The Ceili (Ceilidhe) Bands of the 60's and before

Currently listing 85 Ceili bands as of 09/28/2023

"Ceili" Bands (the word Ceilidhe means "party" in Gaelic) have been around Ireland for a long time. In the earliest days, Ceili's would take place almost anywhere: in a house, at a crossroads, where ever a few musicians and dancers got together.

In the earliest years of the 20th century they were known by the Irish word "Ceilidhe" Band name and it would be the 1950's before the shortened "Ceili" came into fashion.   

In fact, this form of entertainment played an important role in the everyday life of rural Ireland in the middle of the 20th century. Often in those days before and just after World War II, rural farmers could find it hard to make ends meet. There were two ways one could augment their income back then. Trade goods like eggs with the traveling shop (aka the van man) for other goods like beans and flour. Or open your house for a "house dance" and charge a few pence for the all-night dance.

In the early years of the 20th Century, Ceili bands and Orchestras vied for the hearts of Irish dancers. Of course, orchestras tended to be more refined and sophisticated, sporting tuxedos and reading sheet music, while the Ceili bands were more raucous, casual, and more "rural" in nature.

Finding information about the Ceili Bands of Ireland is a difficult task today. Unlike the orchestras, many of which morphed into new formats when the showbands took over the ballroom scene, most of the Ceili bands all but disappeared. No longer providing music for the dancing public, they were relegated to guest appearances at Fleadh Cheoils and Irish Traditional Festivals.

However, in the 1940s and 1950s and into the early 1960s the Ceili Bands were a major force on the Irish Entertainment scene. This section of the website may never grow much past the current size, but we thought it was important to pay tribute to this form of Irish entertainment separately, rather than as a subset of the showband list.         

Click here for Ceili band photos.               Click here for personal photo collections

Click on any blue highlighted Ceili band name to see their photos

^ All entries marked like this come from the 1967 Showband Annual which we received from Liam O'Reilly of Arklow, former member of The Columbia Showband, among others. Thanks Liam for the contribution and photos elsewhere on the site! Other names supplied via Liam were furnished by Kathryn (unknown last name), who has been involved in Ceili music for many years.
* Our thanks to Declan Colgan for adding this name to our list.