Seamus Egan

Born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Egan moved to Ireland with his parents and his five siblings when he was three years old. The Egans settled in Mayo, in Foxford, a town famed for its woolen mills. It was there that Egan started playing music, under the tutelage of Martin Donaghue, a button accordion player from Ballindine. Practice paid off for Egan. He went on to win all-Ireland championships on four different instruments by the time he was 14, an unprecedented feat in Irish music. After he heard Mick Moloney playing a banjo on the radio, he decided he wanted to learn the instrument. His parents went out and got him one. Before Egan won his all-Ireland titles, his family had moved back to Philadelphia. Donaghue had prepared him for the whistle and flute titles, but his banjo and mandolin championships were another story. After Egan and his two sisters Siobhan and Rory gave up playing competitively, the opportunity arose for some professional gigs. During this period, Egan began to perform with Mick Moloney and Eugene O'Donnell, a trio that has continued to work together on and off over the years. Egan has had more than his share of musical partnerships and groups over the years. At the moment, Egan's attention is focused on a band called Solas. The lineup consists of Egan on flute, whistle, banjo, mandolin, and other instruments, Eamon McElholm on guitar, MickMcAuley on button accordion and concertina, Winifred Horan (formerly of Cherish the Ladies), on fiddle, and a fine singer named Deirdre Scanlan.