Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at the Helix in Dublin, Ireland, accompanying the Celtic Concert Orchestra under the direction of Phil Coulter, the musical director of the group.
Since the group's formation, Celtic Thunder has released twelve albums: Celtic Thunder, Act Two, Take Me Home, It's Entertainment!, Celtic Thunder Christmas, Storm, Heritage, Voyage, Voyage II, Christmas Voices and Mythology as well as best-of collection Homeland, and twelve live performances on DVD, entitled Celtic Thunder: The Show, Take Me Home, It's Entertainment!, Storm, Christmas, Heritage, Voyage, Voyage II, Live and Unplugged and Mythology, as well as a Christmas performance. In December 2009 Billboard magazine named Celtic Thunder the Top World Album Artist.
Celtic Thunder is known for its eclectic style with songs ranging from a soloist to an ensemble focus. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic effects via lighting and choreography as well as a stage set resembling an ancient stone pathway suggestive of those referenced in Celtic lore.
Members
The members of Celtic Thunder are (in alphabetical order of family name):
Neil Byrne (born November 16, 1977): Music has always been a major part of Neil's life. Born into a musical family, Neil’s father has worked as a professional musician his entire life and his mother is a huge fan of all music. By the age of 5, Neil was gripped by rhythm, which instinctively lead him to drum on anything in front of him. He began learning the guitar when he was 7, hugely helped and encouraged by his father. Later in life a mutual friend approached Neil and asked him to play at a function for one of Ireland’s most renowned songwriters and producers, Phil Coulter. When Sharon Browne and Phil began working on production for Celtic Thunder he was invited to record backing vocals for the debut DVD, and subsequently play lead guitar player for the live show. Neil would have to say the most memorable and prestigious performance of his career to date was in Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Since then he has toured America and Canada extensively with Celtic Thunder and most recently has joined the cast as the 6th leading vocalist with Celtic Thunder.
Paul Michael Byrom (born April 11, 1979) is from Dublin, Ireland. In addition to Celtic Thunder, he has also performed at major sporting events in Ireland and abroad, including singing at the All Ireland Finals in Dublin's Croke Park and at Heinz Field for a Pittsburgh Steelers game in the USA. He has also performed for Ireland's President, Mary McAleese, and for Emperor Akihito of Japan. Paul has released two albums: Velvet and I'll Be Home For Christmas. He left Celtic Thunder as of 2011 to pursue his solo career. Member from 2008-2011
George Donaldson (February 1, 1968- March 12, 2014) is the oldest member of the group and is a well-known balladeer, guitarist and flutist from Glasgow, Scotland. At Scotland's Celtic Park, Donaldson played to 65,000 fans at the opening match of the 2000-2001 season.
Keith Ronald Harkin, (born June 10, 1986), like Damian, is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He plays the guitar and has written one of the songs for Celtic Thunder: "Lauren and I". In 2008, a new solo album by Keith was rumoured to be in the working stages but has not yet been released as of mid 2009. Keith enjoys surfing and has written a song called Chasing Dreams that articulates his love for it. Keith has now recorded more original songs apart from Celtic Thunder, some titles include: Vanity, Don't Lose the Feeling, and What I Like.
Ryan John Kelly (born November 6, 1978) is from The Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He holds two degrees from the Queen's University Belfast, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and also a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Accounting, qualifying Ryan to be a chartered accountant.
Damian Joseph McGinty, Jr. (born September 9, 1992) was the youngest member of the group for 4 years and is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He recorded the first Celtic Thunder album when he was only fourteen years old. It is rumoured that McGinty will begin work on a solo album in the next 6 months. He won his first singing contest at the age of five. He recorded the first Celtic Thunder album when he was fourteen years old. McGinty lists Michael Buble, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra among his inspirations.[5] On April 29, 2011 it was announced that Damian was chosen as one of 12 contenders for The Glee Project, a reality series on the Oxygen Network. He tied for first and had a guest starring role in the third season of the Fox hit TV show Glee. He debuted on Glee season 3 episode 4 Pot o' Gold. Though originally awarded a seven-episode arc, his run-time was later extended to 16 episodes including a guest appearance in season 4's Glee Actually. In the summer of 2013 Damian joined Paul Byrom for "The Me and My Shadow" Tour. McGinty is also part of Ethan Bortnick's concert.
