Ireland By the end of the 1960s Ireland already had a flourishing folk music tradition and a growing blues and pop scene, which provided a basis for
Irish rock. Perhaps the most successful product of this scene was the band
Thin Lizzy. Formed in 1969 their first two albums were recognisably influenced by traditional Irish music and their first hit single "
Whisky in the Jar" in 1972, was a rock version of a traditional Irish song. From this point they began to move towards the hard rock that allowed them to gain a series of hit singles and albums, but retained some occasional elements of Celtic rock on later albums such as
Jailbreak (1976). Formed in 1970,
Horslips were the first Irish group to have the terms 'Celtic rock' applied to them, and produced work that included traditional Irish/Celtic music and instrumentation, Celtic themes and imagery, and
concept albums based on
Irish mythology in a way that entered the territory of
progressive rock all powered by a
hard rock sound. Horslips are considered important in the history of Irish rock as they were the first major band to enjoy success without having to leave their native country and can be seen as providing a template for Celtic rock in Ireland and elsewhere. These developments ran in parallel with the burgeoning folk revival in Ireland that included groups such as
Planxty and the
Bothy Band. It was from this tradition that
Clannad, whose first album was released in 1973, adopted electric instruments and a more '
new age' sound at the beginning of the 1980s.
Moving Hearts, formed in 1981 by former Planxty members
Christy Moore and
Donal Lunny, followed the pattern set by Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.
Scotland There were already strong links between Irish and
Scottish music by the 1960s, with Irish bands like
the Chieftains touring and outselling the native artists in Scotland. The adoption of folk rock produced groups including the
JSD Band and Spencer's Feat. Out of the wreckage of the latter in 1974, was formed probably the most successful band in this genre, combining Irish and Scottish personnel to form
Five Hand Reel. Two of the most successful groups of the 1980s emerged from the
dance band circuit in Scotland. From 1978, when they began to release original albums,
Runrig produced highly polished Scottish folk rock, including the first commercially successful album with the all
Gaelic Play Gaelic in 1978. From the 1980s
Capercaillie combined Scottish folk music, electric instruments and haunting vocals to considerable success. Scottish Band
the Waterboys became a well known Celtic rock band during the 1980s with the release of albums such as
This Is the Sea and ''
Fisherman's Blues''. They also incorporated folk elements into their music. One of Scotland's most commercially successful and fondly-remembered rock acts,
Big Country, also incorporated the influence of traditional Scottish music into their songs. While bagpipes had become an essential element in Scottish folk bands, they were much rarer in folk rock outfits, but were successfully integrated into their sound by
Wolfstone from 1989, who focused on a combination of highland music and rock.
Brittany became famous throughout France for their medieval inspired Celtic rock, drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.
Brittany also made a major contribution to Celtic rock. The
Breton cultural revival of the 1960s was exemplified by
Alan Stivell who became the leading proponent of the Breton harp and other instruments from about 1960, he then adopted elements of Irish, Welsh and Scottish traditional music in an attempt to create a
pan-Celtic folk music, which had considerable impact elsewhere, particularly in Wales and Cornwall. From 1972 he began to play folk rock with a band including guitarists
Dan Ar Braz and
Gabriel Yacoub. Yacoub went on to form
Malicorne in 1974 one of the most successful folk rock bands in France. After an extensive career that included a stint playing as part of
Fairport Convention in 1976, Ar Braz formed the pan-Celtic band
Heritage des Celtes, who managed to achieve mainstream success in France in the 1990s. Probably the best known and most enduring folk rock band in France were
Tri Yann formed in 1971 and still recording and performing today.
