Vinyl Revival: The Re-Invention of Irish Folk Music 1951-2021

Fifty years after the founding of Ireland's national theatre (The Abbey Theatre) in 1904, an extraordinary revival of Irish folk music took place. From the 1950s to the present day, it has produced a wealth of gifted artists and bands of national and international significance (Planxty, The Chieftains, The Bothy Band, The Dubliners, The Pogues), and a grassroots movement of vigour that utterly transformed the scale of participation in Irish folk music, at home and beyond. This movement has its roots in an earlier cultural revival of the nineteenth century associated with the rise of interest in Gaelic games and the Irish language. Many of the leading figures in the music revival had connections with the theatre. However, the rise of Irish folk music also coincided with, and was informed by, a revolution in popular music that was taking place across the Western World in the years after World War II. This revolution was made possible by the capabilities and availability of audio technology, most notably the vinyl LP and its later derivative, the audio cassette tape. Important too were the musical influences of European folk music, which have left a deep imprint on the rhythms and sounds of contemporary Irish folk music.