De Dannan

De Dannan
Frankie Gavin's De Dannan in 2010
Background information
Origin	Galway, Ireland
Genres	Folk Celtic
Years active	1975–2003 2009–present
Labels	Gael-Linn, Shanachie Records
Website	http://www.frankiegavinanddedannan.ie/
Members	Frankie Gavin Barry Brady Colm O'Caoimh Daniel Bodwell Bernadine Casserly
Past members	Alec Finn Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh Mickey Finn Charlie Piggott Dolores Keane Andy Irvine Johnny Moynihan Tim Lyons Jackie Daly Maura O'Connell Mary Black Martin O'Connor Aidan Coffey Colm Murphy Eleanor Shanley Tommy Fleming Derek Hickey Andrew Murray Michelle Lally

De Dannan (originally Dé Danann) is an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott (banjo) as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane (vocals) to join the band. The late fiddler Mickey Finn is also acknowledged to have been a founder member.

They named themselves Dé Danann after the legendary Irish tribe Tuatha Dé Danann. In 1985, they changed the spelling of the group from "Dé Danann" to "De Dannan" for reasons that have never been made clear. However, since 2010, Finn & McDonagh have recorded and performed with a line-up named "De Danann", and, since 2012, Gavin has recorded and performed with another line-up named "De Dannan".

The group's debut album was the eponymous Dé Danann, produced by Dónal Lunny and recorded at Eamonn Andrews Studios, Dublin, in 1975 and released on Polydor. In early 1976, Keane left to marry multi-instrumentalist John Faulkner, with whom she subsequently recorded three albums of folk music.

To fill the vacancy left after Keane's departure, Dé Danann brought in Andy Irvine, who recorded live with the band on 30 April 1976, during a folk festival in Germany. Irvine left soon thereafter because of scheduling conflicts but proposed Johnny Moynihan as his replacement, who participated in the recording of the band's second album, Selected Jigs Reels & Songs. This album featured a bodhrán solo by McDonagh on "Over The Bog Road" but has never been released on CD, reportedly because the master tapes were lost. Moynihan left in 1978, being replaced by singer and accordion-player Tim Lyons; for a short period in 1978 the band toured as a six-piece featuring both Moynihan and Lyons.