The Chieftains, Enya, U2 and ... ?

What a great idea... I am going to look up your old posts (do I understand you got suggestions off this site for those cds?) as music is very important to me as well, and I always purchase music from every country I go to.
To respond to your question.... So, while in an Irish pub on a trip in the south of Ireland I heard a band play a song that gave me chills. I had never heard it before, but I knew I would never forget it. I researched it and finally found the song... The Londsome Boatman and found a cd that had this song done by Phil Coulter. It is on his cd called Lake of Shadows. Give it a listen.

Van Morrison, the Corrs, the Cranberries, Irish Rovers, Great Big Sea, Gaelic Storm, Off Kilter, Phil Coulter, Lorena McKennitt, Dropkick Murphys, James Galway, etc., etc. (yes, I have a few Celtic CDs in my collection.... just a few....)

Here are a few for the Irish theme from my Ipod ... Bell X1 - "The Great Defector" is one of my favorite songs and it has a very catchy chorus. It sounds a bit like it could have been performed by the Talking Heads. Dolores O'Riordan - "Ordinary Day" is a great song or something from her band the Cranberries ("Linger", "Zombie", etc.). The Corrs - "So Young" is a good upbeat song Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars" Sinead O'Connor - Something from the album "I do not want what I haven't got" Morrisey - "Irish Blood, English Heart". Anything from the soundtrack of "Once" ("Falling Slowly" if you only choose one)

The sound track for Waking Ned Devine. I will probably add to this list later.

This is great ... keep 'em coming! Terry kathryn, I got suggestions for my Best of Europe playlist from the Helpline but I put together my France playlist on my own. If you like, I'll send you my lists; just send me a PM. Or, you can find my question from last year ... I think the title was "A little music to set the mood."

Good question! Hopefully we can dissuade you from Andy Williams singing Danny Boy. - The Waterboys album Fishermans Blues. Much of it was recorded in Spidall, near Galway. Celtic rock at it's finest. Have a listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKouBHarIo - The Pogues -Nancy already said him, but I will repeat: Van Morrison. - Elvis Costello, née Declan Patrick MacManus. English born, but of Irish descent. Two songs worth having: Olivers Army (happy song, harsh lyrics) and Tramp the Dirt Down (a more haunting Irish song you'll never hear). - Two more sons of Ireland: John Lennon, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Luck of the Irish" (have to look past Yoko's "singing") and Paul McCartney's "Give back Ireland to the Irish." From Luck of the Irish: "If you had the luck of the Irish you'd wish you were dead, if you had the luck of the Irish, you'd wish you were English instead." - The Dubliners. Classic trad. - U2, early music - The Wolfe Tones, foremost in Irish rebel music. Don't be playing the Wolfe Tones within earshot of unionist parts of Belfast (say, Shankill Road) and the rest of the six counties. "A Nation once again" is their signature song.

A few I missed on the first post ... In Tua Nua – "All I Wanted" The Boomtown Rats – "I Don't Like Mondays" Hothouse Flowers – "Give it Up" or "Don't Go" The Script – "Breakeven" And of course, anything by U2 or Van Morrison. You've combined my two favorite things ... travel and music. I've been listening to Irish music now for the last hour. I'll be up all night if you ever go to England ...

I've been to England ten times, but I've only got one English playlist, and it's mostly populated by New Wave 80s stuff. I LOVE "I Don't Like Mondays"! :-)

"one English playlist.." London Calling by the Clash. It doesn't get better.

If you are willing to expand the celtic aspect to include Scottish music, check out Keltic Electik. They do dance band music that I really enjoy. Also, Duncan Chisholm is a fiddler that has great celtic tunes. And not Scottish, but also good is Cherish the Ladies. Have you ever hear Eileen Ivers? She's got some interesting CD's. Kornog is a group from Brittany that plays and interesting mix of Celtic music. Another contemporary Scottish group is Shoogenlifty. You might like them. Pam

Some good ones so far, although I'd say the better BellX1 song is "Rocky Took a Lover" Cranberries/Pogues/U2 works for modern-ish music. Clannad has some good new agey music. For my RS Ireland tour, I found a great cheap CD at Best Buy with Irish Pub Songs. Very helpful to get schooled on the lyrics of Molly Malone. I also suggest if you use iTunes to scroll to the way bottom, click on the American flag, and change countries to Ireland. It's a good way to see what they are currently listening to, some of it not half bad, and some of their podcasts are a hoot. I've never found a way to purchase on the international sites, but much of it can be accessed when you switch back to the USA.

