The Wild turkeys are an energetic traditional Irish music group with a unique lively, upbeat sound that will guarantee to have your foot tapping. The versatile group are comfortable being the centre of attention at an event or are happy to perform an acoustic set to help create that energetic atmosphere in any room.

There are 6 core members in the group, consisting of two fiddles, banjo, accordion, guitar and they are delighted to team up with Bodhran extraordinaire Andy Reilly from Riverdance to perform everything from their beautiful slow airs to spirited high energy trad tunes. The group hails from a small village on the East Coast of Ireland called Ballygarrett in Co. Wexford and all the musicians, prize winners at all Ireland level, have a busy professional career both nationally and internationally.

The Turkeys are constantly in high demand and have performed throughout Ireland, France, Scotland, Denmark and the USA at private functions, festivals, and pub gigs.  In 2021 they were invited to take part in the Mobile Music Machine Covid Care Concerts where they performed over 50 concerts with internationally renowned musicians Luka Bloom, John Spillane and Orla Fallon. Members of the band have performed individually and collectively with Internationally renowned musicians such as Sharon Shanon, Michael O Suilleabhain, Kila, Zoe Conway, Mariead Nesbit, Frankie Gavin, De dennan, Aslan, Gerry O Connor and even Michael Buble.

In 2011 ten musicians (turkeys and friends) took to the stage in Nantes, France to perform at the largest festival in this part of France to an audience of over ten thousand. In 2015 the group performed support for Sharon Shanon at the Gorey Festival and in 2019 performed support for Zoe Conway and Gerry O Connor at the Wexford Traditional Irish Music Festival. In early 2019 our fiddle player Lynda O’ Connor was chosen to perform The Coolin live on RTE TV at the celebration of 100 years the Dail at Dublin Castle for president Michael D Higgins.

The Wild turkeys have a keen interest in education and are delighted to be the resident traditional Irish band in the education department of National Concert Hall Dublin. They create Bespoke Workshops for people of all ages including children as young as five years old. They have given workshops to over ten thousand students throughout Ireland. Members of the group are currently teaching in the two main University’s in Dublin teaching both classical violin and Traditional Irish fiddle.

The season ahead is filled with exciting projects including a further collaboration with singer song writer John Spillane, tours in Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway and performances at Castletown House, Presentation Centre, Enniscorthy and at the All Ireland Fleadh in Mullingar on August 5th.

2023 will see the debut performance of the Turkeys in Germany and will include the recording of their first LP.

Members of the group:

Fiddles: Lynda O Connor and Tom O Donoghue

Banjo: Sean Walsh

Guitar and Bouzouki: Joe Donohoe

Accordion: Debbie Byrne

Bodhran/Percussion: Andy Reilly