Marking new wave of emigration with cups of tea

The Irish group Róisín O grew up with the mighty roar of the Celtic Tiger as Ireland’s economy went from strength.

For the first time in centuries, it looked as though emigration from Ireland was at last a thing of the past.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case. The recession struck, and once again young Irishmen and women had to seek their fortunes on foreign shores.

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Kickstarter for PBS Music special

In this video Paul Byrom talks to Pat Kehoe about why he used the Kickstarter Project to ask his fans to help him finance a special concert on the PBS Channel in America.

Paul Byrom
Joining Celtic Thunder
Paul Byrom videos
Celtic Thunder

Major Irish groups like Celtic Thunder and Celtic Woman used PBS concerts to reach a wider audience at the start of their careers.

Byrom, who’s a former member of Celtic Thunder, believes he needs to do the same to achieve the kind of success he wants as a solo artist.

This interview was recorded on October 18 when Byrom was only $2,000 short of his $50,000 Kickstarter project.

Paul Byrom
Joining Celtic Thunder
Paul Byrom videos
Celtic Thunder
Neil Byrne
Ryan Kelly
Singers main page

Raising money for a PBS Music special

Former Celtic Thunder star Paul Byrom is set to launch the next chapter of his solo career.

He’s inviting fans to help him along the way as he raises funds for a PBS Music Special – the kind of American TV spectacular that helped launch Celtic Thunder and numerous other acts.

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Anuna: Behind a Fan’s Eyes

Lynn Gleason believes that without Irish choir Anuna, there might be no Celtic Thunder or Celtic Woman. Here Lynn explains how she first started following the choir and why it means so much to her.

Writing this piece has been particularly difficult for me. Anuna was the original vocal group that performed in Riverdance back in the mid 1990s. This how I discovered Anuna. At that time, I had been performing in various choirs for about 6 years. Prior to that, I had been trained by my mother who was also a choral singer. I have a very bad habit of losing people when I talk about Anuna because I tend to slip back into my training and forget that not everyone has had the same training or experience. I apologize in advance.

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Barney McKenna – musical genius and magical man

I was shocked and so sad to hear of the death of the great Barney McKenna.

Barney McKenna

I grew up listening to him. He and The Dubliners helped to create and shape my love for Irish music. It’s perhaps hard to imagine the kind of impact The Dubliners had on the world way back in the 1960s.

Nowadays, we take it for granted that Irish folk music is well respected and has fans all across the world.

It wasn’t always like that. At the start of the 1960s, Irish folk music was thought of as old fashioned and dull.

Death of Barney McKenna
McKenna and The Dubliners

For most people, Irish music meant Paddy McGinty’s Goat, or perhaps an over-sentimental version of Mountains of Mourne or Galway Bay.

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