The Mary Wallopers
When: 16th December 2024, 18th December 2024 and 19th December 2024.
Location: Barrowland
The Mary Wallopers are a contemporary Irish folk music group. Coming to Glasgow’s Barrowland on 16th, 18th and 19th December 2024.
The Mary Wallopers – brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy and their friend Sean McKenna – started as a three-piece Irish ballad group traveling the length and breadth of the country singing and collecting songs. Their early live performances and their first five track EP, 2019’s A Mouthful Of The Mary Wallopers, perfectly captured their sound and ethos, one filled with warmth, intimacy, chaos and enough sparks to light any fire.
When Covid decimated the music industry, the first band out of the blocks were The Mary Wallopers. Unfazed by the global shutdown, the three Dundalk men built a pub/studio in their house to connect with their fans again. On St. Patrick’s Day 2020 they became one of the first bands in the world to host a livestream.
Although there were countless attempts to get live-streaming right during the pandemic, very few matched the Wallopers efforts. Armed with a DIY attitude, they performed live in their homemade clubhouse, creating broadcasts that felt like Wayne’s World soundtracked entirely by Irish ballads. The show brought some much-needed joy to the 40,000 people who tuned in. As the streams continued, their audiences both home and abroad grew, allowing them to book their first UK headline tour.
Upping their livestream game
To capture the chaotic energy of the livestream, the Wallopers expanded to a seven-piece, including Roisin Barret on bass, Ken Mooney on drums, Seamas Hyland on accordion and Finian O’ Connor on tin whistle. When lockdown restrictions lifted, the band picked up where they left off, playing to ecstatic audience’s of 1500 people a night at two sold out gigs at the prestigious Vicar Street in Dublin before blazing a trail through the UK, ending up with a raucous sold-out date at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.
In late 2022, the band released their eponymous debut album and continued their relentless touring schedule. In 2023, The Mary Wallopers return to the UK with a string of major headline shows in November and March the following year.
