The Johnny Quinn Macs

The Johnny Quinn Macs are three phenomenal traditional Irish musicians: John McSherry, Brendán Quinn and Francis McIlduff.

John McSherry is a major figure in Irish/Celtic music, hailed as one of the finest exponents of the art of Uilleann Piping in the world today. A founder member of top trad bands Lúnasa, Tamalin, and Donal Lunny’s ground-breaking supergroup Coolfin, John has produced an array of critically acclaimed and innovative albums, both solo and collaborative. He won two All-Ireland piping championships at the age of fourteen and was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious Oireachtas Piping Competition in 1988, going on to represent Ireland at the Lorient Inter-Celtic Festival that year as a result. He is a prolific composer, producer, arranger and an established studio session musician of world-class renown, recording and performing with a myriad of artists including Clannad, Sinéad O’Connor, Rod Stewart and Nanci Griffiths. John continues to push the boundaries of Irish music with his pioneering transatlantic post-rock band, the olllam.

Brendán Quinn has toured the world as a singer-songwriter and traditional accompanist for many years. Hugely influenced by his love of Irish music and the Irish language, his ability to convey the stories of strangers and his own experiences through song has created his distinctive, captivating style.

Francis McIlduff, a member of the legendary McPeake musical family from Belfast, was immersed in traditional Irish music from an early age. He debuted with the family band Clann McPeake in the 1980’s, and has gone on to play with leading outfits including Alias Ron Kavana, Afterhours, Sin É and more recently At First Light, the band in which Francis and John first created the double-pipes sound that has become their trademark.

With “duelling” uilleann pipes, soaring whistles, interweaving harmonies, rock steady bodhran and guitar grooves, the tunes and songs are delivered with confidence, energy and drive.