Traditional Irish folk music influenced many rock and pop musicians in the 1960s. Groups like The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers brought Irish folk music to new audiences. Their music influenced artists like Bob Dylan, who covered some of their songs. Irish folk music incorporated elements of rock to form genres like Celtic rock. Bands like Thin Lizzy and The Pogues blended Irish folk with rock/punk. Their music spread appreciation for Irish folk traditions and has remained influential among Irish and international artists.

1. How Traditional Irish/Folk music has influenced rock/pop musicians
It has oftenbeensaidthatthe sixtiesdidn’thappeninIreland,andwhilepeople weren’tnecessarily
wearingflowersintheirhair,the attitude of itspeople begantochange,albeitslowly,(the church
still ruled) asthe countrybeganto openupto the outside world. Thiswasthe ambitionSean Lemass
had whenhe became Taoiseach (Prime Minister)in1959. He is oftencreditedashavinginvented
modernIreland. ‘’SeanLemassbegantoimplementchange andIrelandengagedinagame of
successful catchup withmanyof the economiesof WesternEurope’’1
.
The earlysixtieshadseenIreland launchitsfirsttelevisionstation, andIrishpeopletookgreatpride
whenJFKcame to visithisancestral home in1963. These were all contributingfactorswhyIreland
beganto emerge fromthe darkshadowthat layoverthe countryduringthe bleakfifties.
Irelandof the 1950s wasan inwardlookingcountry,andwasdominatedby the teachingsof the
CatholicChurch.Outside influencesweregreetedwithsuspicionbythe catholichierarchywhoruled
withan ironfist.Inthe earlysixties Traditionalmusicwas growingstale,asitwasbothaverse to
change and was inneedof modernisationtoreflectthe changingtimes,aspopularmusicwas
beginningtomake inroads.
Duringthisperiod, three brothersfromCoTipperarywere makingwavesinthe folkmusic scene in
GreenwichVillage,NewYork.The ClancyBrotherswere havinganinfluence onathenunknown
aspiringsongwriterwhoperformedunderthe name BobDylan.
In hisbook‘Chronicles’Dylanwrote ‘’what I was hearingprettyregularlywererebellionsongsand
these reallymovedme.The ClancyBrothersTom, PaddyandLiamand their buddyTommyMakem
sang themall the time.’’2
Dylanusedthe tune fromDominicBehan’sIrishsong‘PatriotGames’ on
the track ‘With God OnOur Side’onhis1964 album‘The Times They Are A- Changin’.Whileonthe
same albumthe song ‘RestlessFarewell’wasarewritingof anotherIrishsong‘The PartingGlass’.
Acrossthe waterinIrelanda musical revolutionof sortswastaking place.In the sixtiesthe first
groupto take folkmusicinIrelandtoa new place were the Dubliners.Theirpublicimage wasthatof
the hardeneddrinkers, nodoubtcementedbythe successof the 1967 hit ‘SevenDrunkenNights’
whichreached no7 inthe U.K.Band memberLuke Kelly’s vocal’s on‘ScornNot HisSimplicity’when
he singsabout a disabledchildisextremelymoving.Songslike thisand ‘OnRaglanRoad’were in
1 http://www.gov.ie/en/essays/twentieth.html
2 http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/clancy-brothers-bob-dylan

