Robbie O'Connell
Encyclopedia
Life
Robbie was born in WaterfordWaterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
and grew up in Carrick-on-Suir
Carrick-on-Suir
Carrick-on-Suir is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. As the name – meaning "the rock of the Suir" – suggests, the town is situated on the River Suir. The of the town gives the population as 5,906 and shows that it has grown by 5.7% since 2002...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, where his parents had a small hotel. He spent a year touring folk clubs in England before enrolling at University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
where he studied Literature and Philosophy. Being a newphew of the Clancy Brothers, he began touring with them in 1977, taking the place of Liam Clancy who was working on his farm. He would play guitar and occasionally mandolin. In 1979 he moved to Franklin, Massachusetts.
Beginning in 1977 they toured three months a year in March, August and November, all in the United States. Robbie became a songwriter, composing several songs the group sang regularly, such as "Bobby's Britches," "Ferrybank Piper," and "You're Not Irish." He also brought in songs from others such as "Dear Boss," "Sister Josephine," "There Were Roses," "John O'Dreams," and possibly his signature song "Killkelly." Reviews cited Robbie as a fresh addition to the group and with his original compositions, the future of the group.
With the release, in 1982, of his first solo album, Close to the Bone, Robbie emerged as an artist of major stature. He began touring with Mick Moloney
Mick Moloney
Michael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and Jimmy Keane, and also with Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers is an Irish-American musician.Eileen Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents and grew up in the Bronx. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. She toured with Mick Moloney's band The...
and Seamus Egan
Séamus Egan
Séamus Egan is an Irish musician.-Early days:Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Jack and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland....
in the Green Fields of America
Green Fields of America
The Green Fields of America is an ensemble which performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States."The Green Fields of America" was formed in 1978 in Philadelphia and still led by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney. The band was created to present and tour some of Irish...
.
Robbie continued to play part-time with the Clancy brothers for nineteen years. In 1992 he performed at Carnegie Hall with them and also performed on the telecast of a live tribute to Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
at Madison Square Garden.
In 1996 Liam Clancy and Robbie departed the Clancy Brothers and formed their own duo, called simply Liam Clancy and Robbie O'Connell. Before splitting, the Clancy brothers and Robbie O'Connell gave a Farewell Tour of both Ireland and America in February and March 1996. The Irish tour in February was filmed near the Clancys' hometown, televised and later released to video and DVD as The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell: Farewell to Ireland.
Liam Clancy and Robbie O'Connell toured for a while as a duo, but very soon added Liam's son Donal Clancy to the mix, forming the trio Clancy, O'Connell & Clancy. The trio released two albums, a self-titled debut album in 1997 and an album of sea songs in 1998, The Wild and Wasteful Ocean. Robbie O'Connell regards the self-titled Clancy, O'Connell and Clancy album as his most favorite work. In 1999, with Liam in Ireland, Robbie in Massachusetts and Donal in New York, the trio decided to call it quits as a full time group. They did say they would occasionally regroup for concerts, which they have, seldom as it is. Robbie O'Connell performs as a solo musician now.
In 2000, the Milwaukee Irish Fest
Milwaukee Irish Fest
Milwaukee Irish Fest is a yearly ethnic festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park, on the Lake Michigan, USA, every third weekend in August. More than 130,000 people attend the Fest each year to take in nearly 250 acts on 17 stages. The four-day festival in downtown Milwaukee started in 1981...
had its 20th anniversary and in celebration, they had the entire performing Clancy Family sing together on one stage. This once-in-a-lifetime lineup included Robbie O'Connell, Donal, Liam, Bobby, Finbarr, Aoife Clancy and Eddie Dillon.
Partial discography
- Close To The Bone
- Humorous Songs - Live
- Love Of The Land
- Never Learned to Dance
- Recollections
Writings
Clean Cabbage in the Bucket (And Other Tales From The Irish Music Trenches), co-written with Seamus KennedySeamus Kennedy
Seamus Kennedy is an Irish singer, comedian and writer.-Life:Kennedy has been entertaining audiences in the United States since the 1980s...
, Dennis O'Rourke, Harry O'Donoghue
Harry O'Donoghue
-Childhood:Harry was born in 1954 in the town of Drogheda on the banks of the river Boyne on the East coast of Ireland.-Early career:At age twenty, Harry began playing guitar and bodhran and was soon performing with local folk groups. In 1979, Harry founded the group Terra Nova and later that...
and Frank Emerson.