In 1970, in the remote parish of Gweedore, County Donegal, three siblings and two of their uncles decided to fuse folklore with an intrinsic passion for singing. For Pól, Ciarán and Máire (Moya) Brennan and the Duggan twins, Pádraig (1949-2016) and Noel, there was nothing beyond such simple pleasures. There were no thoughts of making it big (whatever ‘big’ actually meant) or of anything other than the celebration of the wealth of music that enveloped them like a hug and the nature that surrounded them like an invisible cloak. For them, the cultural placebo of television was non-existent (the family didn’t own one), so time was passed with outdoor pursuits such as fishing or clambering over cliffs, and indoor pastimes such as playing the piano and other musical instruments. As if out of nowhere, and just as spontaneously, a bond was forged: the indisputable, beautiful ruggedness of the landscape cleaved to the intangible force of music.
