Mícheál Ó Domhnaill

Mícheál Ó Domhnaill

Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (IPA pronunciation: mʲiːçaːɫ oː dˠɔwnˠɨlʲ) (October 71952 – July 7 2006) was a notable Irish singer and guitarist who became famous for his work with The Bothy Band, Skara Brae, Relativity, Nightnoise, and a successful collaboration with fiddler Kevin Burke, among others.

Biography

Early life

Mícheál Ó Domhnaill was born in Dublin, Ireland. The family soon moved to Kells, County Meath. His father, Aodh, and his mother, Bríd, were singers, and his sisters, Tríona and Maighread Ní Domhnaill have also become well-known musicians. His father grew up in Rannafast, and he and his sisters spent their summers there, learning Irish. He received piano lessons until he was sixteen, when he focused on the guitar.

Adult life and music

In the late 1960s, Ó Domhnaill and his sisters formed the band Skara Brae, along with Dáithí Sproule (who is now a member of Altan). Skara Brae released their only album in 1971; it was notable as the first recording to include vocal harmonization in Irish language songs.

Ó Domhnaill was one of the first guitar players (along with Dáithí Sproule) in Irish traditional music to employ DADGAD tuning, and as such his guitar style had a dramatic impact on guitarists who would follow in the genre. Ó Domhnaill and Sproule were influenced in their early years by John Renbourn and Bert Jansch.

In 2004, Ó Domhnaill described Skara Brae's influences in an interview with the RTÉ radio program "Rattlebag":

Once a year [while in university] we'd go up and we'd meet the Derry lads, and we'd form great bonds and they had a great interest in the language and love for it, and as did we and we kind of sparked off each other and we used to go down to the lake after classes and we'd sing. We'd sing Beatles songs, but we'd also sing Irish songs. And experiment with chords. We learned a lot from the Beatles. We listened a lot to them and all the music that was happening at the time and we tried to bring that to bear — Pentangle, Steeleye Span — we tried to bring that to bear on the Irish.

In the early 1970s, Ó Domhnaill cofounded the very popular group The Bothy Band in 1974, along with Dónal Lunny, Matt Molloy, Paddy Keenan, and others. Ó Domhnaill moved to the United States in the early eighties, founding Nightnoise with fiddler Billy Oskay. He moved back to Ireland in the late nineties, and collaborated with fiddler Paddy Glackin and others.

Although best known for his guitar innovations, Ó Domhnaill was a respected singer and also played tin whistle, piano, and harmonium.

Ó Domhnaill was the first presenter of the RTÉ radio program "The Long Note" in the early 1970s, which featured Irish traditional musicians, many of whom had never previously been recorded.

Death and afterwards

Ó Domhnaill died from a fall on 7 July 2006 at the age of 53, at his home in Dublin. His funeral was attended by members of The Bothy Band and numerous musicians from across Ireland and from further afield.

Discography

With Skara Brae

• Skara Brae (1971)

With Mick Hanly

• Celtic Folkweave (1973)

With The Bothy Band

• The Bothy Band (1975)
• Old Hag You Have Killed Me (1976)
• Out Of The Wind (1977)
• After Hours (Live in Paris) (1979)
• Best Of The Bothy Band (1983)
• The Bothy Band - Live in Concert (1995)

With Kevin Burke

• Promenade (1979)
• Portland (1982)

With Relativity

• Relativity (1985)
• Gathering Pace (1987)

With Nightnoise

• Nightnoise (1984, released under the group name, "Billy Oskay and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill" — generally mis-catalogued with the spelling "Oksay".)
• Something of Time (1987)
• At the End of the Evening (1988)
• The Parting Tide (1990)
• A Windham Hill Retrospective (1992, compilation)
• Shadow of Time (1993)
• A Different Shore (1995)
• The White Horse Sessions (1997)
• Pure Nightnoise (2006, compilation)

As Producer

• Touchstone - Jealousy (1984) (also contributes guitar and keyboards)

References

• Kerr, Áine (2006-07-10). "Musician Mícheál Ó Domhnaill dies at 54". Irish Times. Retrieved 2006-07-10.

• Metz, Marcus (1997-12-31). "Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh in Donegal". FolkWorld. Retrieved 2006-07-19.

• "Micheál Ó Domhnaill tribute" (RealAudio). Rattlebag. Radio Telefís Éireann. 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2006-07-19.