Dervish are a traditional Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 music group from County Sligo, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley

Martin McGinley

Martin McGinley, from Raphoe, County Donegal is an Irish traditional fiddle player and currently editor of the Derry Journal, an influential twice-weekly newspaper from Northern Ireland. He is a former presenter of the Pure Drop traditional music series on the Irish television station RTÉ, and has...

, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes. The band was originally formed to record an album of local music which was later released as “The Boys of Sligo”. They later formed Dervish. The name was chosen as it relates to groups of spiritual people who are enraptured by music.

History

In 1991 the band were joined by Roscommon

Roscommon

Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...

-born singer Cathy Jordan and all-Ireland champion fiddle player Shane McAleer. Dervish’s first album, “Harmony Hill”, was released in 1992 to critical success. In 1994 their second album, “Playing with Fire”, was released and reached number 1 in the Irish Folk Music and international World/Roots music charts. In 1996 Dervish released “At the End of the Day”, which won the Hot Press

Hot Press

Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...

 Folk Album of the Year Award.

Their fourth album, “Live in Palma”, was recorded in front of a live audience at Palma de Majorca's Theatre Principal in April 1997 and received critical acclaim. In the same year the readers of Irish Music Magazine

Irish Music (magazine)

Irish Music is a monthly music magazine covering folk and traditional Irish music....

 awarded Dervish Best Overall Trad/Folk Band of the Year. In 1998 Shane McAleer left the band and was replaced by well-known Sligo musician, Séamus O'Dowd and All-Ireland Champion fiddle player Tom Morrow from County Leitrim

County Leitrim

County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...

. The seven piece line-up were now Cathy Jordan (vocals, bodhrán, bones

Bones (instrument)

The bones are a musical instrument which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more...

), Tom Morrow (fiddle, viola), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Liam Kelly (flute, low whistle

Low whistle

The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of modern Irish musicians and groups such as Riverdance and Davy Spillane, and is increasingly...

), Séamus O'Dowd (guitars, harmonica), Michael Holmes (bouzouki) and Brian McDonagh (mandola

Mandola

The mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...

, mandolin). Dervish's fifth album, “Midsummer's Night”, released in 1999, was voted Irish Trad Album of the Year.

In 2001 Dervish released “Decade”, a compilation of tracks from their first five albums. In 2003 they released “Spirit”, followed by “A Healing Heart” in 2006.

In 2003 Sligo City Council bestowed the Freedom of the Borough

Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885

The Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave the councils of municipal boroughs in England and Wales the power to award the title of honorary freeman to "persons of distinction and any persons who have rendered emininent services to the...

 of Sligo on the band for their international artistic achievements and their dedication to and promotion of their local heritage.

In 2005 The Taoiseach

Taoiseach

The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

 (Irish Prime Minister) Mr Bertie Ahern

Bertie Ahern

Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

 invited Dervish to accompany him on an Irish trade mission to China. In 2006 Dervish accompanied Irish President Mary McAleese

Mary McAleese

Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...

 on her State Visits to Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 and Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and performed a special concert in the Great Hall of Latvia Society House in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 for President McAleese and President Vike-Freiberga

Vaira Vike-Freiberga

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was the sixth President of Latvia, the first female President of Latvia and the first female leader in eastern Europe. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected in 2003.Dr...

 of Latvia. On 24 May they will give a concert in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 in honour of President Adamkus of Lithuania.

On November 14, 2006, the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...

 announced that Dervish were to perform the Irish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Eurovision Song Contest 2007

The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE.Finland earned the right to host...

. Dervish finished last with five points, awarded to them from the Albanian back up jury due to a failed televote, for their performance of "They Can't Stop The Spring

They Can't Stop The Spring

"They Can't Stop the Spring" is a song by Irish band Dervish. On 16 February 2007, on The Late Late Show, it was chosen as the song Dervish would sing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. It was written by John Waters and Tommy Moran...

".

In October 2007 Dervish released “Travelling Show”, partly produced by John Reynolds

John Reynolds (musician)

John Reynolds is a record producer. He was the first husband of singer Sinéad O'Connor; they have one child, Jake. Reynolds, formerly a drummer for Jah Wobble, met O'Connor and recorded her first album, The Lion and the Cobra...

.

