[1] They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh, and Michael Holmes and have been fronted by singer Cathy Jordan since 1991.

In 2019 they released an album on the US Rounder Records label called The Great Irish Song Book featuring a selection of classic Irish songs sung by a number of well known singers including Steve Earle, Andrea Corr, Vince Gill, Kate Rusby, Imelda May, Rhiannon Giddens, The Steel Drivers, Brendan Gleeson, Abigail Washburn, and Jamey Johnson.

The band was originally called The Boys of Sligo;[2] an album under this title, with Martin McGinley on fiddle, and with no vocals, was released by Sound Records (SUN CD1).

[4] They finished last (with five points which were awarded to them by the Albanian back-up jury because of a failed televote), for their performance of "They Can't Stop The Spring".

"[6][7][8][9] Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter accused the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) of "cyberbullying" Dervish into withdrawing from the concerts.