About this episode
It's time to listen to the Top 20 Best Songs and Tunes of 2024. This is the Celtic Top 20 on the Irish & Celtic Podcast #691. Subscribe now ! Marc Gunn, The Gothard Sisters, RUNA, We Banjo 3, Altan, Poitín, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, The Drowsy Lads, Cherish The Ladies , Hanneke Cassel, Sorcha, Mànran, Arise & Go, The Byrne Brothers, Natalie Padilla, Screaming Orphans, Ian Fontova, Fialla, Matt & Shannon Heaton, The Friel Sisters, Dancing With Hobbits, The Elders GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items for Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free . VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2025 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create this year's Best Celtic music of 2025 episode. You have just three weeks to vote this year. Vote Now ! You can follow our playlist on Spotify 2024 to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:13 - The Gothard Sisters "Alaska Set" from Dragonfly 3:46 - WELCOME 6:12 - RUNA "The Fox" from When The Light Gets In 11:31 - We Banjo 3 "The First Second Gentleman" from Open The Road 16:00 - Altan "Liostáil mé le Sáirsint (Song)" from Donegal 19:05 - Poitín "Aquarius Rhapsody" from One For The Road 24:29 - Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer "Folk Club Song" from Twelve Months & A Day 29:38 - FEEDBACK 34:23 - The Drowsy Lads "Derry Reel Hooley (feat. Cathal Ó Curráin, David Howley, Fergal Scahill, Conor Mallon, Shane Hayes, Fiachra Hayes, Aodán Coyne, Katie Grennan)_The Drowsy Lads_Time Flies" from Time Flies 40:50 - Cherish The Ladies "The Cameronian Set: Tha M'Intinn Raoir/Duke of Gordon/The Cameronian/Lady of The House" from One And All, The Best of Cherish the Ladies 46:12 - Hanneke Cassel "Katrina McCoy's Jig / Sierra Fiddle Circle's Compliments to the Girls of Mudzini Kwetu" from Dot the Dragon's Eyes 50:00 - Marc Gunn "Come Adventure With Me" from Come Adventure With Me 54:27 - Sorcha "Waterman's / Luke Skywalker Walks on Sunshine" from Stomp the Floor 58:38 - THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST 1:01:16 - Mànran "Briogais" from Ùrar 1:04:05 - Arise & Go "Strathspeys & Reels: Lennox's Love To Blantyre / Captain Campbell / The Iron Man / Elizabeth's Big Coat / The Bird's Nest" from Meeting Place 1:08:26 - The Byrne Brothers "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" from The Boys of Doorin 1:13:31 - Natalie Padilla "Larkspur" from Montana Wildflower 1:16:52 - Screaming Orphans "The Limerick Rake" from Paper Daisies 1:20:12 - CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS 1:21:14 - Ian Fontova "Woods of Anam" from Tales of Olden, Vol. 2 1:23:16 - Fialla "North Sea Holes" from Home & Away 1:26:25 - Matt & Shannon Heaton "In Tune with Reality/Aileen Dillane/Brown Weasel (reels)" from Whirring Wings 1:31:02 - The Friel Sisters "The Star of Crolly Town" from new album 1:35:17 - Dancing With Hobbits "Old Took's Victory Dance" from Dancing With Hobbits 1:38:26 - CLOSING 1:41:37 - The Elders "Down at the Pub" from Well Alright Then 1:45:46 - CREDITS The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs . Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Finally, remember. Reduce, reuse, recycle, and talk with others about climate change. What are you doing to combat climate change? Start a discussion with someone today. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/ . WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic musician and host of the newly renamed Folk Songs & Stories. This podcast is for fans of Celtic music. It is here to build a diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Musicians depend on your generosity to release new music. So please find a way to support them. Buy a CD, Album Pin, Shirt, Digital Download, or join their community on Patreon. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com . Email follow@bestcelticmusic to learn how to subscribe to the podcast and get a free music - only episode. If you are a Celtic musician and want your music featured on the show, I would love to play your music. Please submit your band to be played on the podcast. You don't have to send in music or an EPK. You will get a free eBook called Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music and learn how to follow the podcast. It's 100% free. Just email follow@bestcelticmusic SIGN UP FOR IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST KICKSTARTER PRE - LAUNCH PAGE Every year since 2006, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast compiles the Celtic Top 20. This is a list of the most - popular Celtic songs and tunes of the year, as voted on by listeners. This year, we are creating a limited - edition compilation CD to celebrate these incredible songs. Only 100 copies of the physical CD will be printed! In addition to the CD, we are also releasing an Album Pin and T - Shirt featuring a "Celtic Cat and Moon" design by Christopher Patrick. We're celebrating Celtic culture through music and we want your help to #Make100 