Discography

• The Boys of Sligo (1989)

1. The Donegal Set
2. The Dolphin/The Clapton Jigs
3. Thos Byrnes/The Man Of Aran
4. Jackson's/The Cliffs of Glencolumbkile
5. The Sligo Set
6. The Raphoe/The Chestnut Tree
7. The Boys Of Sligo/Monaghan Twig
8. The World's End Set
9. Eddie Kelly's Jigs
10. Unknown/Return From Camden Town
11. The Key Of The Convent/Tommy People's
12. The Dancing Bear/Oreaga
13. Walsh's Fancy/The Congress/Spoil The Dance

• Harmony Hill (1993)

1. Apples in Winter
2. Hills of Greenmore
3. Fields of Milltown
4. Bellaghy Fair
5. The Ploughman
6. The Green Mountain
7. Welcome Poor Paddy
8. Jig C Jig
9. The Fair Maid
10. Virginia Set
11. A Stor Mo Chroi
12. Slides and Reels

• Playing with fire (1995)

1. Buckley's Fancy
2. Molly And Johnny
3. Last Nights Fun
4. Wheels Of The World
5. Maire Mor
6. I Buried My Wife
7. The Hungry Rock
8. Cailin Rua
9. Ash Plant Set
10. Peigin Mo Chroi
11. The Game Of Love
12. Willie Lennox
13. Let Down The Blade

• At the End Of The Day (1996)

1. Touching Cloth
2. Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn
3. Jim Coleman's Set
4. An Spailpin Fanach
5. Packie Duignan's
6. Lone Shanakyle
7. Drag Her Round The Road
8. Peata Beag
9. Trip To Sligo
10. Sheila Nee Iyer
11. Kilavill Set
12. I Courted A Wee Girl
13. Josefin's Waltz
14. Eileen McMahon

• Live in Palma (1997)

1. Packie Duigan's
2. Spailpin Fanach
3. Slow Reels
4. Sheila Nee Iyer
5. The Trip To Sligo
6. The Hungry Rock
7. Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn
8. Molly and Johnny
9. The Green Mountain
10. I Courted A Wee Girl
11. Round The Road
12. Maire Mhor
13. I Buried Me Wife
14. Hills Of Greanmore
15. Worlds End
16. Peata Beag
17. Pheigin Mo Chroi
18. Jim Coleman's
19. Happy Birthday
20. Lough Eirn's Shore
21. Killavil Jigs
22. Allellu Na Gamhna

• Midsummer Night (1999)

1. Midsummer's Night
2. Sean Bhain
3. Tenpenny Bit
4. Sweet Viledee
5. Palmer's Gate
6. Erin Gra mo Chroi
7. Lark on the Strand
8. Cairns Hill
9. Maid Father's Garden
10. Abbeyfeale Set
11. An T-Uil
12. Bold Doherty
13. Out on the Road
14. Red Haired Mary

• Decade (2001)

1. The Kilavill Set
2. Molly and Johnny
3. The Lark on the Strand
4. The Hills of Greanmore
5. The Worlds End
6. Apples in Winter
7. Peigín mo chroí
8. Josefin's Waltz
9. An Spailpín Fánach
10. The Hungry Rock
11. The Banks of the Sweet Viledee
12. Palmer's Gate
13. Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí
14. Jim Coleman's

• Spirit (2003)

1. John Blessings
2. An Rógaire Dubh/Na Ceannabháin Bhána/Páidín O Raifeartaí
3. Father Jack
4. The Fair-Haired Boy
5. Siesta Set
6. The Soldier Laddie
7. Beauties of Autumn
8. The Lag's Song
9. Boots of Spanish Leather
10. O'Raghailligh’s Grave
11. Swallows Tail
12. The Cocks Are Crowing
13. Whelans (Jigs) Trounsdells Cross

A Healing Heart (2005)

1. I Courted a Wee Girl / Josefin's Waltz
2. A Stór Mo Croí
3. Boots of Spanish Leather
4. Willie Lennox
5. Erin Grá mo Chroi
6. Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí
7. The Fairhaired Boy
8. Lone Shanakyle
9. I Hope You Still Dance
10. Josefin's Waltz

• Travelling Show (2007)

1. Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
2. The Coolea Jigs
3. My Bride and I
4. The Cat Went A-Hunting
5. The Bealtine Set
6. Grainne
7. Heading Home
8. The Queen and The Soldier
9. The Masters Return
10. Lord Levett
11. The Jolly Tinker
12. Crucan Na bPaiste

External links

• Official Website - Dervish.ie
• Video of song "They Can't Stop The Spring"