The 1970s were the most creative decade in the history of Irish traditional music. In the space of a few years, a handful of groups and musicians took a tradition that had been rescued from near-extinction and made it sound young, exciting and relevant. They didn’t abandon the music — they reimagined how it could be presented, arranged and performed. By the end of the decade, Irish trad had gone from the margins to the mainstream, and the musicians who made it happen had become the most influential figures in the tradition’s modern history.
This is the story of that decade — and the three bands that defined it.
The Ground Was Prepared
The 1970s revival didn’t happen in a vacuum. The groundwork had been laid in the previous decade by several forces.
Séan Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann had demonstrated, from 1961 onward, that traditional music could be arranged for small ensembles with sophistication and artistry. Ó Riada treated trad as art music, and his ensemble — which included future Chieftains members Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts, Martin Fay and Seán Keane — proved the concept worked. The Chieftains formed in 1962 and were already building an international reputation by the early 1970s.
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem had become international stars in the early 1960s, demonstrating that Irish music could fill concert halls. The Dubliners, formed in 1962, had brought ballads and folk songs to huge audiences. And Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann’s network of fleadhanna and classes was producing a generation of young musicians who were technically skilled, deeply rooted in the tradition, and hungry to do something new with it.
What was missing was a group of musicians who could take all of this — the artistry of Ó Riada, the audience-building of the Clancys, the energy of the Dubliners, the technique from Comhaltas — and fuse it into something that sounded genuinely contemporary. In 1972, that group arrived.
Planxty (1972–1983)
Planxty’s origin story is almost absurdly perfect. In 1972, Christy Moore was recording his album Prosperous and brought in three musicians to help: Dónal Lunny on bouzouki and guitar, Andy Irvine on mandolin and bouzouki, and Liam O’Flynn on uilleann pipes. The four of them sounded so good together that they decided to form a band.
They called themselves Planxty — a word from the O’Carolan tradition meaning a tune composed in honkor of a patron. The name was Dónal Lunny’s suggestion.
What made them different
Everything. Planxty sounded like no trad group that had come before. The key innovation was the combination of instruments: Moore’s guitar and bodhrán, Lunny’s bouzouki (still a novelty in Irish music at the time), Irvine’s mandolin and hurdy-gurdy, and O’Flynn’s sublime uilleann piping. The bouzouki, in particular, changed everything. Lunny’s open-tuned, rhythmically driving bouzouki playing gave trad a harmonic and rhythmic dimension it had never had.
But it wasn’t just the instruments. It was the attitude. Planxty played with a raw energy that felt closer to rock than to the genteel chamber-music approach of The Chieftains. They were young, they were charismatic (Moore’s stage presence was magnetic), and they made trad feel like the most exciting music you could hear in Dublin on a Friday night.
Their repertoire mixed traditional instrumentals with songs from the Irish and English traditions, Eastern European influences brought by Irvine, and Christy Moore’s own material. This eclecticism was deliberate — they wanted to show that the tradition was broad enough to absorb all of it.
The albums
Planxty’s debut, Planxty (1973), is one of the most influential Irish albums ever made. The Well Below the Valley followed the same year, equally brilliant. Cold Blow and the Rainy Night (1974) completed a trilogy of records that redefined what Irish music could be. The band went through lineup changes — Lunny left and was replaced by Johnny Moynihan, then by Matt Molloy — and eventually disbanded in 1983. A reunion in the early 2000s produced further recordings and tours.
The legacy
Planxty proved that trad could be young, vibrant and contemporary without losing its authenticity. They introduced the bouzouki as a standard instrument. They showed that a trad group could fill theatres and command the same cultural space as rock bands. And they launched four careers — Moore, Lunny, Irvine and O’Flynn — that would shape Irish music for the next fifty years.
Essential listening: Planxty (1973), The Well Below the Valley (1973), Cold Blow and the Rainy Night (1974).
The Bothy Band (1974–1979)
If Planxty reinvented what trad could feel like, The Bothy Band reinvented what it could sound like. They existed for just five years and released only three studio albums. But those five years changed Irish music permanently.
The lineup
The Bothy Band formed in 1974 out of a once-off concert at a Gael Linn anniversary celebration. The lineup was extraordinary: Matt Molloy on flute, Paddy Glackin on fiddle (later replaced by Kevin Burke), Dónal Lunny on bouzouki (yes, the same Lunny who’d just left Planxty), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill on clavinet and vocals, and her brother Micheál Ó Domhnaill on guitar. Paddy Keenan played uilleann pipes on their first album before departing.
What made them different
Intensity. The Bothy Band played traditional tunes with an energy and tightness that had never been heard before. The rhythm section — Lunny’s driving bouzouki, Ó Domhnaill’s guitar, Ní Dhomhnaill’s clavinet — created a rhythmic propulsion underneath the melody instruments that was closer to a rock band’s engine room than anything in the trad world.
And the melody players were world-class. Molloy’s flute playing was astonishing — fast, powerful, with a breathy intensity that seemed to push the physical limits of the instrument. Glackin and later Burke brought contrasting fiddle styles: Glackin more rooted in the Dublin tradition, Burke with a Sligo-influenced lyricism. The combination was electrifying.
Live, they were ferocious. Recordings of Bothy Band concerts capture a level of intensity that studio albums can only hint at. They played as if the music might catch fire at any moment — and sometimes it felt like it did.
