Biography

b. Limerick, Eire. Singer-songwriter Hanly was inspired by mid-50s rock ‘n’ roll before he became more interested in folk in the 60s. After performing Woody Guthrie songs in his spare time, in the late 60s and early 70s he turned to the Irish traditional music of his youth. Together with Michael O’Domhnaill, he formed Monroe, and supported Planxty on their 1973 tour, subsequently releasing Folk Weave, before O’Domhnaill left for the Bothy Band in 1975. Hanly went to France for two years, and, on his return to Ireland, recorded two acclaimed solo albums with Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Declan Sinnott. He then toured Ireland and Europe with Irvine, who had recently left Planxty. In 1981, Hanly joined Moving Hearts as a vocalist, and contributed his own songs to Live Hearts. After the demise, in 1985, of one of Ireland’s most successful and innovative traditional bands, he went solo again, and moved towards country music. His songs were covered by Christy Moore, Mary Black and the country singer Hal Ketchum, who took Hanly’s ‘Past The Point Of Rescue’ into the Top 10 of the US country chart in 1993.