Wolfe Tones

Genres:	Folk • World Music
Descriptive "tags":	irish • irish rebel • folk • irish folk • celtic • political
Decades Active:	1990s • 2000s

Biography

Formed in Kilrush, County Clare, Eire in August 1963, this quartet (originally known as the Wolfe Tones Ballad Group) has been a rebellious presence in the folk music scene since their inception. Their greatest success has been among the Irish diaspora in the USA, but their fanbase extends from Eire to Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.

The founder members were brothers Derek Warfield (1943, Dublin, Eire; vocals, mandolin) and songwriter Brian Warfield (b. 1946, Dublin, Eire; vocals, five-string banjo, harp, whistles, uillean pipes), and school friend, Noel Nagle (b. 1945, Dublin, Eire; whistles, uillean pipes). This trio had grown up in the Dublin working class suburb of Inchicore, where the folk music seeds were sown both by their families and by their regular attendance at music sessions in their local traditional music club, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. They were later joined by Tommy Byrne (b. 1944, Dublin,...

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