Event

Skara Brae concert

SKARA BRAE

Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, vocals
Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, vocals and keyboards
Dáithí Sproule, vocals and guitar

Famed pioneering Irish vocal group Skara Brae was formed in the 1960s by the late Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, his sisters Maighread and Tríona, and Dáithí Sproule. If these names seem familiar, it's because the original members of this group went on to help found some of the world's best-known Irish bands, Altan and the Bothy Band, and Mícheál later had a successful touring and recording career in a duo with fiddler Kevin Burke. Skara Brae existed for only a few years before breaking up, but during that time they recorded an album that has had a profound influence on the development of Irish music, the eponymously titled "Skara Brae". On this album, and in their concerts, the group was among the first to combine modern guitar and keyboard arrangements with the rare repertoire of songs in Irish Gaelic from Donegal in the north of Ireland.

The original band broke up in 1972, but their recording has continued to inspire successive waves of singers and musicians. Their reunions in 1997 and 2005 were met with rapturous acclaim in Ireland and Europe, as was a documentary on the band on TG4, the Irish language television network. Since Mícheál's tragic death in 2006 the group has continued to tour in Europe and North America.