The albums
The Bothy Band (1975) is the debut — a landmark. Old Hag You Have Killed Me (1976) and After hours (1979) complete the trilogy. All three are essential, but the first album’s opening set of reels remains one of the most exhilarating moments in recorded Irish music.
The legacy
The Bothy Band proved that trad could have the power and drive of rock music without compromising its integrity. They established a template for the trad “supergroup” that bands like Lúnasa and Flook would later follow. And they scattered their influence widely: after disbanding, the individual members went on to shape Irish music for decades. Molloy joined The Chieftains. Burke became a celebrated solo artist and session player. Ní Dhomhnaill and Ó Domhnaill continued recording and performing. Lunny moved on to Moving Hearts and countless production and collaboration projects.
Essential listening: The Bothy Band (1975), Old Hag You Have Killed Me (1976).
De Dannan (1975–2003)
The third great group of the 1970s came from Galway. De Dannan formed in 1975 around the extraordinary fiddle playing of Frankie Gavin and the bouzouki of Alec Finn. Where Planxty was eclectic and The Bothy Band was intense, De Dannan were virtuosic and dynamic — their live performances were legendary for their sheer exuberance.
The sound
Gavin’s fiddle playing was the centrepiece. Fast, technically dazzling, with a jazzy edge and a rhythmic precision that was in a class of its own, Gavin could play rings around almost anyone. Finn’s bouzouki provided a distinctive accompaniment — more delicate and textural than Lunny’s driving approach.
De Dannan also became famous for launching the careers of three of Ireland’s finest female folk singers: Dolores Keane, Mary Black and Eleanor Shanley. Each brought a different vocal character to the group, and the albums with their respective vocalists are all rewarding.
The albums
The self-titled De Dannan (1975) debut captures the raw energy of the early group. The Mist Covered Mountain (1980) and Song for Ireland (1983) show the ensemble at its peak. Later albums experimented with wider influences, including a memorable session of Irish trad played in a Cajun style.
Essential listening: De Dannan (1975), The Mist Covered Mountain (1980).
Dónal Lunny: The Thread That Connects Everything
No account of the 1970s revival is complete without acknowledging Dónal Lunny’s unique role. He was a founding member of Planxty. He was a founding member of The Bothy Band. He went on to co-found Moving Hearts in 1981, which fused trad with rock and jazz. He produced albums for dozens of other artists. He introduced the bouzouki as a standard trad instrument. He pioneered new approaches to arrangement and accompaniment.
If you drew a diagram of every significant Irish trad group and solo artist from the 1970s onward, Lunny would be connected to nearly all of them. He is the most influential figure in the modern tradition after Michael Coleman — and while Coleman shaped how the music sounded, Lunny shaped how it was presented, arranged and experienced.
What the 1970s Changed
The 1970s revival didn’t just produce great music. It permanently altered the landscape of Irish traditional music in several ways:
- It made trad a viable concert and recording medium, not just a session and kitchen tradition.
- It introduced new instruments (the bouzouki, the clavinet) and new approaches to accompaniment.
- It created a model for the trad “band” that persists to this day — a small group of virtuosic players with arranged repertoire and a strong collective identity.
- It attracted a young, educated audience that had previously associated trad with backwardness and poverty.
- It produced a generation of musicians who would go on to teach, record, tour and mentor for the next fifty years.
- It demonstrated that the tradition was robust enough to absorb innovation without losing its identity.
Every trad band you hear today — Lúnasa, Dervish, Altan, Flook, Téada, Goitse — exists in the space that Planxty, The Bothy Band and De Dannan opened up. Every session musician who plays alongside a bouzouki or guitar owes something to Dónal Lunny. Every young listener who discovers trad and thinks “this is exciting” is feeling an echo of what audiences felt in Dublin in 1973 when Planxty took the stage.
You’ll hear all three groups on Radio Siamsa, alongside the musicians they inspired and the tradition they revitalised.
Read our guide to the great Irish traditional musicians
See our list of essential Irish trad albums.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the 1970s Irish trad revival?
A period of extraordinary creativity in Irish traditional music, driven primarily by three groups — Planxty, The Bothy Band and De Dannan — who reinvented how trad could be presented, arranged and performed. They attracted new audiences, introduced new instruments, and established a model for trad bands that persists today.
Why was the 1970s revival important?
It transformed trad from a declining, marginal tradition into a vibrant, contemporary art form. It proved that the music could fill theatres, sell records, and command the same cultural respect as rock or classical music. And it produced a generation of musicians who shaped Irish music for the next half-century.
What was the difference between Planxty and The Bothy Band?
Planxty were eclectic, mixing traditional instrumentals with songs from various traditions, and played with a warm, inclusive energy. The Bothy Band were more focused on instrumental trad and played with an almost ferocious intensity and rhythmic drive. Both were extraordinary; they offered different visions of what trad could be.
Who was Dónal Lunny?
Dónal Lunny is arguably the most influential figure in modern Irish traditional music. A founding member of both Planxty and The Bothy Band, he introduced the bouzouki as a standard trad instrument, pioneered new arrangement approaches, and produced albums for dozens of artists. He connects virtually every major trad group and solo artist from the 1970s onward.
What should I listen to first from this era?
Start with Planxty’s debut album (1973) for the songs and eclecticism, or The Bothy Band’s debut (1975) for the instrumental intensity. Then work outward from there.
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