The Mary Wallopers breathe new life into Irish folk songs, without smoothing out the rough edges. The band from Dundalk began during the COVID-19 lockdown with live streams from the living room of brothers Charles and Andrew Handy. What started as a trio grew into a six-piece band, featuring banjo, accordion, tin whistle, uilleann pipes and drums. Traditional songs and protest tunes are given driving rhythms and loose harmonies, ensuring the music remains true to the Irish folk tradition whilst retaining the directness of punk.

The songs deal with working-class life, the housing crisis and resistance to exploitation. Humour and politics blend effortlessly: old Irish folk tunes are not treated as museum pieces, but as stories that still have something to say. On 18 September, their third album ‘Paddywhackery’ is released, recorded in two weeks with James Skelly of The Coral. On tracks such as ‘Landlord’s Demise’, ‘Crowns of England’ and ‘The Big Mixer’, The Mary Wallopers sound fuller and more powerful. At the same time, the core remains the same: using songs from the Irish tradition to say something about life today.