Sweeney's Men

• Genre: Celtic Folk
• Hometown: Dublin

About

Two albums were the extent of this short-lived Irish folk revival band's output, but they were one of the first bands to implicitly connect the dots between bluegrass and Celtic folk in the 1960s, and they famously introduced the bouzouki to Irish music. They also provided the launch pad for Andy Irvine (who went on to join Planxty after traveling the Balkans), Johnny Moynihan and Terry Woods. In existence from just 1966-69, the group helped rescue the Celtic folk revival from its ham-fisted pub song tendencies, restoring subtlety and grace with a mixed repertoire that included sea chanteys (like the marvelous "Sally Brown"), American folk ("Tom Dooley") and lovely a cappella tracks like "Dicey Riley."

- Sarah Bardeen