Aoife Ní Fhearraigh

Aoife Ní Fhearraigh was born and raised in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region) of Gweedore and is considered today one of the foremost of a new generation of traditional singers. Northwest Donegal is home to some of the most famous names in Irish music: the members of Clannad, Enya and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan. Small wonder then that Aoife found herself surrounded by music from an early age. These early influences included the late Prionsias Ó Maonaigh, the father of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh who taught her the fiddle. Later at school, she was taught music by Máire Uí Bhraonáin, mother to some of the Clannad-members. The strong local song tradition of Gweedore and nabouring Ranafast also provided her with a wealth of beautiful songs. In 1991 Aoife released her first recording ‘Loinneog Cheoil’ (accompanied by the well-known band Dervish), a cassette with 10 well-known and lesser known songs from her native region which as re-recorded and re-released in 2005, produced by Manus Lunny of Capercaillie. In 1996 her debut CD ‘Aoife’ was released by Gael Linn and produced by Moya Brennan and Dennis Woods which contained more traditional Irish language songs. In 2003 released her second CD The Turning of the Tide on the Celtic Collections label , which showed a different side to Aoife’s repertoire with songs including Danny Boy, After the Goldrush, Neidin and also included a duet with the famous Seán Keane In 2006 her fourth album ‘If I Told You’ was released on the Phaeton label and distributed by Claddagh Records. Co-produced with Paul Gardiner and Brendan Monaghan, this recording has a selection of songs ranging from traditional English, Irish and newly written songs. As a singer, she manages to capture the essence and emotions of these songs and long life into new ones, such as Long Hard Night, If I Told You, Crann Úll, The Parting Glass and Táimse i m’chodhladh. Over the years Aoife has toured and performed in Europe , Japan and the United States . She has recorded and performed with various artists such as Tim Wheater, Phil Coulter, Liam Lawton and Peter Corry. You can also hear her haunting voice on the Playstation Game – Metal Gear Solid Original, The Best is Yet to Come (sung in Irish), written and produced by Rika Muranaka. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.