De Dannan founders in public spat

Date Published: 07-Aug-2009

DE DANNAN co-founder Frankie Gavin is embroiled in a row with two of the group’s other founders Alec Finn and Johnny (Ringo) McDonagh over Gavin’s decision to use the De Dannan name for a new line-up which took to the stage of the World Fleadh in Castlebar last night, Wednesday.

De Dannan, one of the most popular and influential bands to emerge from Ireland, was founded in the early 1970s by Finn, Gavin Charlie Piggott and Ringo McDonagh. Charlie Piggott and McDonagh went their own ways some years later, leaving Gavin and Finn in control of the group’s membership.

Over the years, De Dannan helped launch the careers of singers as Dolores Keane, Mary Black, Maura O’Connell, Eleanor Shanley, Tommy Fleming and Andrew Murray.

Guests at last night’s World Fleadh concert included Mary Black, Dolores Keane and accordion player Máirtín O’Connor, who played with the group in its early days.

“It has been called a reunion,” Alec Finn told the Galway City Tribune this week, “but that is…