Michael O'Domhnaill

Just before we left Milltown Malbay, we heard the shocking news of the death of Michael O’Domhnaill at the young age of 54. As soon as we heard the news, we played Casadh an tSugán and cried. He is such a huge loss – not only to his family, Maighread, Triona and Conal, and his close friends, and he had a lot of close friends, but he is a huge loss to the traditional music scene. Michael was a founder member of Skara Brae and of course the Bothy Band and one of the biggest influences on guitar playing in Irish music. As a friend of a friend said, he played the soundtrack to our youth. Nobody could deny that Michael O’Domhnaill’s songs and accompaniment were impeccable. I think he had a huge influence on many of us. He will be greatly missed.