Triona Ni Dhomnaill was born in Dublin and raised in Kells, Co. Meath. Triona’s father, Aodh, hailed from the Donegal Gaeltacht of Rann na Feirste and it was Aodh along with Tríona’s Sligo-born mother, Bríd, who imbued a love and respect for traditional music and song in the young Tríona. Theirs was a musical household and her brother Mícheál and sister Maighread were to achieve fame as traditional performers in their own right. Visits back to Donegal brought Tríona into contact with her aunt, the noted traditional singer, Neilí Ní Dhomhnaill, who was to supply her with so much song material.

While still in school Tríona was part of the Irish traditional group Skara Brae whose one eponymous recording for Gael Linn is recognised as a classic of Irish music. Following the break-up of Skara Brae Tríona was to become a founding member of The Bothy Band one of the most influential and highly regarded of the great wave of traditional bands formed in the 1970’s. Tríona’s rock solid yet highly inventive keyboard playing was fundamental to the superb Bothy Band rhythm section that also featured her brother Mícheál playing guitar and close friend Donal Lunny on bouzouki. Her vocal contribution to the band was also notable. The Bothy Band blazed a trail across the firmament of Irish music before disbanding in 1979. A sojourn in the United States followed for Tríona and while their she performed and recorded with the band Touchstone before joining up again with her brother Mícheál and friends Johnny and Phil Cunningham to form Relativity. Two succcessful albums and ceaseless live work followed. In 1987 Tríona recorded the first of six albums she was to make with the successful new-age Celtic tinged band Nightnoise. Returning to Ireland saw Tríona perform and record with her sister Maighread releasing the acclaimed Idir an Dá Sholas ten years ago.

The Key’s Within marks a new departure for one of the more understated yet respected musicians to emerge from the great traditional music revival of recent times. The CD features original compositions by Tríona that are inspired by her life in music and the friends and relations who have sustained and inspired her along that journey. With the release of The Key’s Within Tríona recognises and celebrates those friendships and the compositions are about those people with, in Tríona’s own words “love and thanks”

This picture is of an Irish stamp featuring the great, great Bothy Band. Triona is seated at the clavinet

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The Key's Within

The Key’s Within is a new album of self-composed music played on piano and various keyboards by noted Irish musician and singer Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill.