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"Ardaí Chuain is expressed in a vocal line of extremely poignant beauty... a brilliantly listenable and stimulating musical experience.... the listener remains riveted throughout... this enchanting, mesmerising disc" - David Kidman - The Living Tradition; on Dubh agus Geal - Darkness and Light
" I woke tonight from an ancient dream, a dream where tales of murder, exile and oppression flowed around my consciousness like the churning of the North Sea. A dream where voices, centuries old and worlds apart, enthralled me. A dream where Gaelic & Viking music, stories and song implored me to listen, to learn, to remember. And when I woke from the dream, all I longed for was to return to the green hillsides and the frozen seas, to immerse myself again in the timeless tales” - Neil McFadyen - Folkradio; on Dubh agus Geal - Darkness and Light
"a compelling piece that engaged and enthralled with each twist and turn in the story" -Chris MacKenzie -Piping Today on the world premiere performance of An Táin
This is one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard. I replayed it over and over. It's on the station and it will stay on there for some time." - Alex Gallacher - folkradio.uk on Rógaire Dubh
“ Iarla O’Lionaird fans will enjoy these soulful, emotional, intense, Irish ballads, sensitively accompanied by cello, harp, fiddle, hardanger, pipes and whistle. The combination of the low bass melodies of sean-nós songs with the rich resonance of the cello is spine-tingling.” - 3Roots magazines album review roundup. on Rógaire Dubh
“ He delves so deeply beneath Saileog Rua that he scarcely remembers to come up for air, his voice creaking and groaning with the weight of one long-immersed in the spirit of the song.” - Siobhán Long - the Irish Times on Rógaire Dubh
“Have a listen to a master at work.” - Allcelticmusic.com on Rógaire Dubh
“I will be listening to this CD again, and perhaps changing my mind about this song or that, and I am certainly looking forward to hearing Lorcán Mac Mathúna again, singing with all the unwavering commitment of his best work.” - Barra Ó Séaghdha - The JMI on Rógaire Dubh
“…But the cold vanished instantly with the opening song, Tuirimh Mhic Fhinín Dhubh. Mac Mathúna’s performance of this unusual eighteenth-century song was commanding. A young man with a Dublin accent and a musical heart based deep in Múscraí, Mac Mathúna has, on this evidence, both the voice and the attitude to place him in the first rank of the new wave of traditional singers.” - Pat Ahern - The Journal of Music in Ireland on a concert with Caoimhn Ó Raghallaigh and Jane Hughes in St. Brendan's, Bantry.
