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Rónán Ó Snodaigh

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Rónán Ó Snodaigh at the "Craiceann Bodhrán Festival" 2015

Rónán Ó Snodaigh (born 1 January 1970 in Dublin, Ireland) is a songwriter, composer, musician, poet and founding member and lead vocalist in the musical group Kíla. He has revolutionised the playing of the bodhrán and written many songs in Irish and English. He has written and released seven solo albums.

Amongst the many percussion instruments Ó Snodaigh plays are bodhrán, djembe, congas, and bongos. As regards stringed instruments he plays the guitar and to a lesser extent the harp.

He is the second youngest of six boys born to historian and publisher Pádraig Ó Snodaigh and sculptor Cliodhna Cussen. He is a brother of politician Aengus Ó Snodaigh and of course his bandmates Colm and Rossa Ó Snodaigh. He has four children and a stepson and currently lives in Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Rónán has toured with Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerard. He composed music for nature documentaries Wild Journeys and The Eagles Return and played and recorded with a myriad of performers one of whom is the late Mic Christopher on his album Skylarking.

Early life and career

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Rónán was born on 1 January 1970 and grew up as the second youngest of six boys in an Irish-speaking family in Sandymount, Dublin. He attended Scoil Lorcáin in Monkstown and at the age of 12 got his first bodhrán as a present from his mother, who thought that this might help him join the rest of his brothers who were excelling in singing and whistle playing. He then went on to attend Coláiste Eoin where he got bodhrán lessons from an ex-pupil who was doing his H-dip. In third year he joined his younger brother Rossa's band as the bodhrán player. Around this time he began writing poetry and self-published a variety of collections that he sold to his counterparts in school. Since his 20s he has produced three collections of lyrics and poems and since his 30s he has released seven solo CDs.

From the age of 16 he immersed himself in the street music scene in Dublin in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has been a member of the band Kíla since they formed in 1987. He was in the Dead Can Dance lineup for the "Toward the Within" Tour and toured with Lisa Gerard on her debut solo tour. Rónán released his first solo album Tip Toe with Simon O Reily and a host of other musicians in 2001, and has gone on to record another six with his most recent being a solo album in both English and Irish.

During the pandemic Rónán teamed up with Myles O Reilly recording the song Tá'n tádh Liom (Luck is With Me) which Myles created ambient electronic backing to. Following the surprise success of the single they went on to record an album Tá Go Maith in Shell Cottage Cellbridge, which was released to critical acclaim in 2021 and a follow up album The Beautiful Road in 2023. They are currently touring together around Ireland and internationally.

Singing style

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Rónán's singing style owes more to reggae toasting than to any form of traditional Irish singing. Initially his bodhrán playing and poetry writing were two separate expressions. He did not have much confidence in his own voice since being asked to leave the primary school choir. But upon a visit to Camden market in London in the late eighties he saw rastas toasting to backing music. The lyrics were not being sung but recited. He then began the process of trying to vocalise his written work with bodhrán accompaniment. The first song he recorded with Kíla on Handel's Fantasy (1993) was called "Cathain", this song was picked up by Liam Ó Maonlaí, who sang it with his group The Hothouse Flowers.

Discography

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Bibliography

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