Know any great Traditional Irish Folk bands or singer/song writers?

Jaysus Enya?? Sher nobody likes her! Her music is the worst of the whole genre thingy. It's just layered vocals which are impossible to produce anywhere except in a high tech studio. Folk music is meant to be organic and spontaneous. Listen to the likes of Christy Moore, Planxty, Moving Hearts, Luke Kelly, Sharon Shannon, Horslips etc. You should also listen to The Waterboys' 'Fisherman's Blues' and 'Room To Roam' albums

I like Christy Moore and the Chieftains for older folk oriented and traditional music. Enya isn't traditional or folk, more new-agey. I don't particularly care for her music myself. Try the green linnet records/music site - plenty of acts there that fit what you are looking for. There are some Scottish bands like Capercaillie that have similar music. (check for them on youtube - there is probably a song or two on there)

DEFINITELY check out Liam O'Maonlai and his album "Rian". He sings in mostly Gaeilge and it is breathtaking. He is also amazing with a tin whistle. Some other bands/musicians: Gael Force The Dubliners The Cheiftains Tommy Makem The Clancy Brothers Gaelic Storm (although most of their music has a modern twist to it, many of their instrumentals-such as Slingshot, are absolutely wonderful) The Prodigals (again, a bit of a modern twist, and a bit more hard-rock) Some songs in particular: ANY song by Liam The Foggy Dew-Sinead O'Connor and The Cheiftains (one of my absolute favourites) The Bells of Dublin-The Cheiftains The Wind that Shakes The Barley-The Cheiftains Erin go Brach-Declan Hunt Wild Rover-Gael Force Johnny Jump Up-Gael Force Here is even a video for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svRw6ry5x-0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13MQFCfCYdQ The beauty of trad. Irish music is that it is a very intimate music. The best of it you will find in local musicians/singers/bands, not well known ones (although there are many good ones). It goes hand-in-hand with the basis idea of trad. being that it is passed down from teacher to learner (musician to musician or apprentice) by ear, not by paper or recordings or notes, and therefore the idea of it is to never become such a big bang, a mass-produced edited thing that so much music has become. This is what also causes so many different variations on the same songs-personalization of them. Very intimate and, well, traditional. So take a good look for any local irish musicians/bands/singers in your area and check them out-I am sure they will be worth your while. If you came to Cleveland I could show you more than I can count, haha.

I like Enya, and she has used some traditional lyrics; the music isn't traditional, however. Try Loreena McKennit, Steeleye Span, Ceoltori, Heather Alexander, Clannad, or Maire Brennan for starts. Bear in mind that most current folk singers like Heather Alexander will have also written some of their traditional-style music. Celtic Women has a bit more of the new age feel, as well, but they also some nice traditional pieces. Mediaeval Babes is updated medieval work. I've heard nice things about Blackmore's Night, but haven't heard any yet. Tempest is Celtic/folk rock. Eileen Ivers plays a mean fiddle, but it's not all Celtic. There are a couple local bands here in Chicago that I find pretty good, and I think you can order from their websites: Molly and the Tinker (http://www.mollyandthetinker.com/) and the Dooley Brothers (http://www.dooleybrothers.com/) If you like the Celtic/New Age aspect, try the Celtic Twilight or Celtic Heartbeat collections if they're still available. Or the soundtracks from Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. If there are any Ren Faires or Celtic Fests or other folk music concerts/festivals in your area, I recommend going. Most of the time you can buy their works on site, and will run into some new and interesting bands. Also take a chance on the Irish or Scots section in the music store. (Linnet is good, I agree)

I recommend the early albums of Clannad, they actually started off with folk music (and in fact all the members of the band are relatives to Enya)! Also, the music of Turlough O'Carolan is worth for listening!

Chieftains, Wolfetones, Waterboys, Tommy Makem, Gaelic Storm, Christy Moore, Paddy Reilly, Those are just a few off the top of my head. If you do a search for tradiational music, I'm sure you'll come up with plenty!

The Chieftains,The Wolfetones, Christy Moore, Planxty.. And check out Paul Bradys, the island, Not so much Traditional but its Irish and great..

The Wolfe Tones