Dónal Lunny

Biography

Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD, and Usher's Island, he has been at the forefront of the renaissance of Irish traditional music for over five decades. In 2025 he was the recipient of the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life

Lunny was born on 10 March 1947 in Tullamore. His father Frank was from Enniskillen in County Fermanagh and his mother, Mary Rogers, came from Ranafast in The Rosses in County Donegal; they raised four boys and five girls. The family moved to Newbridge in County Kildare when Dónal was five years old.
He attended secondary school at Newbridge College and in 1963 joined the Patrician Brothers' school for the Intermediate Certificate year. As a teenager, Lunny joined an occasional trio called Rakes of Kildare with his elder brother Frank and Christy Moore. They played mostly in pubs and were also booked for a couple of gigs, one at Hugh Neeson's pub in Newbridge for Easter Monday 1966.
In 1965, Lunny enrolled at Dublin's National College of Art & Design where he studied Basic Design and Graphic Design. He also developed an interest in metalwork leading him to become a skilled gold- and silversmith, although he only practised the craft for a short time before devoting his energies fully to music. During his time in Dublin, he played in a band called The Parnell Folk, with Mick Moloney, Sean Corcoran, Johnny Morrissey and Dan Maher.

Emmet Spiceland

Later he formed the group Emmet Folk, which also included Mick Moloney and Brian Bolger, and they started a club at 95 Harcourt Street called The 95 Club. "At that time, we'd reached the stage where we had our own repertoire and ... developing [our] own identity rather than just singing everybody's songs. We were taken quite seriously."
Eventually, Lunny and Bolger joined forces with brothers Brian and Mick Byrne from Spiceland Folk to form Emmet Spiceland, which continued as a trio after Bolger resigned. Their debut album, The First, was released in 1968. As a vocal harmony group, they had a number 1 hit in Ireland with the single Mary from Dungloe, which had earlier been popularised in Dublin's folk clubs by Lunny and his Emmet Folk group partner Mick Moloney.

Duo with Andy Irvine

In 1970, Lunny formed a musical partnership with Andy Irvine—who had returned from his travels in Eastern Europe—after an initial gig at a party for the Irish-Soviet Union Friendship conference organised by Seán Mac Réamoinn. They created their own club night downstairs at Slattery's pub in Capel Street, Dublin, which they called 'The Mug's Gig'. This featured Irvine and Lunny, and guest performers such as Ronnie Drew, Mellow Candle and the group Supply, Demand & Curve.
Clodagh Simonds, who co-founded Mellow Candle with Alison O'Donnell in 1963, recalls:

Planxty

In 1971, Lunny and Irvine, plus Liam O'Flynn, played on Moore's second album, Prosperous, which led them to form Planxty. Their first professional performance took place in Slattery's in early 1972. The band became a leading proponent of Irish traditional instrumental music.

Celtic Folkweave

In 1974, Lunny produced and performed on the album Celtic Folkweave by Mick Hanly and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, who had been supporting Planxty on tour. Hanly, Ó'Domhnaill, and Lunny were supported in the studio by O'Flynn on uilleann pipes and whistle, Matt Molloy on flute, Tommy Peoples on fiddle, and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill on harpsichord. These were players who would join Lunny in forming The Bothy Band.

The Bothy Band

Lunny left Planxty to form The Bothy Band in 1974, playing guitar and bouzouki. The Bothy Band quickly became one of the prominent bands performing Irish traditional music. Their enthusiasm and musical virtuosity had a significant influence on the Irish traditional music movement that continued well after they disbanded in 1979.

Moving Hearts

After the Bothy Band disbanded, Lunny became a session musician on various projects, including Davey and Morris, the first album to feature Shaun Davey. In 1981, Lunny reunited with Moore to form Moving Hearts, along with a young uilleann piper, Davy Spillane. Following the example of the group Horslips, Moving Hearts combined Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound. The group disbanded in 1985. In February 2007, Moving Hearts reunited for a concert in Dublin. In 2008 and 2009, the group performed again in several concerts in Ireland and the United States.

Coolfin

In 1987, Lunny recorded a solo album titled Dónal Lunny (Gael-Linn 1987), which included many guest musicians playing his music and arrangements. In 1998, he produced a similar group project album titled Coolfin×Coolfin1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Spanish Point4:102The Lowlands of Holland4:123Glentown: Miss Monaghan's / The Man of the House / The Green Fields of Glentown / The Mountain Lark5:074The Mouseskin Shoe and Dancing in Allihies3:525Moldavian Triptych6:206Butlers5:347False Fly3:408Polkas: Trip to Sado / Dan-Ti Dan-Dan3:089Slides: Coolfin / Nora Criona3:1810Kickdancer4:1111Siúl a Rúin5:1712Lucky Lucky Day3:47.

Mozaik

From 2002 onwards, Lunny and Andy Irvine founded a multicultural band called Mozaik, with Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm. Mozaik have performed worldwide and recorded two albums to date.

LAPD

On 20 January 2012, Lunny appeared on stage with LAPD, the latest grouping of players from Planxty; the moniker 'LAPD' is made up from the first name initials of Liam O'Flynn, Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin and Dónal Lunny. After a series of occasional concerts, LAPD disbanded, their last gig taking place on Saturday 26 October 2013.

