brendan begley

A genial giant from the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry, Breanndán is a well known and accomplished performer of Irish traditional music on the button accordian, touring at home and in Estonia, Finland, Sweden and France. He is a memeber of the 'Boys of the Lough', first touring with the band as a guest in th e 1980's in the USA, and full-time member since 1997. Brendan's exciting dance music, sensitive emotional playing of slow airs on ac cordion, and his singing in his native Irish make him a great favourite. He is acclaimed in Ireland for his TV presentations of traditional music on the Irish language channel TG4.

caoimhín ó raghallaigh

The Dublin-born fiddler is rapidly becoming known as one of the most interesting and creative musicians in traditional music. Since the widespread success of his 2003 'Kitty Lie Over' album with Mick O'Brien, he has performed in the United States, Canada, Alaska, Asia and all over Europe. Irish performances in 2006 included Farmleigh House, West Cork Music in Bantry, the National Concert Hall, the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Liberty Hall, and a tour for the Improvised Music Company. His concerts have been broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and LyricFM, including a performance at the Masters of Tradition 2004 festival for West Cork Music. Recent television appearances include 'The Highland Sessions', 'The Raw Bar', 'Ceird an Cheoil', 'Se Mo Laoch' and 'Other Voices', and musicians he has recently worked with include The Waterboys, Iarla O Lionaird, Peadar O Riada, Breanndan Begley. Caoimhin is part of the new traditional wing of Music Network's MusicWide programme.