Laoise Kelly and Michelle O’Brien

Mayo harper Laoise Kelly and Clare fiddler Michelle O’Brien launch their first album together, The Wishing Well. Recorded live at “The Dock” in Carrick on Shannon in October 2010, the CD takes its name from a jig composed by the great fiddle player, Tommy Peoples.

The title was chosen by Michelle, who learned the fiddle from Tommy and his daughter Siobhán. She began playing in sessions at the age of only 13 and moved to Dublin in 1998, where she still lives and teaches the fiddle.

Laoise, who was a member of the highly regarded all-female band, Bumblebees, is seen as the most significant harper of her generation. From Westport in Co. Mayo, she began playing at an early age, encouraged by her father, who introduced her to the music of O’Carolan.