Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy.

When she was 15, she was allowed to go to dances under her brother Gearóid Ó Maonaigh's watchful eye, and gradually Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh became a couple.

[6] The group's members contributed to Mairéad and Frankie's debut album, Ceol Aduaidh (which means "Music of the North"),[9] produced by Nicky Ryan and released in 1983 by Gael-Linn Records.

[6] The two started to tour with two additional members Ciarán Curran (on bouzouki) and Mark Kelly (on guitar), performing their first ever live concert as a four-member ensemble on 1 June 1985 at St. John's Church in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, this line-up – with no name yet – being the core of the future Altan band.

The result was the album Altan, released in 1987 on the Green Linnet Records label, named after a lake which sits in the shadow of Errigal near Gweedore, County Donegal.

[4] Dermot Byrne, who had previously guested on accordion on two Altan recordings The Red Crow (1990) and Island Angel (1993), officially joined the band in 1994.

In July 1997, Altan released their next album, Runaway Sunday, which featured their version of "Gleanntáin Ghlas' Ghaoth Dobhair", a song written by Mairéad's father and a favourite at all their live shows.

In 2002, The Blue Idol featured the vocals of American singer Dolly Parton, who became close friends with the group after she invited them to play on her 2001 album Little Sparrow.

In April 2009, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh announced that the band would be going into the studio in early May 2009 to record a new Altan album with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra just after a show on 7 May 2009 in Pornichet, France (near Saint-Nazaire).

It was made available in January 2010 in Japan (where it had its launch in December 2009 during Altan's Winter 2009/2010 Japanese tour), in February 2010 in Ireland and the UK and in March 2010 in North America.

[22][23][24][25] After celebrating the launch of the 18th Frankie Kennedy Winter School programme on 29 November 2011 by performing a show taking place during the Liffey Banks Sessions at The Grand Social, Dublin, Ireland, Altan celebrated the New Year 2012, then forthcoming release of their new studio album Gleann Nimhe – The Poison Glen on the occasion of their performance on 1 January 2012 at Scoil Gheimhridh Frankie Kennedy, Ionad Cois Locha, Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland during which they played some new tracks from it.

[28] Started in April 2011, the recording took place in famous sound engineer & bass player Billy Robinson's Steeples Studios in Ramelton, Ireland and ended in early January 2012.

On 3 June 2014, on their Twitter page[32] and the Pledge Music website,[33] Altan announced that they were working on a new studio album to be recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.

[40] In late November 2014, Altan announced the names of some guest musicians who they collaborated with: Eddi Reader on vocals, Jerry Douglas (from Union Station and Transatlantic Sessions) on Dobro, Alison Brown, Bruce Molsky, Mike McGoldrick, Natalie Haas, Jim Higgins and Darol Anger.

During the show, Ciarán Tourish announced that they "have a new album almost finished [which] has been mastered" and about which they "can do any more with it [for] it's done" just before the band went into playing a new medley (taken from it) entitled "The Tin Key / Sam Kelly's Jig / The Gravediggers".

On 19 December 2014, Altan revealed the names of the final guests having participated in the recording of the new album: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Todd Phillips, Garry West, Julee Glaub Weems, Kenny Malone and Stuart Duncan and offered (for listening and downloading) a (very) short audio excerpt (18 seconds) of one new instrumental titled "Buffalo Gals".

[48] On 22 February 2015 in Charleston, WV (at Culture Center Theater, Mountain Stage Radio), Altan embarked on an extensive 25-date Winter/Spring North American tour which ended on 3 April 2015 in Greeley, Colorado (at the Union Colony Civic Center) visiting the Canada only twice: on 18 March 2015 in St. Albert, Alberta (at the Arden Theatre) and on 19 March 2015 in North Vancouver, BC (at the Centennial Theatre Centre).

[49][50][51] Altan celebrated their 30th anniversary year with a Winter tour of Europe in January 2017, visiting The Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland and France within this month.

He was not replaced until fiddle player Clare Friel joined the band, at first as a guest musician for the Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023 US tours, then as a permanent member in July 2023.

Two extensive (23-date) US Autumn and (15-date) US Spring tours ensued, respectively in October–November 2022 and March 2023 (after a unique show in Ireland on 3 February 2023 at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, Magherafelt, County Londonderry).

Born in Glasgow with her family roots firmly entrenched in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Derrynamansher), fiddle player Clare Friel permanently joined Altan in July 2023.

It is due to include a performance on 23 February at the Belfast Winter Tradfest and to end on 3 March 2024 in Killarney at the Gathering Traditional Irish Music Festival.

Incidentally, Martin Tourish wrote (but didn't record) the song "An Ghealóg" from the 2012 Altan studio album Gleann Nimhe – The Poison Glen.

Ni Mhaonaigh is regarded as one of the great female singers of Ireland, standing alongside Mary Black, Moya Brennan and Sinéad O'Connor.