THE GREAT IRISH SONGBOOK - TONY CHRISTIE & RANAGRI

Many years ago, Tony Christie met singer and writer, Dónal Rogers, after a gig when Dónal was working with Sean Fitzgerald, (Tony's son).

Dónal discovered that Tony's birth name was Fitzgerald, and that his family had emigrated from County Mayo. His grandparents were in a Ceilidh band, and Tony grew up listening to the music from his Irish roots. Dónal’s family came from Ranagri, County Carlow, and moved to the UK in the late 1950's.

Over a glass of the finest Irish whiskey, they spoke about a shared desire to record some of the songs from their homeland, some of the beautiful music of Ireland.

Enter Stockfisch Records in Germany, who were already working with Dónal’s folk band, Ranagri. They loved the idea!

“We called it 'The Great Irish Songbook', as we thought it would be exciting to get some of these songs away from being too niche; they're so beautiful both musically and lyrically, and everyone should hear them! The Wexford Carol is one of the oldest carols in the world, dating from the 12th century and our version is taken from 'The Great Irish Songbook Volume ll”.

The Great Irish Songbook Volume ll was released on GoatsKin Records on 12/12/2025. It's available here.