Emmet Michael Cahill (born October 18, 1990) became Paul Byrom's replacement. 2010 was a very exciting year for Emmet Cahill; he was awarded the 2010 John Mc Cormack Bursary for the most Promising Young Tenor, and was named the most promising young singer at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He has been a multiple prizewinner at the National Feis Ceoil singing competition in Ireland. Emmet is 20 years old and hails from Mullingar in County Westmeath in Ireland. His musical journey began when at just 5 years old he began learning the piano. By 7 Emmet had begun voice training, and he soon went on to win a music scholarship for high school in Mullingar and spend 5 years intensively studying and playing music. At school he furthered his studies in piano, organ and violin and vocal training, however singing has always been his true love. He continued his education at the prestigious Royal Irish Academy of Music where he received a university degree in Music Performance. He has been in many stage productions in Dublin and has performed on stage at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin and as a soloist at the National Concert Hall. He is an avid sports fan and has performed twice at Croke Park in Dublin, in front of crowds of 90,000. One such occasion was for the 125th Anniversary of The GAA. He has also performed for the President of Ireland Mary McAleese and at several international rugby games Dublin’s new Aviva Stadium. Emmet also sings regularly at the Mullingar Cathedral.
He is a huge sports fan and has won many prizes playing football with his college and local teams. In his spare time, he also loves attending music and sporting events, playing the guitar and listening to music. He attended auditions for Celtic Thunder in June 2010 and was delighted to be asked by Sharon and Phil to join the show. Emmet Cahill is the latest addition to the Celtic Thunder family.
Daniel Furlong
Vocalist
Daniel Furlong was the newest (and youngest) member of Celtic Thunder. Daniel is 13 years old and hails from the town of Taghmon in County Wexford on the Southeast coast of Ireland. He is a boy soprano and was discovered when he entered a singing competition at the age of seven and won! Although Daniel is barely a teenager, he has been performing and singing in public for over six years. Daniels hometown of Wexford is synonymous with Opera and is host to the internationally acclaimed Opera Festival in October of every year. Indeed Daniel is no stranger to opera and played the role of Edgar in the Wexford Light Opera Society production of Ragtime in 2008. In 2008 and again in 2009, Daniel was also cast in the lead role of Oliver in the musical Oliver with both Oyster Lane and Festival productions. He has also performed solo on two national television stations in Ireland. In 2009 Daniel won an All Ireland Song Contest as a solo singer, competing with artists considerably older than he. In 2011 he won "The All Ireland Talent" Show a nationally televised talent competition and Irelands answer to Americas Got Talent. In light of all of his incredible achievements to date, his home county of Wexford honored Daniel by naming him "Wexford Person of the Year" for 2011.
Daniel describes himself as an outgoing and optimistic, friendly and a fun person. He likes to spend time with his friends and family, and he loves the chance to perform. He is quite competitive and loves playing team sports such as hurling, Gaelic football, soccer and rounders (softball). Music is obviously Daniels passion, he practices with his local choir "The Young Wexford Singers" every week and is also learning to play the guitar and the pigeon box. Daniel came to the attention of Celtic Thunder producer Sharon Browne, when he won the All Ireland Talent Show" and she quickly arranged to meet him. His energy and enthusiasm is infectious and once Sharon had met Daniel and seen him perform, she immediately offered him a place in Celtic Thunder. He performs an angelic version of Walking In The Air in the Christmas show and also sings solo in Heritage on Somewhere Over The Rainbow and the Josh Groban hit To Where You Are. Daniel also joins with other members of Celtic Thunder in the Ensembles and performs duets with Keith and Emmet.
Colm Joseph Keegan (born August 2, 1989) is from Dublin, Ireland. He attended University College Dublin on a music scholarship, graduating in 2011 with an honors degree in Music and Irish. Colm auditioned for and was selected for Celtic Thunder in May 2012 as a new vocalist, becoming a sixth member of the previously five-man group. He was formerly a member of the Aontas Choral Ensemble, who are known for their work with Celtic Woman. Colm appeared in the Celtic Woman DVDs 'Songs From The Heart' (2009) and 'Believe' (2011).
Emmett O'Hanlon (born July 9, 1991), Celtic Thunder's newest member, is Emmet Cahill's replacement. He is Irish- American. Emmett will be touring with Celtic Thunder during their Mythology tour and the Christmas Voices Symphony tour.
Beginning in March 2008, the group has been featured throughout the US on the PBS television network more than 1200 times, and during May and June 2008, members of the group were interviewed on dozens of local PBS stations during performances of their show
Celtic Thunder is also the name of a traditional Irish band formed in 1977. The band recorded three albums―1981’s Celtic Thunder; The Light of Other Days (1988), and Hard New York Days in 1996.
A Place In The Choir
Celtic Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Listen to the top where the little bird sings
On the melodies and the high notes ringing,
And the hoot owl cries over everything
And the blackbird disagrees
Singing in the night time, singing in the day,
When little duck quacks, and he's on his way
And the otter hasn't got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
The dogs and the cats they take up the middle
While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles,
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old gray badger sighs
Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans with a big t'do
And the old cow just goes moo
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
It's a simple song a little song everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear,
The dopey alligator and the the hawk above,
The sly old weasel and the turtle dove
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
"A Place in the Choir" by Celtic Thunder is a song that celebrates the diversity of God's creatures and their unique abilities, skills, and talents. The lyrics suggest that no matter how big or small, how loud or soft, how simple or complex, every creature has a purpose and a place in the grand scheme of things.
