The Máirtín de Cógáin Project is a group led by Cork Renaissance man Máirtín de Cógáin—an entertainer of unending talent!
A crowned All-Ireland Storytelling Champion twice over, a noted singer, a dancer and a heart-beating bodhrán (Irish drum) player, and actor, Máirtín has gathered a stable of the finest Irish-Yank musicians around him to bring the story of Cork to the States. Ballads of love, friendship, betrayal and a love-often-overlooked are often overlooked when they are from one’s own city, and the Project burnishes them to their original luster, all the while time poking fun at either side of the adventure. The night will have a few dance tunes and a story or two from the Corkman himself.”
Máirtín learnt from many famous Irish singers such as Danni Maichi Ua Súilleabháin, Séamus Mac Mathúna, and Ciarán Dwyer. A fluent speaker of Irish (Gaelic), his love of the ‘Teanga na Gael‘ stems from his parents, who brought him up in a bilingual house and sent him to primary & secondary schools taught in the medium of Irish. Máirtín then earned a Degree in the Irish language from University College Cork.
Máirtín has been playing the bodhrán for a long many moons, learning first from Eric Cunningham (The New De Danann) and later from Colm Murphy (The Old De Danann). Máirtín has taught Bodhrán technique at the Catskills Irish Arts Week, August Irish Week as well as giving workshops at major US festivals including the Kansas City Irish Fest, CelticFest Mississippi, Minnesota Irish Fair, and La Crosse IrishFest. He also gives private tutorials along the road while touring, be sure to inquire if you need a lesson.
Growing up in a house full of dancing, Máirtín could not but help teach the steps at the family run Céilís from an early age, and a gifted teacher of Cork’s folk dances he is.
If not on stage singing, storytelling, dancing, or playing the bodhrán, Máirtín is living the dream in San Diego with his wife and two boys as well as working as a voice actor and an actor, most notably in the film The Wind that Shakes the Barley. He has co-written many productions with the Be Your Own Banana Theatre Company, recently playing De Bogman off-broadway in NY.
Members of the Project at CelticFest Mississippi 2023 are Don Penzien, Tony Davoren, Pete Dawson, Steve Payne & Jil Chambless. With regret, Haley Richardson will be touring with Riverdance in Australia and won’t be able to join us this year. We wish her an amazing time down under!
