Danú and The Shamrogues come to Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts March 7 | Press Releases

Danú

Ireland's Danú, one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today, will celebrate St. Patrick's Day when they play Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Sunday, March 7 at 3:00 p.m. Connecticut's own Irish ensemble, The Shamrogues, will add their particular brand of spice to the occasion when they kick off the celebration with a pre-show lobby party beginning at 1:45 p.m. Tickets for Danú are $40, $35 and $30. The event is a presentation of the Arts & Minds season.

In 1994 at the Oireachtas Festival in Dungarvan, County Waterford, a core group of musicians, Benny McCarthy, Donal Clancy and Donnchadh Gough and Dubliner Daire Bracken met and began an association named for the Celtic Goddess Danu that would become one of the most important Traditional Irish ensembles of recent years.

The group expanded to include the Dublin brothers, Tom and Eamonn Doorley, in 1996 and after playing the festival once more they won the prestigious La Boulee Des Korrigan award. This was also the year of Danú's first recording and as word spread to music lovers and new Danú fans, this high-energy band quickly became sought after by the festival circuit. It was during this time that Danú made its debut tour to the United States, which broadened its fan base, and in 1999 the band signed with the United States-based Shanachie label and released several more albums.

By 2003 Danú had added a few new members, including the first woman, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh of County Kerry, and by early 2006 Danú boasted six successful album releases when "When All is Said and Done" hit the shelves. A live performance in a favorite Ireland venue, Vicar St. in Dublin, was recorded on DVD and released appropriately enough as "One Night Stand."

The Shamrogues, well known in this area, bring a love of Ireland and the life of it everywhere they travel. The Quick Center lobby is sure to be alive with jigs, reels, hornpipes and many other traditional types of tunes on the tin whistle, low whistle, highland pipes, Uilleann pipes, bodhran, banjo, fiddle and a staggering array of other instruments this lively group plays. The Shamrogues are superb vocalists who share their ballads and songs and encourage audience participation.

Tickets are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center's e-mail list. Join, by contacting boxoffice@quickcenter.com . And become a fan of the Quick Center for the Arts on Facebook! Keep up-to-date with the latest performance news, plus special offers and discounts! Find the Quick Center at www.facebook.com/FairfieldQuickCenter.