People ask us this all the time: where should I start? Which albums should I buy first? If I could only own twenty Irish trad records, what would they be?
It’s an impossible question, obviously. The tradition is too broad and too deep for any list to capture. But we’ve had a go. These are twenty albums that, between them, cover the breadth of Irish traditional music — from solo fiddle to full-band arrangements, from the 1960s to the 2020s, from quiet contemplation to roaring energy. They’re not the only great albums. They’re the ones we’d hand to someone who wanted to understand what this music is and why it matters.
You’ll hear every one of these albums on Radio Siamsa. But owning them — sitting with them, listening from start to finish — is a different experience from hearing individual tracks on the stream. Albums are arguments. They have shape and intention. These twenty are the arguments that defined the tradition.
The Foundation
The records that established the modern tradition.
1. The Chieftains 4 (1973) — The Chieftains
If you own one Chieftains album, make it this one. The fourth in the series, it represents the peak of Paddy Moloney’s early arranging style: pure traditional instrumental music — reels, jigs, slow airs, an O’Carolan piece — arranged with a chamber-music sense of dynamics and texture. Seán Potts and Paddy Moloney’s whistle duets are superb. Martin Fay’s pizzicato fiddle accompaniment is a distinctive touch nobody else has replicated. This is the album that proved trad could be art music without losing its soul.
2. Planxty (1973) — Planxty
The self-titled debut, sometimes called the “Black Album” for its cover. Four extraordinary musicians — Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Liam O’Flynn — reinventing what trad could sound and feel like. Lunny’s bouzouki, O’Flynn’s piping, Moore’s voice, Irvine’s mandolin and global folk consciousness. It sounded like nothing that had come before. It still sounds fresh.
3. The Bothy Band (1975) — The Bothy Band
The debut that launched a thousand sessions. Matt Molloy’s flute, Paddy Glackin’s fiddle, Dónal Lunny’s bouzouki, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill’s clavinet and vocals, Micheál Ó Domhnaill’s guitar — all playing with a ferocity and tightness that made trad sound like the most exciting music in the world. The opening set of reels is still one of the great adrenaline rushes in Irish music.
4. De Dannan (1975) — De Dannan
The Galway group’s debut, driven by Frankie Gavin’s pyrotechnic fiddle and Alec Finn’s distinctive bouzouki. The energy is extraordinary — Gavin plays with a speed and precision that borders on the superhuman. The album launched what became known as the “Galway Sound” and established De Dannan as one of trad’s great live acts.
The Solo Landmarks
Individual musicians at the height of their powers.
5. Martin Hayes (1993) — Martin Hayes
The self-titled debut that announced a completely new approach to Irish fiddle music. Where most trad fiddlers play fast and ornamented, Hayes plays slowly, sparsely, with a meditative intensity that reveals the emotional core of the tunes. Accompanied only by Dennis Cahill’s guitar, the album is intimate, unhurried, and profoundly beautiful. If this doesn’t move you, trad might not be for you.
6. The Lonesome Touch (1997) — Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill
Hayes and Cahill’s second collaboration, and for many listeners their finest. The opening set of reels builds from a whisper to an avalanche over fifteen minutes. The slow airs are devastating. This is a desert-island record.
7. Sharon Shannon (1991) — Sharon Shannon
The debut that became one of the best-selling trad records in Irish history. Shannon’s button accordion playing is joyful, rhythmic and irresistibly fun. The album mixes pure trad with touches of other genres — Cajun, country, rock — without ever losing its rootedness. It won trad a whole new audience and it still sounds like a party.
8. Feadóga Stáin (1979) — Mary Bergin
The album that proved the tin whistle was a virtuoso instrument. Bergin’s playing is dazzlingly fast, intricately ornamented, and light as air. Accompanied by Alec Finn on bouzouki, the album revolutionised the whistle’s place in the tradition. Essential listening for anyone who plays or loves the instrument.
9. The Given Note (1995) — Liam O’Flynn
O’Flynn’s solo masterpiece. Uilleann piping of immaculate technique and deep musicality, drawing on the tradition of Séamus Ennis and Willie Clancy. The title comes from a Seamus Heaney poem, and the album has that quality — precise, resonant, carrying more than the notes themselves.
10. Paddy Keenan (1975) — Paddy Keenan
The wild man of the pipes. Where O’Flynn is polished and restrained, Keenan is raw, rhythmically unpredictable and thrilling. His debut album captures the uilleann pipes at their most uninhibited. If O’Flynn’s album is the cathedral, Keenan’s is the bonfire on the hillside.
The Wider Tradition
Albums that show the breadth and depth of the music.
