10 Irish Guitar Players Worth Listening To
Ireland has produced an incredible number of great guitar players. From blues and rock to folk, Celtic rock and heavy metal, Irish guitarists have made their mark on some of the biggest stages in the world.
Some are household names, while others are musicians you may not have heard of yet. But they all have one thing in common: they know how to make a guitar sound good.
So, if you're looking to discover some great Irish guitar players, here are ten musicians well worth adding to your playlist.
10. Paul Brady
Paul Brady is a guitarist who proves that great guitar playing isn't necessarily about playing lots of notes.
Brady has developed a highly individual acoustic guitar style influenced by Irish traditional music, folk, blues and rock. His playing is rhythmic, harmonically interesting and often deceptively difficult.
His career has included The Johnstons, Planxty and Moving Hearts, as well as a hugely successful solo career.
Listen closely to Brady's acoustic guitar work and you'll hear some beautifully intricate playing underneath his songwriting. His guitar often becomes an integral part of the arrangement rather than simply accompanying the vocal.
Worth listening to: The Lakes of Pontchartrain, The Island, Nothing But the Same Old Story and his work with Planxty.
9. Declan Sinnott
Moving away from traditional rock guitar for a moment, Declan Sinnott is an important name in Irish folk and contemporary music.
Sinnott's playing combines acoustic and electric guitar, folk influences and atmospheric textures. Rather than being a guitarist who needs to dominate the song, he has an excellent understanding of how to use the guitar to support a singer and build the mood of a performance.
He was a founder member of Moving Hearts and has worked extensively with artists including Christy Moore and Mary Black.
His playing is a great example of how versatile the guitar can be in Irish music. It doesn't always have to be about the big solo.
Sometimes the best guitar part is the one that makes the whole song work.
Worth listening to: His work with Moving Hearts, Christy Moore and Mary Black.
8. Eric Bell – Thin Lizzy
Before Thin Lizzy became famous for their twin-guitar sound, there was Eric Bell.
Bell was the band's original guitarist, playing alongside Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during Thin Lizzy's early years. His playing was heavily influenced by blues and early rock, giving those early recordings a rawer sound than the later Thin Lizzy albums.
He played on the band's famous version of Whiskey in the Jar
and co-wrote the classic The Rocker.
Bell's playing is a great reminder that you don't need a wall of effects or a dozen pedals to make a guitar sound powerful.
Sometimes, a great amp, a good guitar and a killer riff are enough.
Worth listening to: The Rocker, Whiskey in the Jar and the early Thin Lizzy albums.
7. Pat McManus
If you're looking for an Irish guitarist who deserves to be much better known, check out Pat McManus.
McManus was the guitarist and vocalist with Mama's Boys, the band he formed with his brothers John and Tommy. Their music combined hard rock, blues and melodic guitar playing, and they built a strong following internationally.
McManus was a seriously accomplished player. He could move effortlessly between chunky rhythm guitar, bluesy leads, fast runs and harmonised guitar parts.
And then there was the violin.
His ability to switch between guitar and violin gave Mama's Boys a distinctive sound that set them apart from many of their contemporaries.
Worth listening to: Needle in the Groove, Runaway Dreams and Straight Forward.
6. Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé brought a completely different attitude to the Irish guitar scene.
Born in Dublin, Tormé developed a wild, energetic style that mixed hard rock, blues, punk and psychedelic guitar. He wasn't afraid of feedback, noise or pushing an amplifier to its limits.
He became particularly well known through his work with Gillan and later stepped in to play with Ozzy Osbourne following the death of Randy Rhoads.
Tormé was a guitarist who could sound dangerous. His playing wasn't always neat and polished—and that was part of the appeal.
Worth listening to: Check out his work with Gillan and his live performances with Ozzy Osbourne.
5. Vivian Campbell
From Derry to the biggest stages in heavy metal, Vivian Campbell has had one hell of a career.
Campbell first became widely known as the guitarist in Dio, playing on the classic albums Holy Diver and The Last in Line. He later went on to play with Whitesnake and Def Leppard, among others.