Limited - Edition, Celtic Compilation CDs. Sign up to our Pre - Launch Page on Kickstarter to be the first to support the campaign! THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! We released 48 episodes of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast this year. This is all thanks to the generosity of Celtic music fans just like you. I produce these episodes because you pledge a wee bit o'money each and every month. Not everyone can afford to pledge a few bucks every month to support the show, but I hope you will all raise a glass to the over 300 amazing and generous people who do. Thank you! Your kindness pays for our engineer, graphic designer, Celtic Music Magazine editor, and promotion of the podcast. It allows me to buy the music I play here. It also pays for my time creating the show each and every week. As a patron, you get ad - free episodes before regular listeners. You get music - only episodes. You can vote in the Celtic Top 20. You get free music downloads and sheet music. And you get a private feed to listen to the show or you can listen through the Patreon app. All that for as little as $3 per episode. A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, Gerald F Boyle, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, John Sharkey White, II, Kelly Garrod, Mike Schock, Annie Lorkowski, Shawn Cali HERE IS YOUR THREE STEP PLAN TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST Go to our Patreon page. Decide how much you want to pledge every month, $3, $12, $25. Keep listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to celebrate Celtic culture through music. You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com . TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. In June 2025, we are going on a Celtic Invasion of Wexford, Ireland as we explore Ireland's southeast corner. We'll visit a whiskey distillery. We'll see castles and a windmill. We'll see ocean life on a ferry, visit a heritage center and see the beauty of the Wicklow mountains. This is a trip you will remember. In 2026, we're going to the Celtic nation of Galicia in Spain. We're gonna learn about the history and legends behind the Celts there and experience some amazing Galician Celtic music. Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? I'd love to see a picture of what you're doing while listening. Is there a new Celtic CD or Celtic band that you heard of or saw? Send a picture. Email me at follow@bestcelticmusic. Patricia Mullen emailed a photo: "Walking with Quincy, poodle listening in San Rafael California redwoods." Jordan Reeder emailed a photo: "Hi Marc! It's been so great hearing all of the independent artists you feature on the podcast. Thank you for what you all do and maybe one of these days I'll submit some of my music for your enjoyment as well. I'm blessed to have a job I love - as a luthier at a music store in Kenosha WI. While I was working on this auto harp (just a cleaning and restringing as well as putting new support springs under some of the bars) I thought I should take a couple of pictures and send them your way. I thought you might appreciate it." Donald W White emailed a photo from Oregon: "I'm painting - - as usual. I've appreciated Celtic music for a long time (loved Fiona Ritchie's former show on NPR - "Thistle & Shamrock"), but I just became a fan while sailing from Quebec to Boston. On a cruise ship of "old people," some amazing Canadian musicians (including Nova Scotia vilionist Hayley Ryerson) performed some raucous Celtic tunes from Cape Breton Island. I'm now hooked! Count me in. Don White, A new fan from Oregon " Wolbert van Wageningen emailed: "Hi Marc, My name is Wolbert van Wageningen. I live in the North of the Netherlands. Several years ago I started listening to your Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. I liked it a lot because of all the independent music. But sometimes it was a bit too independent according to my taste. I forgot to listen regularly and it got out of sight and mind. In the meantime I started working (volunteering) at a small regional broadcasting company in my hometown of Winsum. I got the possibility to make my own programmes and one of them I titled " Highlands and Islands" a reference to Scotland of course, but also a reference to the region where I live (het Hogeland - Highland) and the Waddensea with small islands. Due to illness I was not able to make the show in our radiostudio, but my homestudio was good enough to make broadcastings. I started broadcasting at Mixcloud and posted my recordings there. Looking for music I discovered your Irish and Celtic Music Podcast at Mixcloud. Nice surprise! Started listening again. Thought it would be nice to reach out to you. Want to make my compliments for your shows and your perseverance in making them. Way back you were in the 100 - 200 range; now almost 700!! I promoted your show to my small group of listeners (Celtic Folk is not that big in the Netherlands) and will do so in the future. Keep up the good work! Kind regards,"