11. The Star Above the Garter (1969) — Denis Murphy & Julia Clifford
The definitive recording of the Sliabh Luachra fiddle tradition. Brother and sister from Kerry, playing the polkas, slides and reels of their region with a rhythmic ferocity and authenticity that no studio recording has matched since. Raw, powerful, and deeply rooted in the dance. If you want to understand what Sliabh Luachra sounds like, start here.
12. The Return from Fingal (1997) — Séamus Ennis
A posthumous collection assembling some of Ennis’s finest piping recordings. Ennis was matchless — technically brilliant, deeply musical, and capable of performances of extraordinary emotional range. The slow airs on this album are among the most moving things in Irish music.
13. The Noel Hill & Tony Linnane (1979)
The recording that established Noel Hill as the greatest concertina player in the tradition. Accompanied by Tony Linnane on fiddle, Hill’s playing is technically immaculate and fiercely musical, rooted in the Clare tradition but pushing the instrument into new territory.
14. East Wind (1992) — Altan
The Donegal group’s breakthrough album. Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh’s fiddle and vocals carry the fierce, rhythmic energy of the Donegal tradition, and the album captures the band at the peak of their powers. A perfect introduction to what makes Donegal music distinctive.
15. Irish Heartbeat (1988) — Van Morrison & The Chieftains
The great crossover album. Van Morrison’s voice meets Paddy Moloney’s pipes over a set of traditional and folk songs. It works better than it has any right to — Morrison’s raw Belfast soul is a natural fit for the material, and The Chieftains play with visible joy. Not a pure trad album, but a gateway drug for millions.
The Modern Era
Albums that show where the tradition is going.
16. Lúnasa (1998) — Lúnasa
The self-titled debut of the group that set the standard for modern trad ensembles. Tight arrangements, virtuosic playing, and a sound that respects the tradition while sounding unmistakably contemporary. Kevin Crawford’s flute playing is a highlight.
17. The Gloaming (2014) — The Gloaming
Martin Hayes’s ensemble project, bringing trad into conversation with contemporary classical and art music. Iarla Ó Lionáird’s sean-nós singing alongside Hayes’s fiddle, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh’s hardanger d’amore, Dennis Cahill’s guitar and Thomas Bartlett’s piano. It’s polarising — some traditionalists find it too far from the source. But it’s undeniably powerful and it introduced trad to audiences from the classical and jazz worlds.
18. I Would Not Live Always (2021) — John Francis Flynn
The debut album from the Dublin singer and flute player who won two RTÉ Folk Awards. Flynn’s singing is raw, powerful and deeply connected to Dublin’s ballad tradition. The album sits at the boundary between traditional and contemporary, and it represents the best of what the new generation is doing with the music.
19. Cormac Begley (2018) — Cormac Begley
A solo concertina album that explores the instrument’s full range — from soprano to bass — in ways nobody had attempted before. Begley’s playing has a physical power and emotional directness that makes the concertina sound like a completely new instrument. Recorded in a church in West Kerry, the acoustics are part of the music.
20. False Lankum (2023) — Lankum
Not a trad album in the conventional sense, but an album that couldn’t exist without the tradition. Lankum take traditional songs and subject them to a sonic treatment that draws on drone, ambient and post-rock — the result is dark, immersive and genuinely original. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize and placed on year-end lists worldwide. It’s the album that’s introduced more people to Irish traditional song in the 2020s than any other.
How to Use This List
Don’t try to buy all twenty at once. Start with three or four that appeal to you based on what instrument or era interests you most. If you love fiddle, start with Martin Hayes and Denis Murphy. If you love pipes, start with Liam O’Flynn and Paddy Keenan. If you want bands, start with Planxty and The Bothy Band. If you want the contemporary scene, start with Lankum and John Francis Flynn.
And between albums, keep Radio Siamsa running. The stream draws from all of these recordings and thousands more. The albums give you depth; the radio gives you breadth. Together, they’ll give you a foundation in the tradition that would take years to build any other way.
Listen now — see our guide to how to listen to Radio Siamsa
Read our guide to the great Irish traditional musicians
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Irish traditional music album for beginners?
Martin Hayes’s self-titled debut (1993) is an ideal starting point — it’s beautiful, accessible, and captures the emotional core of the music. For bands, Planxty’s debut (1973) is hard to beat. For something contemporary, try John Francis Flynn’s I Would Not Live Always (2021).
What is the greatest Irish trad album of all time?
There’s no single answer. Planxty (1973), The Bothy Band (1975), and Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill’s The Lonesome Touch (1997) would all be strong contenders. It depends on whether you value innovation, virtuosity, or emotional depth.
Are these albums available on Spotify?
Most are, though some older recordings may only be available on CD or through specialist retailers. The newer albums are all on major streaming platforms.
Where can I hear these albums?
Radio Siamsa plays tracks from all of these albums. The stream is free and runs 24/7 at siamsa.ie. For full-album listening, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp are your best options.
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