Sweeney's Men

Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They were a part of the late 1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups like The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. Their line-up in 1966 was Joe Dolan

Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They were a part of the late 1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups like The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. Their line-up in 1966 was Joe Dolan, Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine, but Dolan was replaced by Terry Woods only a year later. At the time, they played the tin whistle, concertina, harmonica, guitar, mandolin, banjo and bouzouki.

Sweeney's Men's most famous innovation is probably Moynihan's introduction of the bouzouki, a Greek instrument, in 1967. The bouzouki played at the time was six-stringed, though eight strings are now more common in Irish music.