Soundtrack For Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way: 8 Albums To Discover

The west of Ireland is a diverse, varied, and at times mysterious country. It is place of quiet bays and crashing surf, wild winds and warm welcome, winding back roads and lively towns, high mountain and green field.

It is also, a place of music, a place where sound and soundtrack rise from landscape, story, and language.

Soundtrack wild atlantic way kerry cliffs sea

All of these things are part of what has become known as the Wild Atlantic Way.

The Wild Atlantic Way’s route is a series of interconnected roads, really, running along the west coast of Ireland from west Cork and Kinsale in the far south of the island to Derry in the far north.

soundtrack wild atlantic way connemara stones

Along the Way you’ll find what are called discovery points, places sign posted with markers which may tell you of things about life, history, or natural landscape.

Music is a natural part of life in Ireland, It is, after all, the only country in the world with a musical instrument, the harp, as its national symbol.

Whether you travel the Wild Atlantic Way through geography or in imagination, whether you may be planning such a trip or remembering one, you will need a soundtrack. Here are several ideas to help you begin. As March is International Women’s Month as well as a time when Ireland is especially thought of, I have chosen to focus this soundtrack on the work of women players and composers.

wild atlantic way

Beginning our soundtrack in the south, you could seek out the work of the Casey/Ní Chathasaigh Sisters who come from west Cork. Máire Ní Chathasaigh is a top class harp player, composer, and educator; Mairéad Ní Chathasaigh is an award winning singer and choral musician; Nollaig Casey is a fiddle player who has worked with orchestras and musicians including the RTE Symphony Orchestra, Carlos Nunez, Dar an Bras, and Mary Black. These days she’s a member of the top Irish ensemble Cherish the Ladies. Look out for the sisters’ trio project, Sibling Revelry. Among other fine pieces, there are six tracks they composed to honor their home area of Bandon in west Cork that’ll take your right to the landscape and history of the place.

Further along the Way Eilis Kennedy grew up in the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry and still lives there. It’s an area deeply connected with the sea, and so is her album So Ends This Day. There is musi inspired by her research into the history of whaling, as well as songs that could be soundtrack to the lives of those left behind by those who go to sea.

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh lives in Dingle also. I’ve told you a bit about her recent project, a collaboration with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and six contemporary composers, called Roisin Reimagined, in another story. It is a creative and thoughtful exploration of some of the classic sean-nos songs of Irish music, as the tile would suggest, reimagined.

Roisin Reimagined is a fine, one might even say essential, addition to any soundtrack of Irish history and landscape. For this Wild Atlantic Way soundtrack, another great choice would be Nic Amhlaoibh’s six track album Thar Toinn/Seaborne, a set of music on sea themes in English and Irish, including a lover’s lamnet, a song which may ahve come from a tale told by fairies, and a piece which urges people to find solace in the connections of sea and land.

Eileen Ivers grew up in New York, in the United States. County Mayo in Ireland has always been part of the soundtrack of her life, however. Her parents come from Mayo and the connection remains strong. Ivers is a top fiddle player and composer. Grounded in Irish tradition, she has toured with Riverdance, was a founding member of Cherish the Ladies, and has ventured far beyond Irish music in her work as well. For this soundtrack along Ireland’s west, have a listen to her album Beyond the Bog Road.

Donegal is Ireland’s far northwest, a place where the soundtrack includes deep connection to the language Irish language and connections to the musics of Scotland as well as inspiration from rugged landscape of sea and mountain. Each of these things come into the music of the band Altan, led by the fiddle playing and singing of founding member Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh.

For this soundtrack, seek out Altan’s album The Gap of Dreams. The band (who in addition to Ni Mhaonaigh are Ciaran Curran, Mark Kelly Daithi Sproule, and Martin Tourish) have been taking the sounds of Donegal to the world for three decades now.

They came back to the hills of Donegal to record. The Gap of Dreams, and their music will bring you back to Donegal as well. There are thirteen tracks of song and tune both lively and reflective, as is the band’s trademark approach. There is music from the tradition, compositions from band members, and one tune each written by Mark’s son Sam Kelly amd Mairead’s daughter Nia Byrne.

There is a confluence of culture and landscape in the music of Derry, too. It is in Northern Ireland, which for the last hundred years or so has been a separate country, but there’s more that is shared than that which divides, still, including a deep respect for landscape, and for music.

An artist who knows and embodies this in her work is Cara Dillon. In songs she chooses and in songs she writes herself, there’s always that connection to landscape, story, family, and history. For this Wild Atlantic Way soundtrack, seek out her album Wanderer.

It would hardly be a soundtrack to the Wild Atlantic Way without including Aoife Scott’s song All Along the Wild Atlantic Way. It is, as you’ll understand when you hear it, one of her most well loved songs. Aoife is back living in Ireland’s east these days but her song remains well loved across the island and beyond. You will find it recorded on her album Carry the Day.

There are many more fine musicians along the Wild Atlantic Way and all across the island of Ireland and in its diaspora. Enjoy seeking out music on this soundtrack for the Wild Atlantic Way. Perhaps the creativity of these musicians will inspire you to explore Ireland’s music further, too.

Photographs by Felix Wolf from Pixabay and Ciarán Ó Muirgheasa also from Pixabay


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