It is no secret that Celtic-themed music has risen in popularity around the world over the last few decades. However, one place where that secret isn’t as open is Ireland itself, home to global supergroups like Celtic Thunder and Celtic Woman.

Take it from Shane McDonnell, who knows that first-hand. Having worked in the Irish music scene since the 1990s with acts like Clannad, McDonnell took on a new challenge when he became part of the Celtic Woman team in 2015.

“I was hired to manage Celtic Woman, and one of the first artists I brought into the group was Éabha McMahon,” shares McDonnell via email with Celtic Life International. “She and I had often talked about creating a unique event in Ireland that would have equal appeal to both the listener and musician.

“I had witnessed for decades the enormous appeal of Irish music across the world,” he continues, “firstly with Clannad, and then even more so with Celtic Woman. Ironically, Ireland has always been the hardest market for both of these acts.”

For touring artists like Celtic Woman to be commercially viable, they need to have a broad appeal – one that is accessible to overseas audiences.

“These are truly talented individuals that perform nightly to thousands of people around the world but – for whatever reason – cannot get the same attention in their home country.”

McDonnell and McMahon both left Celtic Woman in 2019, continuing to work together towards creating that one-of-a-kind experience that would encourage the Irish to appreciate their homegrown artists.

“It is better for all of us here at home that this style of music finds success on a global scale,” notes McDonnell. “Someone much wiser than I once said, ‘there is no tradition without innovation.’”

That’s the energy with which McDonnell and McMahon launched the Celtic World Forum, a 3-day convention for Irish music where aficionados and artists alike can attend panels and performances, share their own sounds, and get up to date on musical opportunities and happenings in their own country.

“The gathering’s core mandate is to be informative, inspiring, and entertaining in equal measure…”

“Our desire for the Celtic World Forum is two-fold,” continues McDonnell, “to bring an overseas audience to Ireland to hear the music in its purest form and learn about its origins and what goes on behind the music, and to show the musical talent here in Ireland that there is a whole worldwide audience out there for them. They should never be afraid to innovate, as countless artists such as Planxty, Moving Hearts, Clannad, and others have done before. It is healthy to see a new wave of artists emerging – Lankum, Amble, Ye Vagabonds – putting their own take on Irish traditional music.”

The first Forum took place at the end of 2023 to great success, with people from all around the world participating.

“The feedback we received from the attendees at last year’s inaugural event was universally positive. Everyone attending said that it far exceeded their expectations, and expectations were high. We wanted every single person to walk away feeling entirely satisfied with their experience, and we achieved that aim.

“Now we must do it all again and create a program for this year that fulfils the same goals, but is even better,” adds McDonnell.

“There will certainly be a lot more people attending this year. Éabha has built a close Patreon community which was a big inspiration for this event, so we started with that and grew the message from there. There was a lot of word of mouth involved, and even more so this year, following last year’s success. Our aims are very much to grow the annual event, whilst still retaining that sense of community between the attendees and the artists.

“I feel it is important that we celebrate how Celtic music, in all its many different forms, has such a global appreciation,” continues McDonnell. “In the same way that traditional songs have been given new life by contemporary artists, it is equally fitting that more modern songs can be adapted to embrace more of their Irish heritage, to reach an audience that may otherwise never hear those works. For these are the songs that, in the future, will provide the source of what will then be considered traditional songs – songs that have stories that transcend generations.”

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