Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane

Person from Ireland

Genres: celtic, irish, folk, female vocalists, Irish Folk

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About Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane (26 September 1953 – 16 March 2026) was an Irish folk singer and founding member of the group De Dannan. She subsequently pursued a solo recording and touring career. Keane was born in the village of Sylane, near Tuam, in County Galway, Ireland. From the age of four, she was raised by her aunts Rita and Sarah Keane, who were known sean-nós singers. Influenced by them, Keane began singing at an early age and made her first recording for Radio Éireann in 1958, at the age of five. Her brother, Seán, also pursued a career in music. In 1975, Keane co-founded the traditional Irish band De Dannan. The group released their debut album "Dé Danann" the same year and gained international recognition, achieving success in the United States in the late 1970s. During her time with the band, their single "The Rambling Irishman" was a hit in Ireland. Keane left De Dannan in early 1976 after two years and was replaced by Andy Irvine. Around this time, she married multi-instrumentalist John Faulkner, with whom she recorded three albums. Keane lived and worked in London with Faulkner before returning to Ireland in the early 1980s. They collaborated on film scores and BBC programmes and formed the bands The Reel Union and Kinvara. Keane released her first solo album, "There Was a Maid", in 1978, followed by "Broken Hearted I'll Wander" (1979) and "Farewell to Eirinn" (1980), both featuring contributions from Faulkner. She briefly rejoined De Dannan in the mid-1980s, recording the albums "Anthem" and "Ballroom" with the band. She resumed her solo career in 1988 with the release of the album "Dolores Keane". Her 1989 album "A Lion in a Cage" included the song "Lion in a Cage" written by Faulkner, which protested the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. The song became Keane's first number-one single in Ireland, and she performed it at celebrations marking Mandela's release. Keane also performed in theatrical productions, including the Dublin production of Brendan Behan's "The Hostage" and JM Synge's "Playboy of the Western World". In 1992, Keane contributed to the anthology "A Woman's Heart", alongside Eleanor McEvoy, Mary Black, Frances Black, Sharon Shannon, and Maura O'Connell. The album became the best-selling in Irish history. Its follow-up, "A Woman's Heart Vol. 2", was released in 1994. That same year, Keane released the solo album "Solid Ground" on the Shanachie label, which received critical acclaim in Europe and the United States. In 1995, Keane was awarded the Fiddler's Green Hall of Fame in Rostrevor, County Down, for her contribution to Irish music and culture. She appeared in the RTÉ/BBC television series "Bringing It All Back Home", which traced the movement of Irish music to America, performing in Nashville with musicians such as Emmylou Harris and Richard Thompson, and in Galway with her aunts. In 1997, a compilation of her most loved songs reached number one on the Irish albums chart. Keane released the studio album "Night Owl" in 1998, returning to traditional Irish roots and achieving success in Europe and America. She also toured again with De Dannan in the late 1990s, performing in venues such as Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City. Studio albums There Was a Maid (1978) Dolores Keane (1988) Lion in a Cage (1989) Solid Ground (1993) Night Owl (1998)

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