Andrew Kennedy Irvine (born 14 June 1942) is an Irish folk musician, singer-songwriter, and a founding member of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and Usher's Island. He also featured in duos, with Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Dick Gaughan, Rens van der Zalm, and Luke Plumb. Irvine plays the mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, harmonica, and hurdy-gurdy.
He has been influential in folk music for over six decades, during which he recorded a large repertoire of songs and tunes he assembled from books, old recordings and rooted in the Irish, English, Scottish, Eastern European, Australian and American old-time and folk traditions.
As a child actor, Irvine honed his performing talent from an early age and learned the classical guitar. He switched to folk music after discovering Woody Guthrie, also adopting the latter's other instruments: harmonica and mandolin. While extending Guthrie's guitar picking technique to the mandolin,Andy Irvine – Celtic Roots... Dustbowl Inspiration, by Joe Vanderford in Frets Vol. 7 No. 3 (Issue #73), March 1985. he further developed his playing of this instrument—and, later, of the mandola and the bouzouki—into a decorative, harmonic style, and embraced the modes and rhythms of Bulgarian folk music.
Along with Johnny Moynihan and Dónal Lunny, Irvine is one of the pioneers who adapted the Greek bouzouki—with a new tuning—into the Irish bouzouki. He contributed to advancing the design of his instruments in co-operation with English luthier Stefan Sobell,Instruments Page at Andy Irvine's website. Retrieved 26 July 2013 and he sometimes plays a hurdy-gurdy made for him in 1972 by Peter Abnett, another English luthier.
Although touring mainly as a soloist, Irvine has also enjoyed great success in pursuing collaborations through many projects that have influenced contemporary folk music. He continues to tour and has performed extensively in Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, North and South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.Gigs Page at Andy Irvine's website. Retrieved 2 January 2014 In October 2018, he received the first Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed at RTÉ Radio 1's inaugural Folk Music Awards.
Early life and acting career Andy Irvine was born in St John's Wood, northwest London on 14 June 1942. His mother, Felicia Madge Lessels, was from Wallasey, Merseyside, and his father, Archibald Kennedy Irvine, from Glasgow. His mother had been a musical comedy actress who performed under the stage name of Felice Lascelles, and Irvine would later say that "she may have given up the stage, but she never stopped acting!". At the age of three-and-a-half, Irvine started attending boarding school, where he would later play football during the winter season, rugby during the spring season, and cricket during the summer season, all of which fostered his lifelong passion for team sports.
As a child, Irvine was given opportunities to appear on stage, TV and in films.Andrew Irvine "Filmography" page at the BFI ~ Film Forever website. Retrieved 6 May 2015Andrew Irvine "Filmography" page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 3 June 2015 In the summer holidays of 1950, when he was eight years old, his first role was to play Jimmy in the film A Tale of Five Cities (released as A Tale of Five Women in the US).A Tale of Five Cities. Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 27 August 2013Biography – Chapter 1. Page at Andy Irvine's website. Retrieved 29 July 2013 At thirteen, he starred as Nokie (short for Pinocchio) in the ITV children's series Round at the RedwaysRound at the Redways, Episode: 1.4 (19 October 1955). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 14 December 2013Round at the Redways, Episode: 1.9 (23 November 1955). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 5 August 2016Round at the Redways (8 February 1956). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 5 August 2016 and joined a school for child actors. He made his stage debut in the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton and, at fourteen, received rave reviews for his performance as Morgan in the ITV Television Playhouse drama The Magpies, adapted from a Henry James short story.The Magpies (7 February 1957). Listed in Season 2 (1956–57) at the ITV Television Playhouse website. Retrieved 14 May 2015 The same year, he was Eric Brandt in Escape to Happiness, for the Armchair Theatre programmeArmchair Theatre; Episode: Escape to Happiness (9 June 1957). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 5 August 2016 and also played John Logie Baird as a boy in the film A Voice in Vision.A Voice in Vision. Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 15 May 2015A Voice in Vision. Page at the Scotland on Air website. Retrieved 24 May 2025 In early 1958, Irvine featured as Archie Almond in five episodes of Run to Earth.Run to Earth; Episode: Strange Neighbours (11 February 1958). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016Run to Earth; Episode: Aunt Alexa (18 February 1958). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016Run to Earth; Episode: Captain Gaunt's Secret (25 February 1958). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016Run to Earth; Episode: Ninian McHarg (11 March 1958), IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2016. In June that year, he played Lord Heybrook in French Without Tears for the Saturday Playhouse TV seriesSaturday Playhouse; Episode 12: French Without Tears (7 June 1958), IMDb. Retrieved 8 August 2016. and, soon after, was one of the 'Pygmies' in Brouhaha, with Peter Sellers as the Sultan. Irvine then played Raymond opposite Laurence Harvey in Room at the TopRoom at the Top. Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 27 August 2013Room at the Top. Page at the BFI (British Film Institute) website. Retrieved 4 May 2016 and, although his scene was cut from the final release, he still appears briefly in the film, handing a bottle of champagne to Harvey during a wedding scene. In late 1959, he featured as Lanky Graham in Ask for King BillyAsk for King Billy; Episode 4 (24 November 1959). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016 and, in early 1960, he played a schoolboy in A Holiday Abroad for ITV Television Playhouse.ITV Television Playhouse; Season 5, Episode 23: A Holiday Abroad (12 February 1960). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016. Later that year, at eighteen, Irvine performed as Dan in three episodes of Sheep's Clothing,Sheep's Clothing; Episode 1.2 (25 September 1960). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016.Sheep's Clothing; Episode 1.3 (2 October 1960). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016.Sheep's Clothing; Episode 1.4 (9 October 1960). Page at the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. Retrieved 8 August 2016. after which he was offered a two-year contract with the BBC's Repertory company ('The Rep'),The Radio Drama Company. Homepage at the BBC website. Retrieved 9 October 2013. where he befriended the poet Louis MacNeice who worked there as a writer for over twenty years. As Irvine recalled much later:
However, Irvine would give up acting in his early twenties, after moving to Dublin at the end of his time with the 'Rep'.
