Tonnta na hEorpa - Waves of Europe
The story of the European influence on Irish traditional music and dance
While deeply rooted in communities across the island of Ireland, it carries the story of Ireland’s embrace of continental culture through the ages.
This is demonstrated through traditional Irish favourites such as set dances that originated from 18th-century French courtly quadrilles, polkas from Bohemia, waltzes from Bavaria and Austria and the adoption of instruments such as bouzoukis from Greece, and German crafted concertinas, made popular in Ireland in the 1800s.
Irish traditional music is often described as the sound of an island. But more accurately, it's the sound of an island in conversation with a continent.
Tonnta na hEorpa
Tonnta na hEorpa is the story of shared European culture that will be told in a one-hour stage show with musicians Cormac Begley (concertina) and Liam O’Connor (fiddle), Brían MacGloinn (voice, guitar), Louise Mulcahy (Uileann Pipes) Sophie Ryan (Harp), Seamas Hyland (accordion) and dancer Stephanie Keane.
As a cultural project as part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, it will be presented across Europe with special events hosted by Embassies of Ireland. Availability of tickets for the public will be announced via mission social media channels. Visit their websites (Berlin, Bern) for links to all social channels for the mission closest to you.
Tonnta na hEorpa is an initiative from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in partnership with the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA).
Watch: Tonnta na hEorpa - a journey through the European connections with Irish traditional music
Discover the artists involved in Tonnta na hEorpa
Cormac Begley
Cormac Begley is a concertina player from west Kerry who plays 13 concertinas that range from bass to piccolo register. His debut solo album received critical acclaim accumulating nine 5-star reviews.
His debut and new bass concertina album are a central feature of the award-winning show Mám (directed by Micheal Keegan Dolan) and to Pat Collin’s film, ‘The Dance’.
He plays in a number of projects with musicians Liam O’Connor, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Martin Hayes and Liam Ó Maonlaí, Rushad Eggleston (cello), Lisa O’Neill and Ye Vagabonds. He has recorded with artists including Lankum, Stephen James Smith, Ré, Jack Talty, Ye Vagabonds and Lisa O’Neill.
He is the founder of Airt, a residential school in west Kerry, the award winning Tunes in the Church live concert series in Galway, and more recently, a new outdoor concert series from his campervan, the ‘Beauty’.
Liam O’Connor
Liam O’Connor is one of Ireland’s most accomplished fiddle players and a leading figure in the preservation of the nation’s musical heritage. Raised in a renowned musical family in Dublin, he has developed a distinctive and highly expressive fiddle style. His acclaimed solo album The Loom showcased his technical brilliance, nuanced phrasing, and imaginative interpretation of traditional repertoire, earning him widespread respect among peers and audiences.
As Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA), O’Connor has played a transformative role in expanding public access to Ireland’s musical heritage. He has overseen major digitisation initiatives, innovative public programmes, and collaborations that connect musicians, researchers, and communities with the archive’s vast collections.
Brían Mac Gloinn
Brían Mac Gloinn, along with his brother Diarmuid, form the award-winning duo Ye Vagabonds.
They began playing music together on the streets of their hometown in Carlow and forged a style based on close harmonies and acoustic instrumentation inspired by various folk traditions.
They then moved to Dublin and quickly became familiar faces around the city’s folk and blues session scene. Having been described as "being at the fore of a new wave of Irish folk", their recent album, Nine Waves, won Best Folk Album at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards.
Louise Mulcahy
Louise Mulcahy is an internationally renowned performer on both flute and uilleann pipes. Louise released her highly acclaimed début solo album titled Tuning the Road in 2014, alongside three album releases with father, Mick, and sister Michelle.
Mulcahy has toured extensively throughout the world including performances in Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, America and Canada. She has been a guest tutor and performer at many festivals across the globe including Augusta Irish Week in the United States, The Catskills Irish week, Ceol Aneas- New Zealand and the Temple Bar Trad Fest amongst others.
She is a regular contributor to many TV and radio music programmes, nationally and internationally. Mulcahy presented and researched the landmark documentary for TG4 titled Mná na bPíob which was released in 2021.
Stephanie Keane
Stephanie Keane is an Irish dance artist, performer and choreographer from Limerick. Her style is influenced by her formative dancing years as a competitive Irish step dancer at world championship level, and her immersion in the tradition of Sean Nós dancing as an adult.
Through learning tunes in her feet and by pushing the boundaries of her own dance experience, she has developed her own unique style of Irish dance and is a well-established Irish dance artist. She continues to evolve as an artist, working on new projects in film, theatre, dance choreography and sound production.
Keane’s performance style combines the best elements of Sean Nós dancing with her fiery individuality built on a keen sense of tradition. She connects with the music, dancing the tune with her feet, and naturally understands the musician's interpretation of the tune. Her style is free flowing, energetic and wild.
Sophie Ryan
A harp player from County Laois, Sophie Ryan grew up in a musical family and was especially influenced by the music of her grandfather, fiddler and composer Seán Ryan. She is a graduate of University College Cork and a winner of the Seán Ó Riada Memorial Prize for excellence in traditional Irish music performance and academics.
President Michael D. Higgins and Prince Albert of Monaco are just some of the dignitaries she has performed for, as well as performing in Hong Kong and the Philippines for St Patrick’s Day, and on Ireland’s leading live music programme, ‘Other Voices’ with Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Jack Talty.
Ryan recently performed in a commission with novelist Joseph O’Connor and Chieftains members Matt Molloy and Kevin Conneff. Sophie has been working in ITMA since 2023.
Seamas Hyland
Seamas Hyland is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who focuses on both traditional and experimental music. He enjoys exploring the varied sonic capabilities of the button accordion and creating tonal landscapes using field recordings he collects.
Hyland recently released his debut solo album Maidin Domhnaigh and was nominated for an RTÉ Folk award for best emerging artist in 2025.
He has also collaborated with artists like John Francis Flynn, Jennie Moran and Eimear Walshe, and is particularly intrigued by the contrasting nature of traditional and contemporary music and how/if these can be presented together.
About ITMA
Founded in 1987, the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) is home to the largest, most comprehensive collection of Irish traditional music, song, and dance in the world. ITMA digitises, preserves, and offers free universal access to valuable recordings, photographs, manuscripts, and other archived materials that would otherwise be lost. ITMA is a living archive serving a living tradition, at the core of that is its philosophy to engage contemporary artists with archival materials to inspire new art.
