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.
When New York Was Irish
Celtic Thunder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
when the people from Galway and the County Mayo
and all over Ireland came over to stay
and take up a new life in Americay
They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
to grow old in a new world through good times and bad
all the parties and weddings, the ceilis and wakes
We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons
we built all the bridges, we played all the tunes
We put out the fires and controlled City Hall
we started with nothing and wound up with it all
You could travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid town
from Highbridge to Bay Ridge,
from up town to down
from the East Side to the seaside's
sweet summer scenes
we made New York City our island of dreams
I look at the photos now
brittle with time
of the people I cherished when
the city was mine
O, how I loved all those radiant smiles
how I long for the days when we danced in the aisles
Celtic Thunder's "When New York Was Irish" takes the listeners on a journey through a time when Irish immigrants moved to New York to start a new life. The song speaks of their joy, their sadness, their struggles, and their successes during that time. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the bustling city of New York and how the Irish were an integral part of its development.
The song speaks of the great parties and weddings the Irish held where music and dance filled the air. The Irish immigrants were responsible for building the subways, bridges and also ran the saloons. They held positions of power, even controlling City Hall. The song speaks how they started with nothing and grew to have it all. However, the song is not without sadness. The singer says that when he looks at the old, brittle photographs, he remembers the people he cherished and the times when the city was his. He misses the radiant smiles and the days when they danced in the aisles, reminiscing a time gone by.
"When New York Was Irish" is a heartwarming tribute to the Irish immigrants who helped build New York City. The song tells the story of a time when the city was a melting pot of cultures, and the Irish immigrants added to its rich fabric. The world has changed since then, but through this song, Celtic Thunder reminds us of the unique and vibrant culture that the Irish immigrants brought to New York City.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll sing you a song of days long ago
Let me tell you a story about the past
when the people from Galway and the County Mayo
When the people from Galway and the County Mayo of Ireland
and all over Ireland came over to stay
Traveled far and wide to the US to start a new life
and take up a new life in Americay
To start a new life in America
They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
They had good times and bad times in their new world
to grow old in a new world through good times and bad
To age while navigating their lives in a new country full of ups and downs
all the parties and weddings, the ceilis and wakes
Celebrations of all kinds, from joyous weddings to somber funeral wakes
when New York was Irish, full of joys and heartbreaks
When the people of Ireland made up a significant portion of New York City's population, with all their emotions and experiences
We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons
We contributed to the city's infrastructure and economy by building subways and owning bars
we built all the bridges, we played all the tunes
We helped construct the city's many bridges and provided the entertainment through music
We put out the fires and controlled City Hall
We were firefighters and had influence over city government
we started with nothing and wound up with it all
We came to America with nothing, but eventually achieved a lot
You could travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or mid town
You can travel to different parts of the city: Kingsbridge, Queens, and Midtown
from Highbridge to Bay Ridge,
From the Highbridge neighborhood to the Bay Ridge neighborhood
from up town to down
From uptown to downtown
from the East Side to the seaside's sweet summer scenes
From the East Side of Manhattan to the sea with its pleasant summer views
we made New York City our island of dreams
We turned New York City into our own dreamland
I look at the photos now
Now I look at these old pictures
brittle with time
Which have aged with time
of the people I cherished when
Of the people I held dearly during the time
the city was mine
When I felt like the city was mine
O, how I loved all those radiant smiles
Oh, how I loved the happy faces in those photos
how I long for the days when we danced in the aisles
How I yearn for the past when we danced together in the aisles
Writer(s): Terence Winch
Contributed by Ruby V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.