Influences
Music Irvine loved music from the earliest time he could remember. His mother had a stack of old, cracked 78s that he used to play on a wind-up gramophone. "They were mainly songs from long forgotten musical comedies but I wish I had them now." At thirteen, he studied classical guitar for two years, initially with Julian Bream and later under one of Bream's pupils but switched to folk music after discovering Woody Guthrie during the Skiffle boom of the 1950s.
Guthrie was to become an enduring influence on his music, on his choice of additional instruments (mandolin and harmonica) and general outlook on life. In a 1985 interview, Irvine expanded on how, in the mid-1950s, he discovered Woody Guthrie through Lonnie Donegan's recordings on the EPs Backstairs Session and Skiffle Session:
In May 1959, Irvine began frequenting the Ballads and Blues Club—started at the Princess Louise pub in High Holborn by Ewan MacColl in 1957 Page at the Dublin Review of Books website. Retrieved 16 June 2015.—which, by September 1959, had moved to 2, Soho Square under the sole leadership of Malcolm Nixon. American folk musicians who had been closely associated with Guthrie would perform there: Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Derroll Adams and Cisco Houston; Irvine befriended all three of them, particularly Elliott, who taught him how to play the harmonica in Guthrie's style:
After locating Guthrie at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey, Irvine began corresponding with Sid Gleason who, with her husband Bob, would take Guthrie out of hospital and entertain him at weekends. She was the first person to call him "Andy", and thereafter remained a conduit between him and Guthrie.Andy Irvine at 60 By Susanne Kalweit, in FolkWorld. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
During 1959, Irvine and Elliott also recorded audio tapes to send Guthrie and, after recording one of Guthrie's songs, Elliott exclaimed: "Andy, you sound more like Woody than I do!", just as Guthrie had once said to Elliott: "Jack, you sound more like me than I do!". However, Irvine's dream to join Guthrie in the States eventually faded when his mother died in 1961.
In 1991, Irvine wrote his tribute song to Woody Guthrie: "Never Tire of the Road", first released on the solo album Rude Awakening.Sleeve notes from Andy Irvine – Rude Awakening, Green Linnet GLCD 1114, 1991. He recorded it again for the album Rain on the Roof, released in 1996, after including another verse plus the chorus from a song Guthrie recorded in March 1944: "You Fascists Are Bound to Lose".
In a 2000 interview,Way Out There, by Colin Harper in Folk Roots No.208, October 2000. Irvine stated: "I never met Woody, but I corresponded with him in hospital. [...] The kind of values that Woody represented are one of my great passions."
Social justice Irvine is a card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World (the 'Wobblies'), with an avowed commitment to social justice. One example is his song "The Spirit of Mother Jones", which champions the life, social activism and energetic organising leadership of Mary Harris Jones ('Mother Jones'), which he recorded and released on his 2010 album Abocurragh.Andy Irvine: Abocurragh. Review by Robin Denselow in The Guardian (23 December 2010). Retrieved 27 July 2013 On 1 August 2012, Irvine performed in Shandon, County Cork, for the inaugural Mother Jones Festival which celebrated the 175th Anniversary of the birth of Mary Harris; he performed at the Festival again on 1 August 2013.Cork City declares August 1st as Mother Jones Day. 'Announcement' Page at the Cork Mother Jones Festival website (24 April 2013). Retrieved 27 July 2013
Like other artists contracted to perform at Féile Iorrais (a community festival in Erris) in August 2007, Irvine was disgusted to learn that Royal Dutch Shell were partly sponsoring the events. Shell's plans for the Corrib gas project have been the subject of controversy in County Mayo. Irvine pledged to donate part of his fee to the Shell to Sea campaign."Andy Irvine has pledged to donate some of his fee to Shell to Sea, a massive gesture for which we are hugely grateful." Changed perspectives By Fearbolg – S2S, in indymedia Ireland, 31 July 2007, at 22:45. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
Music career 1960s: Dublin, Sweeney's Men, Eastern Europe Move to Dublin and transition from acting to folk music