Wales While
Welsh folk music developed as a distinctive part of a pan-Celtic movement, early
Welsh pop and rock music was more influenced by American and English artists than traditional or Celtic acts. By the end of the 1960s the Welsh rock scene included a number of internationally successful English language groups that included
Badfinger,
Amen Corner,
Elastic Band,
Budgie and
Man. caused a sensation in Welsh traditional music by "going electric" with his band
Edward H. Dafis The Welsh rock scene would change markedly from October 1969, when the
Sain record label released its first single. Founded as a label for both rock and folk musicians in the
Welsh-language, and home to artists such as
Dafydd Iwan,
Meic Stevens and
Ar Log, Sain would become Wales' biggest record label. With Sains success as both a folk and rock label, more and more folk musicians transitioned into rock music in the early 1970s, meaning that traditional Celtic element within Welsh folk music now became evident within the burgeoning Welsh language rock scene. Acts such as
Edward H. Dafis caused a sensation by "going electric" and using rock instrumentation. This new rock scene soon became associated with
Welsh nationalism, political activism and the campaign for the Welsh language. The late 1970s also saw a backlash against Celtic rock in Wales, with many Welsh language acts such as Sains own
Geraint Jarman finding success. Jarman began experimenting with more contemporary and global musical forms (such as
reggae), combining them with lyrics that still conformed to the traditional techniques of
ancient Welsh poetry. As such, the 1980s Welsh rock scene was split between three distinct genres, dominated by
post-punk acts who consciously moved away from Celtic Rock such as Jarman and
Datblygu, the new
punk-folk Celtic Rock bands such as
Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion and those who favoured the pre-punk music of the 1960s and 1970s. Jarman himself would later be credited by the musician
Gruff Rhys with "severing ties with Celtic folk and serving as a bridge to a new wave of post-punk". Despite this, Celtic rock firmly transitioned into the Welsh mainstream throughout the 1980s, becoming the centre of Welsh language popular culture. Globally, acts such as Ar Log also embarked on world tours, bringing new renditions of "traditional Welsh folk music, haunting love songs, harp airs, melodic dance tunes and rousing sea shanties" to new markets. Dafydd Iwan's 1983 song "
Yma o Hyd" would become his biggest cross-over success, with a 2022 poll found that 35% of the people of Wales knew at least some of the song's lyrics. While the 1990s saw the creation of the
Fflach:tradd label and an increase in recognisably Celtic rock acts like the
Bluehorses, Welsh music was defined by the return of internationally successful rock bands that marked the "
Cool Cymru" era, such as the
Manic Street Preachers,
Stereophonics,
Super Furry Animals and
Catatonia. The early twenty-first century saw another revival for Welsh Celtic Rock, led by
Calan,
9Bach and
Bwncath who continue to find success within the Celtic rock genre.
Cornwall and the Isle of Man Whereas other Celtic nations already had existing folk music cultures before the end of the 1960s, this was less true in
Cornwall and the
Isle of Man, which were also relatively small in population and more integrated into English culture and (in the case of Cornwall) the British State. As a result, there was relatively little impact from the initial wave of folk electrification in the 1970s. However, the
pan-Celtic movement, with its musical and cultural festivals helped foster some reflections in Cornwall where a few bands from the 1980s onwards utilised the traditions of Cornish music with rock, including Moondragon and its successor Lordryk. More recently the bands Sacred Turf, Skwardya and Krena, have been performing in the
Cornish language.
Celtic Diaspora One by-product of the Celtic Diaspora was the existence of large communities across the world that looked for their cultural roots and identity to their origins in the Celtic nations. While it seems young musicians from these communities usually chose between their folk culture and mainstream forms of music such as rock or pop, after the advent of Celtic punk relatively large numbers of bands began to emerge styling themselves as Celtic rock. This is particularly noticeable in the US and Canada, where there are large communities descended from Irish and Scottish immigrants. From the United States this includes the Irish bands
Flogging Molly,
the Tossers,
Dropkick Murphys, the Young Dubliners, LeperKhanz,
Black 47,
the Killdares,
the Drovers and
Jackdaw, and for Scottish bands
Prydein,
Seven Nations and
Flatfoot 56. From Canada are bands like
the Mahones,
Enter the Haggis,
Great Big Sea,
the Real Mckenzies and
Spirit of the West. These groups were naturally influenced by American forms of music, some containing members with no Celtic ancestry and commonly singing in English. A band in England is
the BibleCode Sundays. ==Subgenres==