Traditional Irish Music Art Print

Irish music is the general term for music from the island of Ireland. Irish music has influenced many genres of music in the U.S. including country, pop and rock music. Music native to Ireland is called Irish Traditional Music, and is sometimes abbreviated as simply "Trad". In the 17th and 18th centuries Irish Harpists were the pre-eminent musicians of the time and were given financial support by Ireland's aristocracy. The most well known of the harpists was Turlough O'Carolan. He was also a composer who wrote over 200 compositions in the baroque style.

Contemporary Irish Music

Irish music has influenced many contemporary musicians in a variety of genres including classical flutist Sir James Galway, new age artist Enya, punk rockers The Pogues, folk rockers The Corrs, and Van Morrison, who is usually described as a rock & roller, but whose music truly defies categorization.

Irish Music Online

There are so many ways to get music online, both free and for a fee. You can download music from online stores or listen to free music on web sites both recorded by live musicians and played by computerized instruments called MIDI.

The coolest new ways to get music online are video sharing web sites like YouTube.com, and podcasts from Apple's iTunes Music store. A podcast is a computer audio file that you can download and play on your computer or on an iPod. I found dozens of free Irish music podcasts on iTunes. My search for Irish music on YouTube found no fewer than 33,000 videos!

Irish Music & Dance on YouTube.com

A YouTube search for the classic ballad "Danny Boy" finds hundreds of different versions sung by every kind of singer - baritone, tenor, soprano, male & female, from Ronin Tynan to Mario Lanza to Andy Williams. There is even a version sung by the Muppets!

Did I mention that this is all free?

Here is just a sample of how much content is available on YouTube, and not just performances! I also found information including Irish flute & tin whistle lessons from a variety of folks including James Galway himself!

Traditional Irish Music	5,240 Videos
Irish dancing	13,100 Videos
Irish fiddle	2,590 Videos
Irish flute	1880 Videos
Irish jig	1220 Videos
Celtic music	2000 Videos
Irish dance	3440 Videos
Irish folk music	458 Videos
Turlough O'Carolan	127 Videos

Irish Music Downloads

iTunes - Buy Irish music and download free podcasts

iTunes is an online store combined with a software program that lets you find, buy and organize music on your computer & iPod. They have a huge library of both classical and contemporary Irish music, and a fast-growing collection of free podcasts featuring Irish music performances and information.

Once you download and install the iTunes program you can search the online store, subscribe & listen to to free podcasts (even without an iPod!), and even listen to 20 second sample clips of all of the music for sale.

Tip: Even if you don't download any music or own an iPod the iTunes music software is the best way to organize and play your CD collection on your computer, and it's FREE!

Celtic Music Membership Sites

Song Henge
Unlimited downloads of the best independent Celtic music!

Free subscription with newsletter plus a for-fee membership only section.

100% Free Celtic Music & 100% Legal Celtic Music

Easy-access links to past Celtic MP3 features over 200 bands offering over 500 free Celtic MP3s.

Easy download of an MP3 CD featuring a minimum of 15 new Celtic MP3s just about every month.

Free Online Irish music

Here are a few links to some great free Irish music sites!

fionasplace.net - Lots of Irish midi files and many links to all types of Irish music and musicians.

ireland-information.com - Music, lyrics and midis for traditional, drinking and folk songs.

More information about Irish music on Wikipedia (However Wikipedia is infamous for factual errors & we did find at least one error where Turlough O'Carolan is listed as Turlough Carolan).