# Celtic music popularity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404 "2009-11-30T00:15:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/21 "2009-12-05T01:41:07Z")
The better part of a decade ago, I used to play the ending of Metal Gear Solid over and over just to hear this Gaelic music from the ending credits: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6miaTf1gF4g/hqdefault.jpg "Metal Gear Solid Soundtrack: The Best Is Yet To Come") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g) Eventually I found a soundtrack CD on Ebay. It was sung by Aoife Ní Fhearraigh but I think it was written by the game composer. I found some music from that singer, but it wasn’t the same. I’d love to find more music like that. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/22 "2009-12-05T02:33:45Z")
How can no one have mentioned Gaelic Storm yet? They have the #1 album right now, and have been huge in the previous decade. They met Michael Flatley once and thanked him for popularizing the culture in America. The humble Flatley claimed that Gaelic Storm had done more for the culture than himself. Perhaps you’ve seen them perform in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U50hqJS2ock) little-known movie? ETA: #1 on the Billboard World chart, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/23 "2009-12-05T02:41:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I just saw a commercial (for a credit card? Football was in it.) that featured some Veltic-sounding music. To be specific, the commerial is for Visa, and everything featured has to do with the New England Patriots. What goes over most people’s heads is that the song is [_I’m Shipping Up To Boston_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtCAhb5QGSo&feature=related) by Dropkick Murphys. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/24 "2009-12-05T02:43:02Z")
Kíla are quite popular here. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7CATY-4Ic) Knew a few of them back in the day. Fun to trip with 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/25 "2009-12-05T05:55:28Z")
Might as well plug a few of my favorites: [Planxty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC-X_EZx7U8) [Bothy Band (played this at our wedding)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQCcmY00fuM) [Julie Fowlis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1I2nCAaodI) [Alan Stivell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gC90RkebC4) [Silly Wizard](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSbojAL8gKU&feature=PlayList&p=BA8AFB5901BFFDED&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=63) Bummer about Liam Clancy. Saw him with Tommy Makem in Houston back in the '80s. Great show. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/26 "2009-12-05T05:59:33Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > To be specific, the commerial is for Visa, and everything featured has to do with the New England Patriots. What goes over most people’s heads is that the song is [_I’m Shipping Up To Boston_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtCAhb5QGSo&feature=related) by Dropkick Murphys. I’m a newcomer to DM. I only have _Do Or Die_. Any other recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/27 "2009-12-05T11:40:19Z")
Never forget the long-term popular groups: the _Chieftans_ and the _Irish Rovers_. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/28 "2009-12-05T13:13:44Z")
Love the Chieftains. Saw them live about 10 years ago. There is so much out there. Just go to [Green Linnet Records](http://greenlinnet.com/) and you’ll get a good head start on the more traditional stuff. Celtic and Celtic punk have always had their fans in the States, but it does sort of ebb and flow. When I heard the Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping” on the soundtrack for The Departed, I had a feeling there would be another upsurge. Does anyone else remember the popularity of “Music for a Found Harmonium” on Napoleon Dynamite? That was [Patrick Street](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PltA5woXKaA) covering the song, who are a great live band. Then there are the [Saw Doctors](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xw8B_EhFN8). Those guys illustrate one of the things I like best about any kind of Celtic music: a sense of humor along with the pathos. And [Flogging Molly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSwaVvF7rdU), and yes, the grandaddies the Pogues. Just saw the Pogues at the end of October, the band was as tight and professional as ever, but Shane McGowan was pretty bad. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/29 "2009-12-05T13:19:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’m a newcomer to DM. I only have _Do Or Die_. Any other recommendations? I think that’s their best, **Johnny** , when the Irish influence was in the background. They also changed their singer after that one IIRC, and I’m not as fond of the newer guy’s sound. That’s speaking as someone who doesn’t really care for celtic punk, though - it’s OK, but just sounds weak compared to the real thing IMO. The real thing being traditional arrangements of the songs by the great Irish singers. The DMs covered _rocky road to Dublin_ on ‘Sing Loud, sing proud’, a later album, and it’s absolutely fine, decent tune, but compare it to Luke Kelly belting it out with just a banjo for accompaniment and there’s no comparison. \*Galway races \*is another classic Kelly song that manages to sound less hardcore when you add 3 guitars and a belting punk rock vocal courtesy of Flogging Molly. Do or Die is a terrific album, though. