On Ar Stáitse, remastered recordings of old concerts in Ireland are shown. I watched the Andy Irvine one and was absolutely blown away. This is Irish trad at its very best. Here it is in 4 parts, with my (probably slightly inaccurate) translations of the Irish that appears during the video.

• This show was first shown on RTÉ in 1976.
• Andy was born in London in 1942.
• He learned classical guitar under Julian Bream but when he was 15 years old, he heard Lonnie Donnegan and set up a skiffle band himself!
• He went regularly to O’Donoghues pub in Dublin in the 60s, where he met Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Johnny Moynihan, amongst others.

• In 1966 Andy set up “Sweeney’s Men” with Johnny Moynihan and Joe Dolan from Galway. The name was a reference to the old pagan God, Suíbhne.
• With “Sweeney’s Men” he had big hits with “Old Maid In The Garrett” and “The Waxie’s Dargle”.

• In 1972 Christy Moore released his second album. Playing with him were Andy, Dónal Lunny and Liam Óg Ó Floinn. “Prosperous” was the name of the album and out of it grew the band “Planxty”.
• For a period in the mid 70s Andy was a member of two groups at the same time: Dé Danann and as a duo with Paul Brady.

• Eventually, in 1979, Andy released his first solo album, “Rainy Sundays… Windy Dreams”.
• Amongst the other groups which Andy was central in were “Mosaic” and “Patrick Street” which have released two albums since 1997.
• Lots more information available at www.andyirvine.com