It's the start of a whole new era for Claddagh Records as Celtic Heartbeat's Dave Kavanagh has recently joined founder Garech de Brun to re-vitalise the label. So when they held a party in the Oliver St John Gogarty bar in Temple Bar to celebrate the new album of one of their bands, Cran, a gang of supporters and fans turned up to toast both band and label.
Cran is headed up by Ronan Browne, a master of the uilleann pipes who has collaborated with singers Sinead O'Connor and Peter Gabriel, as well as on the Riverdance album. The band also features singer Sean Corcoran, and flautist Desi Wilkinson who is renowned for his work with De Danann and Mairtin O'Connor.
Among those at the party were Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, who were discovered by de Brun in their early days; Desmond Fitzgerald, the Knight of Glin; Trevor Bowen of Principle Management, the U2 powerhouse; art agent Isobel Smith; music publisher Johnny Lappin; Behan biographer, Michael O'Sullivan; Aiden Cosgrave, manager of up-and-coming band, Junkster; and Gerard and Susan Heffernan of Frontier Films.