Who are Goitse?
“Sprightly instrumentals with exciting and unexpected
twists topped off with winsome vocals.”- fRoots Magazine
The popular and multi-award-winning quintet Goitse was forged in the white-hot creative crucible of Limerick’s Irish World Academy. Named Live Ireland’s “Traditional Group of the Year”, Chicago Irish American News’ “Group of the Year”, as well as winning the prestigious “Freiburger International Leiter 2016” award in Germany, Goitse have become a leader of the new generation of traditional Irish ensembles.
Goitse has released six critically acclaimed recordings and maintains a year round touring schedule that includes performances throughout Ireland, UK, Germany, France and the United States. Their distinctive sound lies in the quality of their own compositions interspersed with age-old traditional tunes which make each performance unique. Laying the foundations for the music are World and AllIreland Bodhrán champion Colm Phelan and Conal O’Kane, who is fast making a name for himself as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. The gripping rhythm section sets a powerful drive for the music while the sweet, charismatic voice of Áine Mc Geeney draws audiences into a song the way few performers can. Multi instrumentalist Alan Reid features mainly on banjo and bouzouki, drawing from an extensive knowledge of archival collections of Irish which enriches the bands repertoire. Daniel Collins is a multi instrumentalist All Ireland Champion, and is known for his distinctively intricate bass work on accordion.
Together, the quintet Goitse makes what Irish Music Magazine calls “Music that’s brimming with energy and creative zeal.”
*Goitse is a Gaelic word for ‘come here’ is pronounced - Go-wit-cha
Meet Goitse
Áine Mc Geeney
Since graduating with a BA in Irish Music and Dance and a MA in Irish Music Performance, Áine has captured the hearts of Irish Music fans all over the world. A founding member of the group Goitse, Áine has toured extensively around the world and record-ed four critically acclaimed albums with the group. Singing both in the English and Irish Language, she has been de-scribed as having “a voice of an angel” and was awarded ‘Female Vocalist of 2016’ by the Irish American news. Combined with her energetic, high octane fiddle playing she is now one of the leading young musicians in Irish music today. As a result, her teaching skills have been highly sought after and have seen her giving workshops on fiddle and vocals all around the world. Her musical talents have led her to tour the world as lead Fiddle player with several dance shows including Michael Flately’s world famous “Lord of the Dance”. Áine has also established herself as a highly regarded composer with many of her compositions featuring on several albums to date. She was commissioned to compose a suite of music to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 rising, which was per-formed by The Laois Folk Orchestra, and in 2018 wrote a suite to recognise the passing of 100 years since the end of World War 1. She has also recently composed the music for a brand new dance show called "Mná na hEireann".
Conal O'Kane
Conal O'Kane is from Philadelphia and is a graduate of the University of Limerick's BA in Irish Music and Dance and MA in Irish Music Performance programs. A multi-instrumentalist, he originally played fiddle and banjo before focusing on guitar, which gives him an unusual insight into both the melodic and harmonic structures of a large repertoire of tunes. He studied music theory with Roberto Pace at the Settlement Music School, which gives him a broad spectrum of accompaniment techniques from a wide range of musical genres. In addition to his busy touring schedule, he is also a guitar teacher on both the undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Irish music at the Irish World Academy in UL, and a regular tutor at the Blas International Summer School of Irish Music and Dance.
Colm Phelan
Portlaoise-born Colm has been playing the Bodhrán since childhood and has been a prominent contender in the All Ireland competition since his earliest years of playing. He is a winner of numerous medals down through the years with his proudest achievements being the first ever World Bodhran Champion, in Miltown, Co Kerry in 2006, and in the same year winning the All Ireland in Letterkenny for the second year in succession. This back-to-back achievement was closely echoed in his unique multiple Ceili Band drum competition successes. An All Ireland Champion on both Bodhran and Ceili Band drums is no mean feat. Colm graduated with a BA in Irish Music and Dance at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick in 2011 and in MA in Irish Music performance in 2016. In 2012, Colm released his solo CD “Full Cirlce” which was described has having “thrills and spills by the dozen and is a roller coaster ride of jaw dropping and breath-taking proportions, clearly going where no bodhrán player has gone before” – John O’Regan, Irish Music Magazine He is one of the most sought after Bodhran tutors in Irish Music. His teaching ability has seen him lead Bodhrán workshops in France, Germany, Finland, Holland, UK, Italy, USA, at Junior Daveys Bodhran School in Sligo and at 'Craiceann'. In 2016,Colm co-founded the International Bodhrán school "Búla Buzz" alongside Robbie Walsh.The school runs annually in Dublin and attracts students from all over the world.
Danny Collins
Danny Collins, from West Cork is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He started
playing Traditional Irish Music at the age of seven and has been highly involved in the
Traditional music circuit ever since. After graduating with a first class honours BA in
Irish Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, Danny has since toured extensively with music shows, dance shows, tutored at many festivals and performed on both national and international stages all over the world. He is a multiple All Ireland winner on numerous instruments, with his most recent All Ireland success being attained as a member of the All Ireland winning Céilí Band ‘Taobh na Mara’. He is a well sought after performer, tutor and music teacher with many of his students also achieving All Ireland success.
Alan Reid
Alan Reid, from North County Leitrim in Ireland, is a highly-adept multi-instrumentalist. His banjo, bouzouki, mandolin, and oud playing has seen him work extensively in both performance and recording settings, as well as making a movie appearance in the 2014 movie 'Noble'. Alan also featured on the compilation CD 'Leitrim Equation 3', where he recorded duets with highly-acclaimed Irish musicians Donal Lunny and John Carty. In a more musically experimental setting, he can be heard as part of his 'Arum' project on their 2016 debut album. Now settled in the Burren in County Clare, Alan has released an album of traditional tunes with his partner Rachel Conlan entitled 'A Quare Yield', which places an emphasis on rare and unusual tunes collected from the Irish music tradition.