I can't believe no one has suggested Clannad. This is a family group that for a time included Enya. Her sister Moira is now branching out from Clannad to pursue a solo career. I'm not saying Clannad is my favorite Irish group, but they are certainly a standard worth having on your playlist.

I'll definitely second the recommendations for Elvis Costello and Hothouse Flowers. Here's a couple more: Saw Doctors, especially "N17" Black 47 (actually based out of NYC, but with members from both sides of the pond) "Hey, Big Fella" is a good one about Michael Collins. I'm a bit partial to "Oh, Maureen". And can't have a list without Flogging Molly. "Drunken Lullabies" is a good one to start with.

I'm a huge fan of the Cranberries. They're such a tremendous combination of modern music with a Celtic trained vocalist. IMO there are very few bands that capture both the joy and sadness of Celtic music as well as they do. Nancy has a good list. Most of the traditional Irish bands have recorded versions of the standards: The Dubliners, The Elders, Chieftons, Gaelic Storm - some are more lively and others more sedate. Then there are the punk/celt versions led by Dropkick Murphys (I'm seeing them at the Shamrockfest Saturday) Flogging Molly and others. The most commercially successful Irish band is probably U2. The best Irish music IMO is still the amateur "Trad Sessions" you can see in local pubs all over Ireland for free. I'm always amazed at the level of musical talent displayed by the local mechanic, plumber, carpenter, roofer or grocer.

Teresa,
My daughter put some Irish songs on my ipod before out trip to Ireland. One of the groups was The Town Pants. On my second trip, we heard a fella in Salthill named Marc Roberts. He's good.

Altan, the Fuchsia Band, Gráinne Hambly (if you like trad. harp tunes, as I do!), Sileas . . .

Methinks iTunes is going to end up with quite a chunk of change from me! Thanks to everyone who has made suggestions so far. Keep 'em coming!

One of my favorite souvenirs is to pick up a CD of local music when I am in Scotland or other places where I like the local music. Sometimes you can get CD's of local musicians who don't always make it on iTunes, although that is less of an issue these days. You can't pop it on your iPod right away, but it makes a nice treat for when you're home. And if you're traveling by car, it may have a CD player! On our Rick Steves tour of Berlin Prague and Vienna the bus had a CD Player and we could listen to CD's. Pam

As a couple others suggested, Clannad. They have it all covered from traditional to pop to new age

A few Irish artists I like... Mary Black Frances Black Paul Brady Christy Moore Mary Coughlan Imelda May
Julie Feeney

Sinead O'Connor was mentioned already. But not the album that really explores her Irish heritage Sean-Nos Nua which is one of my alltime favourites. It also has some amazing collaborations including one with the Chieftains for "The Foggy Dew": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbMpt1gxXgE

I'm in the process of creating an ipod playlist for my upcoming trip to Ireland. In addidion to some of the artists listed above, particularly Gaelic Storm who I love, I'd recommend: Joanie Madden (plays the Irish whistle- beautiful) Orla Fallon Michele McLaughlin Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney the American band, the Decembrists have several songs that I've included on my playlist -- that seem to fit in with the Irish artists I've included such as: Down by the Water
Annan Water This is Why we Fight We Both go Down Together

A favorite song of mine is Falling Slowly. "A song written and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, as well as by Hansard's band, The Frames. It appeared in their 2007 film Once, from which it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Oscars...In the movie, the duo play the song in Walton's music shop in Dublin, with Hansard on guitar and Irglová on piano." Wikipedia Brilliant.

I had forgotten all about Falling Slowly until Laura (above) mentioned the soundtrack to Once. I LOVE that song! Thank you both for reminding me. :-)

Ooh, I forgot Cherish the Ladies! Joannie Madden is their lead musician.

great idea. we are going in may and typically add to our ipod list, based on the country. seconds on in tua nua, christy moore (irish folk with some real rust and history), waterboys, pogues, also irish heartbeat with VM and the Chieftains. i also suggest getting hold of shawn mcgowan and the popes- i believe they did one album (after he left and before he returned to the pogues).
for something a bit diff, try afro celt sound system; a mix of celtic and african

Green Fields of France recorded by the Dropkick Murphys about the WW1 cemeteries. Solemn and beautiful.

Teresa, how about anything from The Commitments film soundtrack?

Oo, The Commitments! I'd forgotten about that. Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

If you want to listen to one that will bring a tear to your eye go to You Tube and do a search for "Kilkelly Ireland" by Robbie O'Connell.