2. stark contrastto theirimage of just a goodtime drinkingband,provingthey hadmore depththan
that. The Dublinerssuccessinspiredaplethoraof balladgroupssuchasSweeney’s Men,Planxty,
MovingHearts and The BothyBand.
One of the mostinfluential groupstoevercome outof Irelandhasto be the Chieftains.’’Theirsound
whichisalmostentirelyinstrumental andlargelybuiltarounduilleann pipes,hasbecome
synonymouswithtraditional Irishmusicandtheyare regardedas havinghelpedpopularise Irish
musicacross the world’’3
.
The firstmajor hitby the group ThinLizzy,wastheirversionof the traditional song‘Whiskeyinthe
Jar’ whichwasoriginallypopularisedbyThe Dubliners. Theygave the songarock makeoverwhich
had a crossoverappeal.The biggestheavymetal bandof all time Metallica, feature thissong
regularlyintheirlive shows. ThinLizzy’searlyrecords playedwith imagesof CelticMythology.The
groupHorslipstookthese conceptstothe nextlevel.Theydressedlike aglamrock bandand fused
traditional Irishmusicwithrockmusic.Trackssuch as ‘Dearg Doom’ and ‘Trouble WithA Capital T’
gainedthe group prominence andsothe term‘CelticRock’was coined.
The Pogueswere ledbyShane McGowan.The PoguesmergedPunkwithestablishedIrishmusic
formssuch as folkandCeilidh.Manyof McGowan’s lyricsdeal withthe hardshipsthe Irishhave
enduredsince faminetimeswithemigrationbeingakeytheme.He oftentakesonthe personaof a
man whofindsrefuge in alcohol and portraysa devil maycare attitude inthe face of issuessuchas
loneliness,love andloss whilstinthe pub.Hischaracter dropsthisveneerwhenalone inhisroom in
lyricssuch as ‘’When Igot back to myemptyroom,I suppose Imust have cried’’ (‘Thousands are
Sailing’) and‘’SometimesIwake upinthe morning,The gingerladybymy bed,Coveredinacloak of
silence,Ihearyoutalkinginmyhead’’ (‘Rainy NightinSoho’) The gingerlady inthiscontextmeansa
bottle of whiskey. Thisuse of imagery issimplystunning.
Clannadwere a familygroupcomprisingof the BrennansfromCoDonegal.Their musichas been
describedas‘’Folk,NewAge andCeltic’’.4
Theyreachedtheircommercial peakin1982 withthe
‘Theme fromHarrys Game’whichreachedno5 inthe UK singleschart.One of the Brennansisters
Enya leftthe groupin1981, and wouldgoon to become Ireland’ssecondhighestsellingactof all
time onlybeingtrumpedbyU2.
Many Irishpeople will claimtohave nothave beenenamouredbythe Tradscene,butthismusicis
ingrainedin numerous Irishpeoplewhethertheylikeitor not.This musicisevidentin the country’s
greatestsuccessstories,withalbumsbyartistssuchasVan Morrison whocollaboratedwiththe
Chieftanson ‘Irish Heartbeat’,Sinead OConnor(Sean-NósNua) andon the track ‘Once ina Lifetime’
whichwasa collaborationbetweenBonoandMoya Brennanof Clannad. Thisinfluence ismore
apparentwithThe Corrs, DamienDempseyandThe Frames.
PerhapsI will leave the lastwordtoa conversationthattookPlace betweenBobDylanandLiam
Clancy.On the nightof Dylan’s30th
anniversaryconcertin1992, whichthe Clancy’sperformed at,
there wasan aftershowparty at Tommy Makem’spubin New York.
3 https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fce5eb9a-95a7-4a54-b9e4-fe1b036fbe57
4 http://www.last.fm/music/Clannad

3. ‘’ Duringthe evening,LiamtoldDylanthatthe Clancy’swere thinkingof recordinganalbumof his
songsusingIrisharrangements.Dylanlookedawestruckandsaid:Wouldyoudothat Liam?Would
youdo that?’’Clancyaskedhimif he wouldmind.Dylanlookedathiminsurprise andsaid:You still
don’tgetit do youLiam? You’re myheroesman,you’re myheroes’’5
.
5 http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/clancy-brothers-bob-dylan

4. Endnotes
1 http://www.gov.ie/en/essays/twentieth.html
2 http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/clancy-brothers-bob-dylan
3 https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fce5eb9a-95a7-4a54-b9e4-fe1b036fbe57
4 http://www.last.fm/music/Clannad
5 http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/clancy-brothers-bob-dylan
Links to images used
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+of+traditional+Irish+music&id=66AF8690A
F1709B7F84299F6C1612AC389E22761&FORM=IQFRBA
Essential songs
1 Thousands are Sailing- The Pogues
2 A Rainy Night in Soho- The Pogues
3 Scorn not his Simplicity- Luke Kelly
4 On Raglan Road- Luke Kelly
5 Dearg Doom – Horselips
6 Parting Glass- The Dubliners
7 Bob Dylan-Restless Farewell
8 Patriot Games- The Clancy Brothers
9 Bob Dylan- With God on my side
10 Damien Dempsey- Sing all our cares away
Links to these songs
1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc1G7aCpSsI
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyL-TrD_2g
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTBC7ckTWpo
4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuafmLvoJow
5https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5G8AJf4Xzw
6https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3wr4hYSf4
7https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxwiVwF0ImA
8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g5vm2mLb2c
9https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfHLYIms97A
10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LMwRU0qqHY