The Kilkennys

Born in Kilkenny in southeast Ireland, The Kilkennys formed in the late 1990s among schoolfriends and adopted that name in 2008 as a reference to their hometown. The group works within the traditional Irish folk and ballad tradition, with a repertoire mixing popular tunes, narrative songs and original compositions, driven by restrained vocal harmonies and acoustic instrumentation including guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, bodhrán, whistles and uilleann pipes. The Kilkennys revolve around Davey Cashin, Tommy Mackey and Mick Martin, musicians and singers central to the band’s history, and built their career on the live scene, touring first across Ireland and later in Europe and the United States. Career highlights include appearances on Irish television—most notably The Late Late Show on RTÉ—concerts with artists such as Shane MacGowan, Sharon Shannon and Finbar Furey, and a presence at the Milwaukee Irish Fest in 2016. In their discography, The Kilkennys released the studio album The Colour of Freedom in 2014, reflecting a style rooted in tradition while remaining open to more contemporary songwriting.