From the Promoter

With founding member Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh at the helm for over 35 years, Altan continues to be one of the most important live acts to play traditional Irish music in Ireland and on the World stage. Altan have toured all over North America and Europe. They also enjoy popularity in Japan where they frequently tour and have hosted Altan festivals in the middle of Tokyo to thousands of enthusiastic fans.

Altan's international status and success found a very practical recognition when they were signed in 1996 to Virgin Records, the first Irish band of their kind to be signed by a major label. The band released gold and platinum albums in that period.

In spite of a hectic touring and recording schedule, Altan continue fresh in their vision of bringing the beauty and joy of traditional music to audiences everywhere, and have always promised themselves to continue as long as it's fun - fortunately, it still is!

Altan shows no signs of slowing down. In recent years, this Donegal band has been exploring and experimenting with their music using orchestral arrangements of their most popular pieces. In fact, Altan celebrated their 25th Anniversary with a symphonic best-of album release and tour of Europe with the RTE Concert Orchestra in 2010.

The Irish Times raved about their 2012 album released on Compass Records: “Instrumentally, Altan have never sounded better or tighter. [Poison Glen] is richly layered musicianship shot through with verve.” They continued the Compass connection with 2015's The Widening Gyre.

Altan recently released their first printed collection of instrumental music, Altan: The Tunes. Spanning thirty years, twelve studio albums and comprising 222 tunes across its 206 pages, the book delves into the history, folklore and the composers and musical heroes from whom the music was collected.

Altan has played 7 times at the Rogue between 1989 and 2015, and we are delighted to welcome them back. This celebrated Irish band features Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (lead vocals, fiddle), Ciarán Tourish (fiddle, tin whistle, backing vocals), Martin Tourish (button accordion, melodeon), Dáithí Sproule (guitar/vocals) and Ciarán Curran (bouzouki, bouzouki guitar).