Claddagh Records

08/10/2025

‘Pomes Penyeach’, sees Joyce’s beloved literary work reimagined through music by Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan.

The original iteration of this project was to be a stand-alone live performance as commissioned by Saint Patrick’s Festival in March 2020. A year later, with John ‘Spud’ Murphy (Lankum, ØXN) behind the recording controls, the group reassembled in The Museum Of Literature Ireland (MoLI) and the album was recorded over the course of two days.

To celebrate the release of the album, a special event took place in the James Joyce Centre which included a screening of the live performance followed by a 30-minute Q&A with Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan. The full live performance video, and a video recapping the event’s Q&A are available to watch in full now on YouTube.

08/10/2025

‘Cumberland Gap’ from their new album ‘Have At It!’

Thanks & 💛

22/09/2025

The incredible new album 'Have At It!' from DUG is here - listen and order now!

Listen to Have At It! by DUG.

18/09/2025

It’s almost time…

At midnight tonight, ‘Have At It!’ the debut album from releases into the world via Claddagh Records. And what an incredible album it is! 🍦

Available to preorder now and out everywhere at midnight! ⚔️

12/09/2025

Pomes Penyeach, a beloved literary work, reimagined through music.

‘A celebration of words and poetic beauty’ – Adrian Crowley

Claddagh Records is delighted to release Pomes Penyeach, a beloved literary work reimagined through music, out today. This incredible release brings the iconic poems of James Joyce to life through a unique collaboration between musicians Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan.

Pomes Penyeach – Words By James Joyce, Music By Adrian Crowley & Matthew Nolan is out now!

Listen to Pomes Penyeach by Adrian Crowley, Matthew Nolan.

09/09/2025

A message from Myles O'Reilly about his album 'Against All Certainty', with President Michael D. Higgins

09/09/2025

https://claddagh.lnk.to/MichaelD.Higgins

05/09/2025

‘Against All Certainty’ is OUT NOW 😍

19/02/2025

Behind the Cover: The Chieftains : The Foxhunt | San Francisco 1973 & 1976

In September 2022 Claddagh Records and released the last ever project by the legendary member of The Chieftains, Paddy Moloney.
The Chieftain’s The Foxhunt (San Francisco 1975 & 1973) was recorded live by legendary soundman Owsley “Bear” Stanley, at Boarding House on 1st October 1973, where The Chieftains appeared at the personal invitation of The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia. Owsley Stanley, known as Bear to his friends, was a diversely talented, iconic figure of the 1960s. While perhaps most widely known as the “Acid King” for his early role manufacturing the highest quality L*D to help fuel the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s.

We agreed there was no better artist to design the artwork for this record than painter Conor Campbell who’s paintings have been used on many stunning contemporary folk covers such as .brother .fennell and more

Conor comments on the cover:

“They wanted artwork that blended two visual worlds: 1960s psychedelic culture and medieval Irish Christian art, referencing The Book of Kells and historic hunting scenes. This aligned closely with my artistic style, so the collaboration felt natural.

I began by studying medieval hunting depictions, first Irish and then broader European examples. I loved the rich colours, dynamic figures, and intricate landscapes with a deliberate patterned abstraction to them. Using Photoshop, I sketched a composition featuring huntsmen on horseback, initially pursuing a fox. However, following Paddy Moloney’s passing—and his known disapproval of hunting—I was asked to alter the scene so that the fox escaped. The huntsmen were now given instruments instead of weapons, transforming the chase into a medieval trad session. Once the digital sketch was finalized, I printed it, mounted it on canvas, and painted over it by hand. Many layers were added to the physical piece to give it a more organic feel. I added details like mushrooms and ancient standing stones in the landscape as well as a bear to honour Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley.”

17/02/2025

Behind the Cover : Lemoncello

On May 3rd 2024, Claddagh Records released Lemoncello’s stunning self-titled debut album. With an album cover photographed by , directed by and designed by

In words :

“From the beginning, it was about how both of them are integral to the music, showing their collaboration and friendship while also giving a sense of the music itself. It was important for them that we turned away from the more expected folk aesthetic, that it was something that felt more modern and colourful. In their words: “Something that feels modern with influences of 60s, 70s - Nico, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell Heijra, Velvet Underground, Jean Luc Godard, Ingrid Bergman, Anna Karina.” You can see more stylised and surreal influences coming in, and adding to the sound they were going for for this album too. I think it’s a really nice mix, showing them up front, and then giving a sense of their world too.

Taking from this, I shot the images with film lights rather than flash, giving the images more of a theatrical, stylised feel. Eilis worked on set design along with Laura and Claire, building up layers of material and textures which put them in the world of the album. It all came together on the day with styling by Sarah Austin and hair and makeup by Tomasz Welkier. We played around with how they were posed and positioned, always playing off of their friendship and the two of them as the creators of this music. For some of the shots we took inspiration from performance art and dance along with some vintage LP covers, to create more dramatic poses. For the cover shot, we had Laura and Claire sitting together on the carpet, and we were playing with a lens attachment on one of our lights that can make precise shapes. We loved when it cut across both their faces equally, and that became one of our favourite setups from the shoot. From there, we experimented with distorting their faces, and that became the gatefold image for the vinyl. “

17/02/2025

.bury has been announced for this June in Barcelona 🌞

12/02/2025

Behind the Cover: Patrick Kavanagh ‘Almost Everything’

In 2022 we decided to remaster and reimagine this iconic 1964 spoken word album by making it a new two-part album featuring the original remastered recordings and Kavanagh’s poetry read by artists such as and many more

The 1964 sleeve, designed by John S. Perrett features a portrait of Kavanagh by Iconic Irish painter Edward McGuire. This 1961 watercolour of Kavanagh was the first of the many perceptive portraits of literary figures for which McGuire would become especially noted for. In 1974, he married Sara Browne (divorced sister-in-law of Garech Browne.)

The 2022 version was designed by . We wanted Kavanagh to appear in the center of a portrait collage of all the new collaborators on the record. On the front cover, only Kavanagh is visible, through a die-cut, gold-foiled square. When you pull the new record out of the pocket, all the contributors are revealed.

The grainy look and feel of the physical products are designed to look and feel like old literature. The vinyl remaster of the original 1964 record is housed in a printed inner that is an exact replica of the original sleeve. The vinyl labels for this vinyl are also replicated with the typical purple ceiríní cladaig labels.

When we began this project we were against a deadline that was tighter than usual due to the complex nature of the package. As a result, in anticipation, Morgan began working on some famous faces who never ended up on the project in the end … but he also completed portraits of some incredible artists we never dreamed of being on this project, that were.

Kavanagh’s sister, a teacher, used to tell her students that her brother was adamant that he would find a way to return one day from the dead, to let his siblings and others know if there really was an afterlife, and with the 2022 reissue of ‘Almost Everything…’ becoming the first-ever spoken word album to reach the top of the Irish charts, the poet and Garech were indeed reunited once more, to weave their magic “on a quiet street where old ghosts meet”.