Hall of Fame Award for Kieran Hanrahan

Congratulations and best wishes to Kieran Hanrahan on his Hall of Fame award by the Clare Association in Dublin. Cois na hAbhna, Fleadh Nua and the Comhaltas organisation in Clare are extremely proud of his achievement.

One of the most popular personalities on the Irish traditional music scene, Kieran is a son of the late Jackie and Mary Hanrahan, St. Michael’s Villas, Ennis, they played a pivotal role in the early days of Comhaltas in Clare and in the development of Cois na hAbhna.
He is one of the most respected tenor banjo players in the county, having taken up playing the instrument when he was fourteen years of age. With his talent he was All Ireland champion within four years. In the late 1970s, he formed the acclaimed Inchiquin Group with Noel Hill, the concertina player from Lissycasey, fiddler Tony Linnane and guitarist Tony Callanan. After that he formed the hugely successful Stocktons Wing and with their unique brand of traditional music, they became a huge success and toured the world throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. He is also credited with forming another highly successful group, the Templehouse Ceili Band in 1998. They were in great demand and played in such places as Moscow, Milwalkee and Paris during the ten years he played with them. The Ennis man has also recorded many albums and CDs with Inchiquin, Templehouse and Stocktons Wing. He has also played on three film soundtracks with the Chieftains and recorded with them on the Grammy Award winning CD "The Long Black Veil" which also featured Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones, Sinead O Connor, and Tom Jones. He co-arranged and performed in the Jim Sheridan movie, "The Field". In addition he arranged the traditional music and played in the Aidan Quinn movie "This is My Father". Other recordings were with Tommy Hayes and Ronnie Drew. He also has a solo recording to his credit “The Irish Tenor Banjo”. He has been invited to attend festivals all over Ireland, France and the USA and has taught in the University of Limerick and Boston College. A music broadcaster with RTÉ since 1991, he has presented shows such as The Fleadh Club, Both Sides Now and of course Céilí House, the flagship traditional music programme on RTE Radio 1. He is also involved in research in RTÉ Radio Archives.

The famous Kilfenora Ceili Band will provide the entertainment at the Clare Association function in the Falls Hotel Ennistymon on September 2. It promises to be another great occasion and information regarding tickets can be had from association officers Tom Conway (0864640085) and Gerry O’ Reilly (0868498192) or emailinfo@clareassociationdublin.ie