CLADDAGH RECORDS NEWSLETTER 
                                  May 1997

        Claddagh Records, Dame House, Dame Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
      phone/fax +1-353-1-679-3664. Retail and international mail-order.
                       email claddagh@crl.ie (Finbar Boyle)

SOME RECENT IRISH AND RELATED RELEASES

SHADOWS ON STONE. Matt Molloy. CDVE 930. This long awaited album is no
disappointment. The great flute player is on top form, from the slow
reel 'The Morning Thrush' to the manic virtuosity of 'The Mason's
Apron', with a few exotica, such as a Chinese tune and Mairtin
O'Connor's delightful 'The Wind in the Woods' thrown in. Lovely lilting
from Paddy Rafferty. Absolutely brilliant.

TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC. James Kelly. CD896012. Beautiful fiddle
playing, great tunes. Old tunes and some originals, played by one of the
modern masters. Another great one.

SOH IT IS. Craobh Rua. CDLDL 1259. The fourth album from the highly
successful Belfast group.

BRENDAN VOYAGE SPECIAL EDITION. TABCD 502. This special edition contains
the book and the CD.

A HARVEST SAVED. Nicholas Carolan. The biography of Francis O'Neill,
Chief of Chicago's police and the most important collector of Irish
tradional music.  This is absolutely fascinating, beautifully
illustrated (not just the old pictures from 'Irish Minstrels and
Musicians') and meticulously researched. 

CELTIC TREASURE . Various artists. ND 63925. Yet another 'Celtic'
compilation. This one has artists such as Deanta, Deiseal, Dordan, Maire
Ni Chathasaigh and Gerry O'Sullivan.

CELTIC TAPESTRY 2. Various Artists. SHCD 78006. Yet another 'Celtic'
compilation. This one has artists such as Arcady, De Danann, Karan
Casey, Planxty. 

EASTER SNOW. Seamus Tansey. COMD 2063. At last, a new recording from the
great Sligo flute-player. Tansey has come up with the goods - 14 great
sets of tunes and one song. Accompaniments are by Tony McManus (guitar),
John McCusker (keyboards, cittern), Alison Kinnaird and Robin Morton
(bodhran).

SHINE. Mary Black. TORCD 088. New album featuring contemporary songs by
Paul Brady, David Gray, Richard Thompson.

REALTA. Various. RTE203CD. Selection of new Gaelic songs submitted for
this year's REALTA competition. Features Helen Ui Dhunaird, Evelyn
Curry, Sean Monaghan, Art O Dufaigh and more.

TOGHA AGUS ROGHA. Celebration of 25 years of Raidio na Gaeltachta. I
expected when I heard of this that it would have been taken from their
extensive archive, but only six out of 25 tracks were.  All the rest
have been previously released on commercial albums. By and large, just
another compilation.

BRIDGING THE GAP. Kevin & Sean Moloney. MOL 001. Family album - the
father, Kevin, plays fiddle, and son Sean plays flute. Kevin rccorded
with the Ballinakill Ceili Band in 1938 and is the son of Stephen who
played flute with that band.

EACH LITTLE THING. Sharon Shannon. GRACD226. Long-awaited third album
from Sharon. Produced by Donal Lunny, it features such musicians as
Tommy Peoples, Steve Cooney, Mary Custy, Winnie Horan and more.

LIVE AT WINKLES. The Lahawns. LM 001. Live session from Winkles Hotel,
played by Andrew MacNamara (accordion), Breda Smith (fiddle & whistle)
and others