Blarney Folk Story (1964-1972)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The story of the Blarney Folk started when three young men from
Dublin met at an informal music session at the beginning of 1964 and
discovered they all had the same interests. They got together again
a few weeks later and the Blarney Folk were born. The three young
men were: Mike O'Brien (bass), his younger brother Brian (guitar and
arrangements) and Eugene Byrne (guitar).
Although one of the lesser known
of the folk "boom" bands, they rode the same wave of popularity and
in the mid 60's they did numerous tours of Ireland, England and
Scotland, went to America and even appeared at the legendary
Carnegie Hall on St. Patrick's Night in 1967.
They released The Merry
Ploughboy
in September, 1966 and had a major hit, breaking into the Irish top
ten and peaking and number 7.
They followed this up with Ramblin' Boy which did not chart. We are
unsure whether they ever released another single.
In 1969, the band released two
albums on the Emerald label: Touch of Irish and
Let Those Irish
Brown Eyes Smile At Me Babe.
At some point, they also released The Blarney Folk's Ireland,
although we cannot find a date for this.
We are unsure how long the trio
stayed together, but the last advertised gig in Ireland we found was
October 1st, 1972. We will continue to research their story. If you
can help, please let us know. We found advertisements for a band
called the Blarney Folk as late as 1988 and 1990 but have no idea if
this is the same band.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