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/30 "2009-12-05T13:30:16Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > How can no one have mentioned Gaelic Storm yet? They have the #1 album right now, and have been huge in the previous decade. They met Michael Flatley once and thanked him for popularizing the culture in America. The humble Flatley claimed that Gaelic Storm had done more for the culture than himself. > > ETA: #1 on the Billboard World chart, that is. No they don’t. [Billboard – Music Charts, News, Photos & Video](http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/world-albums) In fact, they haven’t put out a CD in over a year. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/31 "2009-12-05T16:48:32Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Kíla are quite popular here. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7CATY-4Ic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7CATY-4Ic) > > Knew a few of them back in the day. Fun to trip with 😃 They are AMAZING live but curiously at their gigs I’ve attended here I would reckon most of the crowd wasn’t Irish. Nearly all North Americans and other Europeans at the couple I’ve attended. The dreadlock brigade seem to be the main Irish fans. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/32 "2009-12-05T16:56:13Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Never forget the long-term popular groups: the _Chieftans_ and the _Irish Rovers_. I have The Chieftains and The Dubliners on a cassette tape I made back in the mid-'80s. Borrowed the records from a coworker. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/33 "2009-12-05T17:01:00Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > That’s speaking as someone who doesn’t really care for celtic punk, though I like Celtic Punk. Kind of funny hearing the put-on accents of Flogging Molly, but I like the music. The Pogues popped up several times on the iPod yesterday. I like all of their albums, but the earlier ones where they played more traditional songs are better IMO. And Shane is actually coherent. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/34 "2009-12-05T17:14:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I like Celtic Punk. Kind of funny hearing the put-on accents of Flogging Molly, but I like the music. The curious thing is that the lead singer is from Dublin, Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/35 "2009-12-05T17:17:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > The curious thing is that the lead singer is from Dublin, Ireland. He’s spent too long in L.A., then! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/36 "2009-12-06T16:28:52Z")
> [@](#): > > An Gadaí argued…but by and large this sound doesn’t sell in Ireland. It really doesn’t by comparison with other forms of pop music. Won’t argue with that, but just wanted to make the point that “Celtic” music is alive in the west (and more sporadically in other parts) of Ireland in the form of tradional music pub sessions. Sure, some of these are put on for tourists and sure, there is a huge foreign input (I’ve been to one quality session featuring one Irishman, me (Dutch) and four Japanese musicians. It was a bit like that Father Ted episode with the Chinese), but traditional music is a real and living tradition kept alive in rural communities. Agree, though, that apart from local radio, it doesn’t feature all that much in the great scheme of money and media and that many Irish people would run a mile rather than listen to diddly-eye music. Mind you, no piss-up in the west is ever complete without a drunken rendition of _The Fields of Athenry._ Loooooooooow Liiiiiiiiiiie… ---
**Author:** ![\_xiao\_wenti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b782af/32.png) [@\_xiao\_wenti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_xiao_wenti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/37 "2009-12-06T19:14:29Z")
I was a really big Chieftains fan back in the 80’s. I wish that I could say that I started being a fan since Barry Lyndon came out. I still have 10 or so of their CDs, but rarely listen to them anymore. I also had some vinyl of them. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/38 "2009-12-06T20:13:40Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’m a newcomer to DM. I only have _Do Or Die_. Any other recommendations? I’d recommend their third album, _Sing Loud, Sing Proud!_ But really, I’m fond of all of their albums other than the second one, _The Gang’s All Here_. The third album struck a good balance between the rougher sound of the first album and the polished later releases. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404/39 "2009-12-06T20:46:41Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > I’d recommend their third album, _Sing Loud, Sing Proud!_. Order placed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celtic-music-popularity/519404.md?page=1)