Manus Lunny (born 1962)[1] is an Irish producer and multi-instrumentalist from
County Donegal, Ireland, best known as a member of
Celtic supergroup
Capercaillie. He is the brother of multi-instrumentalist and producer
Dónal Lunny.[2]
Biography and career
Manus Lunny was born in Dublin and reared in
Newbridge, County
Kildare in a family which practised music regularly. He has been living in County Donegal for many years now, close to where his mother was born in
Ranafast. He toured widely with
Barry Moore (now Luka Bloom) as a teenager. He was a member of Scottish/Irish band The Wild Geese which toured Ireland and performed limited concerts in Britain. After the band took a break, Lunny began to tour with
Phil Cunningham and future long-term collaborator
Andy M. Stewart. They toured as a trio to begin with before branching out into other bands.[2][3]
Manus is best known as a member of
Celtic supergroup
Capercaillie. He has composed music for the
BBC and various American television broadcasters and was a prominent session musician on two of Ireland's most well known compilations, Éist and Ceol Tacsi.vision recordings.[3]
In collaboration with Phil Cunningham, Lunny has written two pieces for the American record label
Windham Hill.
After decades of gigging and recording, Lunny finally gotten around to making a CD of his own compositions titled The Glenveagh Suite. Actually, he received a commission from the National Parks and Wildlife Services to compose music for five short films about Glenveagh National Park, its history and its conservation initiatives in
County Donegal. For the album, Lunny got some of his most favourite musicians to play and sing on it:
Moya Brennan,
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Neil Martin, Martin Crossin, Theresa Kavanagh, Donald Shaw, Ewen Vernal, Liam Bradley, Mary Crossin and Caitlin Nic Gabhann. Lunny had a gathering on 29 September 2018 (9pm) in
Leo's Tavern in Meenaleck to mark the launch and also to play music for the occasion.[5][6]
"Soilse na Nollag" (4:26) (single released on 17 December 2017) by
Na Mooneys and Manus Lunny (a Christmas Song or Carol, composed by
Francie Mooney and
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (his daughter), made available to help raise funds for the
St. Vincent de Paul Society who help people who are disadvantaged all year round, and whose help is especially needed by people at Christmas)[7]