MacDara Ó Raghallaigh’s fiddle playing is often described as ‘brilliant’, ‘amazing’, ‘top-class’.These accolades indeed fit well as MacDara has earned a reputation as one of Ireland’s outstanding fiddle players. His playing style is highly individual, personal and deeply rooted in the pure tradition.

This first anticipated and overdue recording of MacDara comes from two nights of playing before a live audience on 14th and 15th of January, 2011 in Newtown, Co Kildare, not far from his Meath home. It is just a sample of the enormous repertoire of tunes he possesses, and it will bring his music to a wider audience. The unaccompanied sound of the fiddle makes for clear listening and it will be of particular interest not just to followers of the music but to students of the fiddle everywhere.