His guitar style combines heavy riffs with melodic, technically impressive solos. There's plenty of speed when the song calls for it, but his playing is also about memorable hooks and strong songwriting.
If you're interested in 1980s metal guitar, Campbell's work with Dio is essential listening.
Worth listening to: Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, Don't Talk to Strangers and Straight Through the Heart.
4. Henry McCullough
Henry McCullough might not always get mentioned alongside Gallagher and Moore, but his career tells you just how highly regarded he was.
Born in Portstewart, Northern Ireland, McCullough played with Sweeney's Men, Eire Apparent and Joe Cocker's Grease Band, and famously performed at Woodstock.
He later joined Paul McCartney and Wings, where he recorded one of his best-known guitar performances.
That performance was the solo on My Love.
It's a perfect example of McCullough's approach. There's no need for a long, complicated shred-fest. The solo is melodic, expressive and perfectly suited to the song.
Worth listening to: My Love, Hi Hi Hi and his work with Joe Cocker's Grease Band.
3. Johnny Fean – Horslips
If you like the idea of Irish traditional music being played through a wall of Marshall amplifiers, you'll want to hear Johnny Fean.
As the guitarist with Horslips, Fean was one of the musicians who helped create the Celtic rock sound in the 1970s. His playing brought together traditional Irish melodies with the power and attitude of rock guitar.
His most famous piece of guitar work is undoubtedly Dearg Doom.
The instantly recognisable riff, based on the traditional Chief O'Neill's March, remains one of the great guitar hooks in Irish rock.
Fean's playing wasn't about showing off for the sake of it. His strength was in creating memorable riffs and melodies that fitted naturally into Horslips' songs.
Worth listening to: Dearg Doom, Trouble (With a Capital T) and King of the Fairies.
2. Gary Moore
Few Irish guitarists developed such a powerful and recognisable sound as Gary Moore.
Moore could play heavy rock, blues and jazz-rock with incredible technical ability, but what really set him apart was the emotion in his playing. His huge bends, wide vibrato and sustained notes could make a guitar solo sound almost like a human voice.
He played with Skid Row, Colosseum II and Thin Lizzy, as well as having a hugely successful solo career.
For many guitar players, Moore's version of Still Got the Blues
is essential listening. His work on Parisienne Walkways
with Phil Lynott is another classic example of his ability to turn a simple melody into an unforgettable guitar performance.
Worth listening to: Parisienne Walkways, Still Got the Blues, Still in Love with You and The Loner.
1. Rory Gallagher
You can't really talk about great Irish guitar players without starting with Rory Gallagher.
Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Gallagher became one of Ireland's most celebrated blues-rock guitarists. First gaining international attention with Taste, he went on to build a hugely successful solo career.
His playing was raw, passionate and incredibly energetic. Gallagher wasn't interested in simply playing fast. His guitar had a voice of its own, whether he was playing blues, rock, slide guitar or quieter acoustic material.
His battered Fender Stratocaster became almost as famous as the man himself.
Worth listening to: A Million Miles Away, Shadow Play, Bad Penny and Bullfrog Blues.
If you've never listened to Rory Gallagher before, start with Irish Tour '74. It's a brilliant introduction to what made him such a special guitarist.
Final Thoughts: The Best Irish Guitar Players?
Trying to choose just ten Irish guitar players worth listening to is almost impossible.
There are plenty of other names that could easily have made this list. Ireland has an extraordinary guitar tradition, and these musicians demonstrate just how broad that tradition really is.
You've got the folk and acoustic traditions represented by Paul Brady and Declan Sinnott, the blues-rock foundations of Eric Bell and Henry McCullough, the Celtic rock of Johnny Fean, the hard rock of Pat McManus, the punk-infused rock of Bernie Tormé, the metal of Vivian Campbell, and the blues-rock guitar legends Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher.
And that's really the fun of exploring Irish guitar.
Don't just listen to the famous solos. Listen to the rhythm playing, the riffs, the tone and the little details that make each guitarist different.
Put on an album, turn up the volume and start listening.
Photo Credit: Gary Moore at the Manchester Apollo, 1983. Photo: Harry Potts / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
