Mícheál Ó'Domhnaill died in Dublin on Saturday, 8 July 2006. He was 54.
Born and raised in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, Mícheál Ó'Domhnaill comes from an interesting family background. His grandparents were from Rann na Feirste (in English "Rannafast"), a village in an Irish-speaking region (a "Gaeltacht") in County Donegal. They received a land grant in County Meath as part of an Irish government initiative to set up a Gaeltacht near Dublin by transplanting native Irish speakers to the area (Irish was, and still is, only spoken as their daily language by a minority of the people of Ireland, concentrated mainly in certain western areas of the country).
Mícheál's grandparents returned to their native Donegal after 15 years. However, in the meantime their son Hugh (to whom the tune of the same name by Tríona on the album "At the End of the Evening" is presumably dedicated) had married a Dublin woman, Brid Comber, and settled as a teacher in Kells, Co. Meath. His children, Mícheál, Tríona and Maighread grew up in Kells, spending their school holidays in Rann na Feirste. Hugh was also a musician, singer and collector of songs, and Brid was a choir singer, so the children grew up in a very rich musical environment. They received music lessons from an early age (Mícheál recalls receiving piano lessons from the age of six until he was sixteen - when he was able to focus on the guitar - his preferred instrument).
Summers in Donegal brought the siblings into contact with their aunt, Neilí, a renowned singer who had a vast reportoire of songs in Irish and English. Other acquaintances made in Donegal were Pól and Ciarán Brennan (members of Clannad), and Dáithi Sproule (long a member of Altan).
Mícheál and Tríona came together with Dáithi when they went to University College Dublin in the late 1960s. They played gigs around Dublin and Mícheál and Dáithi spent a summer as the house band at Teach Hiudaí Bhig in Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), Donegal. Around 1970, the three siblings -Mícheál, Tríona and Maighread - teamed up with Dáithi Sproule to form Skara Brae.
Skara Brae produced an album of the same name in 1971, and broke up in 1972. The album (cover below) was re-released in 1998 by Gael-Linn
To be continued .....(to include The Bothy Band, Relativity and, eventually, Nightnoise). Comments or corrections to the above are gratefully accepted.
Mícheál is now working on an album with Paddy Glackin which will be released by Gael-Linn probably in the spring of 2000. See our recent interview with him. Their booking agent has a page for them.
Questions or feedback? Feel free to send mail.
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