'A Job of Journeywork' travelled to Killybegs in County Donegal to hear two young musicians, Mairéad Ní Mhaoinaigh and Frankie Kennedy, playing in a pub session.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (on fiddle) and Frankie Kennedy (on flute) perform the reels ‘John Brennan's’ and ‘The Boys of Ballinahinch’.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy later married, and formed the group Altan in 1987 with Ciarán Curran on bouzouki, Mark Kelly on guitar, and were joined later by Paul O'Shaughnessy, also on fiddle. With Irish language traditional songs from Donegal as their main influence, Altan signed with Virgin Records in 1996, the first Irish traditional music band to be signed to a major label.
Frankie Kennedy died in 1994.
This episode of 'A Job of Journeywork' was broadcast on 30 April 1978.
Maireád Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy (1985)
'A Job of Journeywork' was a traditional music series presented by Ciarán Mac Mathúna and produced by Peter Canning. First broadcast on 26 March 1978 it ran for one series only. A preview in the RTÉ Guide of 24 March 1978 described it as
Music in familiar surroundings instead of the cold comfort of the studio.