Usher's Island

On 27 January 2015, Lunny's latest musical association performed at Celtic Connections 2015 in Glasgow. Called Usher's Island (a reference to the Dublin quay where James Joyce's story "The Dead" is set), it morphed from LAPD and comprises Lunny, Irvine and Glackin, plus Michael McGoldrick (uilleann pipes, flute and whistle) and John Doyle (guitar).

Trio with Zoë Conway & Máirtín O'Connor

Lunny continues to contribute to contemporary music in Ireland: as well as touring with many musicians (including Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin, Michael McGoldrick, Paul Brady and Kevin Burke). In September 2016 he formed a trio with Zoë Conway and Máirtín O'Connor.

Production career

When Moving Hearts broke up in 1985, Lunny diversified and became a producer. He had already produced a 45 rpm single for Skid Row (featuring 17-year-old Gary Moore) and, in 1975, the album A Silk Purse for electric folk band Spud, managed by Paul McGuinness.
He was closely involved in the establishment of a new Irish record label, Mulligan Records (acquired in 2008 by Compass Records), and produced and played on many of its early releases, the first of which was from Pumpkinhead. He played on several Christy Moore albums and was a producer and session musician on Kate Bush albums. He played bouzouki and bodhrán on Shaun Davey's Granuaile, and fiddle on Midnight Well's Saw you Running. He composed the soundtracks for the Turkish film, Teardrops, and the Irish film Eat the Peach. He also played on the soundtracks of the film This Is My Father and the TV programme The River of Sound. In 1989 he contributed synthesizer on Mary Black's breakthrough album No Frontiers.
He was the producer and music director of the soundtrack of Bringing It All Back Home, a BBC television documentary series charting the influence of Irish music throughout the world. He played on or produced albums for Paul Brady, Elvis Costello, Indigo Girls, Sinéad O'Connor, Clannad, Maurice Lennon, Baaba Maal, and Five Guys Named Moe. He played on compilation albums The Gathering×The Gathering1981 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Heather on the Moor4:13A2Slow Air, Crowley’s Reel4:28A3The Last Time2:33A4Little Jennifer2:26A5There’s Sure to Be a Row3:42A6Hardiman the Fiddler3:01B1Fairfield Mirage2:10B2Banish Misfortune3:28B3Paddy’s Lamentation5:46B4Spalpean a Ruin3:38B5The Mall of Lismore4:28 (1981) and Common Ground (1996). In 1994 he produced Irish Australian singer/songwriter Maireid Sullivan's first recording, Dancer
He pushed new boundaries with his band Coolfin (1998) which included the work of uilleann piper John McSherry. He appeared at the 2000 Cambridge Folk Festival, and the album that commemorated it. In 2001 Lunny collaborated with Frank Harte on the album My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte×My Name Is Napoleon Bonaparte2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 26 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Isle of Saint Helena4:492The Nightingale2:473Bonny Light Horseman4:574Sweet Laurel Hill6:345My Son Tim2:246Napoleon’s Farewell to Paris5:167King’s Shilling3:538Bonny Bunch of Roses5:339Eighteenth of June3:5210Grand Conversation on Napoleon5:0011Lonely Waterloo3:5212Green Linnet4:5713Wounded Hussar3:52Disc 21Mantle of Green4:572The Love Token4:563My Love at Waterloo4:094Armagh Volunteer4:465Plains of Waterloo4:406Dearthairin O mo Chroi4:247Napoleon’s Lamentation2:478Welcome Napoleon to Erin2:369Granuaile5:0110You Sons of Old Ireland2:0311Napoleon Bonaparte3:5812Whiskey in the Jar2:4413Saxon’s Shilling3:50. He produced the album Human Child (2007) by Faeroese Eivør Pálsdóttir, which was published in two versions, one English and one Faeroese.
As an arranger, he has worked for The Waterboys, Fairground Attraction and Eddi Reader. Journey (2000) is a retrospective album. During 2003–2005, Lunny was part of the reunited Planxty concert tour.
He also produced Jimmy MacCarthy's album entitled Hey-Ho Believe, which was released on 12 November 2010.

Influence

Dónal Lunny can claim popularising the bouzouki in the Irish music sphere after being given an instrument by Andy Irvine, who was himself introduced to the instrument by Johnny Moynihan in the early days of Sweeney's Men. Lunny ordered a custom-built bouzouki from English luthier Peter Abnett, with a flat back instead of a traditional Greek rounded back.
He also invented an acoustic drum kit designed to fill the need for a bass/percussion instrument in Irish traditional music. The process of building and developing the instrument was featured on his 2010–2011 RTÉ series Lorg Lunny.

Personal life

Lunny is the brother of musician and producer Manus Lunny. His son Oisin Lunny was part of the hip-hop group Marxman and his daughter Cora Venus Lunny is a renowned violin player, composer, singer and actor. His granddaughter Phoebe Lunny is the lead vocalist and guitarist for punk rock group Lambrini Girls. He had a son, Shane, with singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor; Shane was found dead on 7 January 2022, aged 17.