For 10 days over St Patricks Week, The Moynihan Brothers Band toured Costa Del Sol, Spain for Enjoy Travel's "Sunshine and Shamrock" festival, with the likes of Johnny Carrol, Dave Lawlor and more.
The Moynihan Brothers Band featured in the 3/3/2010 edition of "The Echo" newspaper.
From Ferns to Costa acclaim
IT STARTED off sixty years ago with humble origins in a village in the heart of Co. Wexford.
Now, all these years and the building of a legendary reputation later, the institution that is the Moynihan family musical and entertainment empire in Ferns is spreading its fame as far away as sunny Spain.
The Moynihan Brothers Band has been booked to take part in the Sunshine and Shamrock Festival in Costa del Sol this month, the Wexford trio of brothers topping the bill with names like Tony Stevens, Dave Lawlor, Johnny Carroll, Dermot Hegarty and many more Irish Showband famous names.
The event is held at the Spanish resort coast every St. Patrick’s Week (this year’s is March 9 19), attracting hundreds of people for a week of festivity.
From North as well as south, the Irish jet out with Enjoy Travel for a welcome breakaway that is a week of Irish flavoured entertainment and craic in a foreign land.
As they have to fulfil engagements here up to Wednesday March 10th, the Moynihan band will fly out on the next day and immediately get involved in the Spanish promotion on the 12th, climaxing in the big Irish festivities on St. Patrick’s Day itself.
Arthur, Dave and Tommy Moynihan are members of the original Dave Moynihan Showband, started in far-off 1950 by their parents Dave and Patty, a duo who instigated the famous legacy.
Dave snr. made his first radio broadcast at the age of 13, playing accordion on Radio Éireann, and subsequently made several television and radio appearances.
He became AllIreland champion accordion player on several occasions, eventually earning a regular role as a judge for All-Ireland Talent competitions in those pre-X-factor days.
His three sons, who make up the Moynihan Brothers Band, are members of the original Showband, playing the length and breadth of Ireland with the famous combo over the years, as well as in ballrooms throughout the UK, such as the Galteemore, National and Gresham in London.
The band now consists of three brothers, featuring Dave on keyboards and vocals, Arthur on lead guitar/doubling on trumpet and vocals, and Tommy on tenor sax, alto sax and clarinet.
The trio of top-class professionals are renowned for staging a great show of musical variety and versatility, as audiences at such venues as the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney, Jury’s of Ballsbridge, The Red Cow Inn on the Naas Road, Hazeltree in Mallow, Hazel in Monasterevin, as well as gigs as far north as Donegal can all testify.
The May bank holiday weekend sees them on tour in Westport in Mayo.
And now they’re set to take on one of their biggest engagements when they present their lively, non-stop, all-age-dancing entertainment in Spain.
