Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill
Ní Dhomhnaill in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill
Born	Kells, County Meath, Ireland
Genres	Irish Traditional Celtic Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, pianist, composer
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Green Linnet Gael-Linn Records Windham Hill Mulligan Records
Associated acts	Skara Brae The Bothy Band Touchstone Nightnoise T with the Maggies

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is a famous Irish singer, keyboard player, and composer. She is known as one of the most important female singers in Irish music history. Tríona has played with many well-known Irish traditional groups. These include Skara Brae, The Bothy Band, and Nightnoise. In February 2024, she received a special Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was given at the 6th RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill grew up in a town called Kells, County Meath. Her grandparents moved there in the 1930s from Rann na Feirste. This is a special Irish-speaking area in County Donegal.

Tríona comes from a very musical family. Her aunt, Neillí, collected almost 300 folk songs. These songs are now part of a collection at University College Dublin. Tríona, her brother Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, and her younger sister Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill formed a folk group. They were joined by multi-instrumentalist Dáithí Sproule. Their group was called Skara Brae. In this band, Tríona played the clavinet and sang. Skara Brae focused on songs sung in the Irish language. Many of these songs came from the Rann na Feirste area, where their family was from.

Joining The Bothy Band

In 1975, a musician named Dónal Lunny left his band, Planxty. He then started a new group to play with accordion player Tony MacMahon. Tríona and her brother Mícheál joined this new group. Other members included uilleann pipe player Paddy Keenan, flute and whistle player Matt Molloy, and fiddle player Paddy Glackin.

At first, the group was called Seachtar, which means "seven people" in Irish. After Tony MacMahon left, they changed their name to the Bothy Band. Tríona played the clavinet and sang in this band too.

The Bothy Band played their first concert on February 2, 1975. It was at Trinity College Dublin. Even though they were only together for three years, the Bothy Band was very important. They helped bring traditional Irish music to a new, modern level. The band had some changes in members over time. However, Tríona and her brother Mícheál were still in the band for their last album. This album, Afterhours, was recorded live in Paris in 1978. Another live album, Live in Concert, was released in 1995. It was recorded by the BBC in London in 1976 and 1978.

Tríona still performs with The Bothy Band. The band reunited in 2023.

Music Career in the United States

After The Bothy Band broke up in 1979, Tríona moved to the United States. A singer-songwriter named Mike Cross convinced her to move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Tríona soon started a new band there with musicians from North America. The band was called Touchstone. They practiced at Mike Cross's home. Touchstone released two albums: The New Land (1982) and Jealousy (1984). Their music combined songs in Irish, new songs written by the band, and traditional folk songs from the United States and Nova Scotia.

In the mid-1980s, Tríona moved to Portland, Oregon. There, she met up with her brother Mícheál again. He had moved to the area a few years before. They teamed up with brothers Johnny and Phil. Johnny and Phil used to be in a Scottish band called Silly Wizard. Together, they toured and recorded two albums as Relativity.

Tríona also worked with Billy Oskay and Brian Dunning. Later, Johnny Cunningham replaced Billy Oskay. They formed a new age group with a Celtic sound called Nightnoise.

Discography

Here are some of the albums Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill has been a part of:

Solo Albums

• Tríona (1975)
• The Key's Within (2010)

With Skara Brae

• Skara Brae (1971)

With The Bothy Band

• The Bothy Band (1975)
• Old Hag You Have Killed Me (1976)
• After Hours (Live in Paris) (1979)
• The Bothy Band – Live in Concert (1995)

With Nightnoise

• Something of Time (1987)
• At the End of the Evening (1988)
• The Parting Tide (1990)
• Shadow of Time (1993)

With Other Artists

• Idir an Dá Sholas (with Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill and Dónal Lunny) (1999)
• T with the Maggies (2010)