The Music of What Happens

Tuesday 12 October,
RTÉ One, 22.15

From Liam Clancy to Bob Geldof, Moya Brennan talks to internationally celebrated musicians about the rich diversity of Irish music.

Starting with her own introduction to pop as Radio Caroline beamed into the Donegal highlands, Moya Brennan traces the influences on Irish music of jazz, rock, punk and other music from outside Ireland since the Sixties, through her conversations with a who’s-who of Irish music – including Christy Moore, Paddy Moloney, Donal Lunny, Sinead O’Connor, Finbar Furey, Dolores O’Riordan, Shane McGowan, Adam Clayton, Bono, Damien Dempsey, Bob Geldof, Liam Clancy, Paul Brady, Bill Whelan and John Sheehan.

There’s
an old story of the hero Fionn
Mac Cumhail. Fionn asks his followers, “What is the finest music in the world?” They suggest answers: the cuckoo calling from the hedge, the ring of a spear on a shield, the baying of a pack of hounds, the laughter of a gleeful girl. “All good music,” agrees Fionn.
“But what,” they ask, “is best?” Fionn
answers: “The music of what happens.”