07/31/2026
CONGRATULATIONS again to Máirtín de Cógáin on the 2026 Irish Artist in America Achievement Award! Please take some time to read a little about Máirtín's personal journey through the below interview, which is being published in Irish Music Magazine. We hope you enjoy as much as we do!
-
Máirtín de Cógáin – A Man of Many Talents
Máirtín de Cógáin, renowned singer, dancer, storyteller, and master of the bodhrán, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Irish Artist in America Achievement Award. Ken Fleming, Executive Director of the Traditional Irish Music Education Society, recently interviewed Máirtín about his career.
-
Ken: You are known as a versatile and approachable performer and an ambassador for Irish culture. What was the importance of your upbringing in taking you down this path?
Máirtín: Carrigaline when I grew up in it was a small town, seven miles south of Cork City, where everyone knew everyone else. The roots run deep; my people have lived under the shadow of Cogan Castle for over 850 years.
My father played drums in a dance band in the 60’s. But besides that, he always ran Céilís. We had the premier set dancing hall in Ireland for nearly twenty years. When musicians came through town, there'd be a party in the house. Everyone had to have their party piece, including me. By age seven I was able to tell a story; it was a story my father taught me and probably six-minutes long, for a close, attentive audience. Looking back, that is the moment the limelight caught me first.
Ken: You knew you wanted to be a performer?
Máirtín: My mother wanted me to be a musician, but I ended up a bodhrán player. (Laughter.) Everyone did the tin whistle first, all through primary school. My mother also had me at the violin for six months, the bagpipes for six months, the piano for two years, and the accordion for two years.
At thirteen I was in the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for Comhrá Gaeilge (an Irish language competition) in Clonmel. We were camping and next to us were Dara Bracken, Éamonn de Barra and a few more future stars. So I hung out with them just by chance. We were at a session during a lock in. It was all fiddles. And I couldn't play anything. I didn't even have a song in my head. I remember there was rosin floating in the air and there was this golden circle of music. I thought, “that’s where I need to be.”
But as luck would have it at fifteen years old I met with Danny Maidhcí Ó Súilleabháin by his fireplace. He'd never take money, but he'd sit down every week and teach me sean nós singing. He gave me so many like “Táimsé ‘gus Máire,” and “Ten Minutes Too Late.” I also learned some songs from Séamus MacMathúna like “Brian O’Lynn” and “Whiskey Me Boys” and the singing took off.
Ken: When did you pick up the bodhrán?
Máirtín: Perpetually broke in college I only had the half fare home which left me in Douglas, where my parents have a Comhaltas branch. I had to wait there two hours, so my mother, Aislinn, gave me a six-inch bodhrán with a hole in it and a small stick like you’d give to a child. She told me “Go in there. Eric Cunningham's teaching the bodhrán.” My world changed. I came back the next week, still with the small bodhrán. Eventually I got one of those Walton bodhráns. I was flying it. Then Eric left and I ended up teaching the class after only three months of lessons.
Ken: Great story. You just mentioned one of several influences—who else would you consider your musical mentors?
Máirtín: Jimmy Crowley would be a massive influence. When I was growing up, his CDs were all around the house. We toured for several years together, it was great to learn from him. John Spillane would be another big influence. When I was coming up, singing in the Lobby Bar, he'd give me a gig to play as one of his special mystery guests. I listened to a lot of Bob Marley as well. In my bodhrán playing, I’d have a bit of that Jamaican backbeat, maybe. And many hours of The Bothy Band, Michael Coleman and old singers from tapes on Q4 of the Boole library.
Ken: And storytelling is also your specialty, too. How did that come about?
Máirtín: My father, Barry Cogan, is a great storyteller as was his uncle, Éamonn de Barra. Eamon Kelly and Pat 'the Hat' Speight are big influences on my storytelling, too. Comhaltas has a storytelling competition and I won two All-Irelands. That kind of gives you a bit of belief in yourself, the fact that you have stories adds to the skills of performing. When we were touring with The Fuchsia Band, even on the big stages like Milwaukee, we always made stories a part of the show.
Ken: What kind of songs resonate with you the most?
Máirtín: Lately, I'm getting back into sean nós singing again. When I was younger, it was all comic songs, trying to get a laugh out of people. But now songs that relate to some real story, something that creates a forgotten emotion really resonate with me right now.
Ken: What gives you the greatest pleasure in performing?
Máirtín: It’s where you connect. It could be in a session with total strangers when you're really rocking, you're on that locomotive, you know the track is running out and you're still going hell for leather. Or it can be a moment where you're singing a song, losing yourself in the collaboration of the band with the crowd singing along.
Or when you're deep in a sean nós song and you've forgotten that anyone is around, stepping into another world, seeing only the images you're describing. It's all in the connecting, really.
Ken: Tell me about the podcast The Ballad Lounge. How'd that come about and why?
Máirtín: For years I’d been listening to the Irish History podcast while doing research for the bus tours I lead. From that I got the idea for focusing on ballads and diving deep into the rabbit holes. You’d think “ The Black Velvet Band” would be a slam dunk. Turns out that one is really complex. It has a range of different versions and a long history.
So I asked Rory Makem to join me and we started last June to see what would happen. By September, we had a load of episodes in the bag and the show was launched. We love talking about the story behind the songs and why the songs are important to sing. We are on a mission to bring back the Singsong.
Ken: How have your musical experiences shaped the way you play and sing today? In other words, how have you evolved as you’ve grown older?
Máirtín: I suppose I've been very lucky to have met a lot of brilliant musicians along the way. With Irish music, those that make it further up the ladder have a better view of what’s important. I find such people very open and generous, not as serious about the minutiae. So I've started to not take things as seriously, to let myself be freer in what I'm doing. Just trying to sync with the main player or the guitar player rather than showing all the fireworks that I have on bodhrán. As they say in the acting world, it's all about the other guy.
At the end of the day, I see myself as a vessel for parts of the Irish culture, bringing songs and stories to the people and helping them have a bit more of joy in life.
-
Máirtín de Cógáin will be presented his award during this year’s O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in October. Previous Irish Artist in America Achievement Award recipients include Kevin Burke (2010), John Doyle (2011), James Kelly (2012), Brendan Mulvihill (2013), Joanie Madden (2014), Mick Moloney (2016), Liz Carroll (2017), Séamus Connolly (2018), Rose Conway Flanagan (2019), James Keane (2020), Randal Bays (2021), Brian Conway (2022), Colin Farrell (2023), Liz Knowles (2024) and Billy McComiskey (2025).
