Biography (Courtesy of the Artist�s site, 2006)

It was an unusually pleasant evening for that time of year, when in March 1974, a group of musicians, singers and dancers gathered in one of the newly built thatched cottages in Renvyle for what was to be the beginning of the Renvyle Seisi�n programme which after more than 30 years is still going strong and is more popular that ever. We drank a lot of strong tea with freshly baked currant bread and enjoyed a great night of music, song and dance. That was the first time I met the young accordion player John G. Walsh and a young dancer Mary McDonnell, later to become John�s wife. In later years their young daughter, Marie, grew up in a household where she was surrounded by and immersed in superb accordion music sessions when well-known box players came to visit.

As a young girl, Marie, mastered the tin whistle, accordion, fiddle and piano and, indeed, it was no great surprise when, in 2003 and 2004, at the All-Ireland Fleadhanna Cheoil in Clonmel she put two Senior All-Ireland titles in piano accompaniment and button accordion back to back. She has been awarded the Comhaltas TTCT Diploma as a teacher of Irish Traditional Music and enjoys a growing reputation as a dedicated and much sought after music teacher.

Marie�s, long awaited first CD is a jewel casket of well known and newly crafted tunes which are tastefully ornamented and played at a beautifully relaxed pace which allows the music to breathe. Marie plays the accordion, fiddle and piano and is joined by her dad John G., M�che�l O�Rourke from Co. Clare, holder of two All-Irelands in Piano Accompaniment and Fiddle, well-known local musician Richie Newman and Brian Cunningham who does a few steps of sean n�s dancing. With recording in the capable hands of musician and sound engineer Eugene Kelly this is a CD which every Irish Traditional Music enthusiast will want to include in their collection and which will introduce Marie to a much wider audience. Marie and John Gerard are wonderful musicians but above all they are very special people.