Donal Lunny: Nothing compares 2 him
Meet Donal Lunny. That’s him on the left last month in Belfast for the Fleadh with longtime Portlander Kevin Burke. Considered Ireland’s greatest living musician, he died Oct. 23 in Dublin. Photo exclusive to PDX HI. Courtesy of Loftus Music.
“Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann,” said the statement from the President of Ireland on the death of Donal Lunny. “His likes will not be seen again.”
Donal Lunny, a musician who came of age in the Sixties, figured decisively in the reinvention and reinvigoration of Irish music in the Seventies and Eighties. But he was more than a musician. You could say he was the musician’s musician.
Take our neighbor Kevin Burke, who played in one of Lunny’s seminal ensembles called The Bothy Band before moving to Portland.. According to RTE: “The prodigious talents of instrumentalists such as Matt Molloy (flute), Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Paddy Keenan (uilleann pipes), and Kevin Burke (fiddle) were enhanced through the accompaniment of Donal Lunny.” (RTE)
Lunny “enhanced” the work of his fellow players. For the record, he played multiple instruments, most notably the bouzouki. He also composed and arranged music, recruited top musicians to play together, and ran his own record label.
“He was the Quincy Jones of Irish music producers.”
Jones, of course, was a master jazz pianist before he “enhanced” the careers of artists from Ray Charles to Micheal Jackson. Bono is credited with that quote, by the way. Among the artists Lunny produced records for are Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler, and Kate Bush. He regularly accompanied Van Morrison.
Lunny’s first best-known band was called Planxty, which he formed with his longtime buddy from Wexford, Christy Moore. His second band was the Bothy Band. Both are musically historic. Then came Moving Hearts.
Remember cassette mix tapes? When I moved to Portland in 1983 my sister Joan back in San Francisco would dub some songs and tunes from the turntable to a Maxell 90-minute tape and drop it in the mail. One of those tapes included the first lp from Lunny’s latest band and it blew my mind. It was self-titled Moving Hearts.
“This is Irish music,” I asked in a state of wonder.
Absolutely. Donal Lunny and Christy Moore plugged Irish music in and added some instruments. This was an Irish jam band before we knew what such a band sounded like. I was hooked. And never knew it was Donal Lunny who made Moving Hearts happen until years later.
The sound: Donal Lunny on bouzouki plus. Crhisty Moore on guitar and vocals. Davey Spillane playing the uillean pipes to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Decan Sinnott on guitars. Brian Calnan on congas. Eoghan O’Neill on bass.
How RTE described the sound: “... playing electric instruments, infusing their music with elements of jazz and the rebel spirit of rock n' roll. Moving Hearts, which stitched together aspects of trad, folk rock, and jazz in the development of a more electric sound.”
How Hot Press heard them: The Hearts' distinction was to connect rebellion then in Ireland, not to patriot generations complaining from miserable graves, but to the rising of the wretched of the rest of the earth, conveying this precisely appropriately in music at once trad-Irish and metropolitan cool, the virtuoso interweave of pipes and sax epitomizing the achievement.
Ireland mourned with Donal Lunny and Sinead O’Connor
Donal Lunny fathered four children: Oisin, Cora, Sora and Shane. Sinead O’Connor was Shane’s mom. Shane took his own life after escaping from a hospital in Tallaght in January of 2022. Lunny would often stay with his son for hours because the hospital was understaffed. Here’s what Sinead wrote: “Also like to thank Shane’s father, Donal Lunny. You did your best too, Donal.
“And Shane adored you. And I will always remember how sweet you have been to him.
“You have been a lovely father. I am so sorry for your loss.”
Statement from President Connolly on the death of Donal Lunny
“Dónal will be particularly remembered for his long partnerships with fellow musicians such as Christy Moore and Andy Irvine and for the innovative music he has left behind both as a musician in groups including Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts and also as a renowned producer.
“This rich musical legacy, including his central role in the introduction of the bouzouki into Irish music, was appropriately recognised by his fellow artists in Dónal’s membership of Aosdána, as well as the well-deserved recognition which he received in being awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 RTE Radio One Irish Folk Awards.
“Beyond his music, Dónal will be remembered for his warmth and the strong connection which he had with audiences all over Ireland and beyond.
“He will be deeply missed.”
See and Hear for yourself
The first Moving Hearts album is the best of their limited releases. I still have that cassette. Streaming-wise, You Tube has most of the tracks sans video.
This was the opening song at their live concerts. No Time for Love.
Many years later they played The Storm on the Late, Late Show. Donal is the left handed bouzouki player with his sleeve rolled up.
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