{"id":663961,"date":"2026-10-24T10:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T10:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/663961\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T10:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T10:50:09","slug":"donal-lunny-colossus-of-irish-music-dies-aged-79-folk-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/663961\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u00f3nal Lunny, \u2018colossus of Irish music\u2019, dies aged 79 | Folk music"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Irish traditional musician D\u00f3nal Lunny has died at the age of 79 from cancer.<\/p>\n

Lunny rose to prominence in the trio Rakes of Kildare alongside his brother Frank and Christy Moore. He went on to play in bands such as Planxty<\/a>, Moving Hearts<\/a>, the Bothy Band and Coolfin among others and toured the world.<\/p>\n

A post on his Facebook page confirmed that Lunny died in St James\u2019s hospital in Dublin on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are heartbroken to confirm that our beloved D\u00f3nal passed away peacefully this morning in Dublin following a short stay in St James\u2019s hospital,\u201d the post said. \u201cThank you for helping us to remember and celebrate his immense contribution to music, to culture and to so many people\u2019s lives all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Connolly said Lunny was \u2018central to so many of the most influential moments of the last 60 years of Irish music\u2019. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA<\/p>\n

The Irish president, Catherine Connolly, expressed her \u201cdeepest condolences to the family, friends and many musical collaborators of D\u00f3nal Lunny\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement, she said: \u201cD\u00f3nal was one of Ireland\u2019s greatest musical figures, a wonderfully talented musician and producer who was central to so many of the most influential moments of the last 60 years of Irish music.<\/p>\n

\u201cD\u00f3nal will be particularly remembered for his long partnerships with fellow musicians such as Christy Moore and Andy Irvine and for the innovative music he has left behind both as a musician in groups including Planxty, the Bothy Band and Moving Hearts and also as a renowned producer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis rich musical legacy, including his central role in the introduction of the bouzouki into Irish music, was appropriately recognised by his fellow artists in D\u00f3nal\u2019s membership of Aosd\u00e1na, as well as the well-deserved recognition which he received in being awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 2025 RT\u00c9 Radio 1 Irish folk awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond his music, D\u00f3nal will be remembered for his warmth and the strong connection which he had with audiences all over Ireland and beyond. He will be deeply missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post ended in Irish, saying his likes will not be seen again: \u201cN\u00ed bheidh a leith\u00e9id ar\u00eds ann.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Irish folk group Planxty in London in January 1973. From left: Andy Irvine, Liam O\u2019Flynn, D\u00f3nal Lunny and Christy Moore. Photograph: Michael Putland\/Getty<\/p>\n

Lunny was born in Tullamore, County Offaly, and was a multi-instrumentalist but was best known for his mastery of the bouzouki. He was a talented melody writer and considered central to the revival of traditional music as he produced 17 albums under his record label Mulligan Records.<\/p>\n

The taoiseach, Miche\u00e1l Martin, said he was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d to hear of Lunny\u2019s death. \u201cA colossus of Irish music, as a performer, songwriter and producer,\u201d he wrote in a post on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniquely gifted, D\u00f3nal carried traditional and folk music to new audiences through Planxty and his many other endeavours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s president, Mary Lou McDonald, also paid tribute online, saying: \u201cDeeply saddened to hear of the passing of D\u00f3nal Lunny. A giant of Irish traditional music, D\u00f3nal helped shape the sound of Irish music for generations, bringing our rich musical heritage to audiences at home and around the world. His contribution to Irish music and culture will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cAr dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a anam [May his soul rest in peace].\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Irish traditional musician D\u00f3nal Lunny has died at the age of 79 from cancer. Lunny rose to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-663961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}