. Towards the end of his life he served as president of the Irish Turf Cutters and Contractors Association. Politi ...

Miranda Mulholland Miranda Mulholland is a Canadian fiddle player and singer. Biography Mulholland is a member of Great Lake Swimmers, Belle Starr, and The Rattlesnake Choir as well as the founder and lead singer for the Roaring Girl Cabaret. She makes select app ...

* Chris Scahill * Chris Smirnios * Greg McConnell * Ewen McIntosh *

* Sean Winter * Eryk Chamberland * Mike Franey * Jamie Oliver (Drummer) * Arlyn Bradley (bass)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Demo

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahones, The Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups from Kingston, Ontario Canadian punk rock groups Canadian folk rock groups Celtic punk groups 1990 establishments in Ontario Canadian celtic rock groups