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SONGBIRDS AT THE FIRST LADIES OF IRISH SONG

January 9, 2006

SONGBIRDS THE FIRST LADIES OF IRISH SONG presented by Fil Campbell

Celebrating the lives and music of Delia Murphy, Bridie Gallagher, Mary O&acuteHara, Ruby Murray and Margaret Barry.

RTE1 Television, Sunday nights, 7.30pm, starting Sunday 20th November.

Accompanying CD now available in record shops nationwide and at www.songbirds.tv
A DVD of the programmes will be in the shops on Friday 9th December.

Music produced and recorded by Tom McFarland.

This new music documentary series, coming to RTE television in Ireland in November, presented by folk singer Fil Campbell, is a nostalgic tribute to several of Ireland&acutes best-loved singers, whose songs formed the musical soundtrack to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s for many people. The individual programmes will focus on the life and music of The Songbirds of those years. Each programme will feature several of the songs popularised by these singers, performed by Fil Campbell and her special guests, including John Sheahan (The Dubliners), Tommy Sands, Finbar Furey, Sean Keane, Steve Cooney and Laoise Kelly.

The series is being aired on RTE1 on Sunday nights at 7.30pm, starting on Sunday 20th November. There are 6 programmes in total, 5 of which will be shown before Christmas. The order in which they&acutell appear is:

Week 1 20th November Ruby Murray
Week 2 27th November Margaret Barry
Week 3 4th December Mary O&acuteHara
Week 4 11th December Bridie Gallagher
Week 5 18th December Delia Murphy

The 6th programme which is a general overview of what links the singers, the songs they sang and the music business at the time when they were starting off will be shown in the New Year.

These singers were radio stars of the pre-television era in Ireland and as such pre-dated the whole folk revival that followed in the 1960s. They went on to become international stars and played a key role in popularising what were indigenous Folk songs. It is all the more surprising that the more popular recordings of songs from this era were predominantly by women, considering the social climate in the country then.

Additional contributions from musicians, archivists, historians and family members will ensure that this engrossing series will acquaint viewers with the major influence that these artists had on Irish music and popular culture, a legacy which still endures.

For further information about the individual Songbirds and about the programme in general visit www.songbirds.tv .

An Irish tour is planned for early in 2006 and international screenings of the programmes are being discussed.

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