The opening lines of the song, "All God's creatures got a place in the choir, Some sing low and some sing higher," emphasize that everyone is equal in God's eyes and has something to contribute. The lyrics go on to describe the various sounds that different animals make, from the "little bird" to the "hippopotamus." The chorus repeats the idea that "All God's creatures got a place in the choir," and encourages listeners to appreciate the beauty and diversity of the natural world.
The verses of the song provide snapshots of different animals and their unique qualities. The "little duck" and "otter" are characterized by their distinctive voices, while the "donkey" and "pony" express themselves through their braying and neighing. The "old gray badger" is portrayed as a wise and thoughtful creature, while the "honeybee" and "cricket" contribute to the middle range of sounds in the choir.
Overall, "A Place in the Choir" is a gentle and uplifting song that encourages listeners to embrace diversity and appreciate the beauty of nature. Its message is particularly resonant in today's world, where different groups of people often find themselves pitted against one another in divisive ways.
Line by Line Meaning
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Every living being has its own unique place and contribution to make in the world
Some sing low and some sing higher
Each living being has its own unique traits and characteristics that they offer to the world
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire
Some living beings express themselves in unique and unexpected ways
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now
Every living being has its own unique way of celebrating and expressing its own existence
Listen to the top where the little bird sings
There is wisdom to be found in the small and overlooked things in life
On the melodies and the high notes ringing
Even the smallest and seemingly insignificant things in life can produce beauty and inspiration
And the hoot owl cries over everything
Each living being, no matter how different, experiences pain and sadness
And the blackbird disagrees
Not everyone will agree on everything, but each living being has the right to their own opinion
Singing in the night time, singing in the day
Living beings are not bound by time or circumstance when it comes to expressing their individuality
When little duck quacks, and he's on his way
Every living being has a unique journey to travel and a right to assert themselves along the way
And the otter hasn't got much to say
Not every living being expresses themselves in the same way or to the same extent
And the porcupine talks to himself
Some living beings keep to themselves and are content with their own company
The dogs and the cats they take up the middle
Some living beings occupy common spaces and interact with each other frequently
While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles
Even living beings with seemingly mundane existences can surprise us with their unique abilities and behaviors
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
Every living being has its own unique voice and way of expressing itself
And the old gray badger sighs
Some living beings, just like humans, experience a sense of weariness or melancholy
Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
There is knowledge and wisdom to be found in the overlooked things and places in life
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus moans and groans with a big t'do
Every living being has unique and unexpected ways of expressing itself, even in the most unlikely scenarios
And the old cow just goes moo
Even the most familiar and commonplace things in life can have their own beauty and individuality
It's a simple song a little song everywhere
Life itself is a simple yet profound existence, and every living being has its own unique and invaluable part to play
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
Living beings of all shapes and sizes, regardless of their differences, exist on the same level of importance and significance
The dopey alligator and the the hawk above
Each living being, no matter how seemingly different from others, has its own unique set of attributes and abilities
The sly old weasel and the turtle dove
Even living beings with seemingly negative or unusual traits still have their own unique and valuable contributions to make in the world
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BILL STAINES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Donna R.
A great song to listen to when you are feeling "down in the dumps". And this group does it great justice. Love the young fellow with the bass voice. Fantastic Group!
Murhl Blessing
I'm so addicted to Celtic Thunder. After a trip to Ireland, and buying their CD. I just want to share with everyone I know. Most uplifting!
Saxonygal
My favorite little part is at 0:38-0:42 with the bit of brotherly interaction between Keith and Damian. It's just adorable!
Emily Barber
I'm in love with their voices.. They always do an amazing job and great dancers. I love paul, george and damian
Jonnie Garstka
What is it about men's voices, that move us so?. This group is wonderful, without being overly serious or overly silly. So glad I've been introduced to CELTIC THUNDER.
Lordsweetie
Wow, great performance. I didn't expect his voice to be lower than the others. That surprised me. They were all great!
DNE Momming
I love this group, this song and the way the act it out. Damian's voice in his part still gives me chills and I listen to this a lot. :)
Elaine Stanley
You absolutely cannot listen to this song without smiling and tapping your toes, and clapping. I have been loving Celtic Thunder music since the first song I heard. I can't seem to get enough Great job guys. love ya!........................
Barbara Foster
People have left the group and new people have joined since this show. But the thing about Celtic Thunder is that the more it changes, the more it remains the same. Always outstanding and incomparable music !! Change if you must, but don't ever stop performing for us.
Mary Miller
And his grin and his blue, blue eyes! He started with this group 6 years ago when he was 14, a lot shorter and a higher voice. He did a solo back then, "Come By the Hills", and was so serious! All of them have wonderful voices and are good to listen to.