Setanta Records

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Setanta Records was started in a Camberwell flat by former bicycle courier Keith Cullen. The label was at the forefront of the indie Irish music scene in the late eighties and nineties as it championed young Irish groups.

The label specialised in humorous almost 'quirky acts' such as The Divine Comedy who specialised in comedy pastiches, and even provided the soundtrack for Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. Their best known song being "My Lovely Horse" which viewers saw Father Dougal and Father Ted mime in one memorable episode. Another Setanta set of clowns were Cork's Frank and Walters who wore orange flares and sang of Happy Busmen while Dublin group A House's biggest Setanta near hit was a listed of great figures down through the centuries which purposely omitted to list a single woman. But despite label boss Cullen 'not rating' the song, Setanta did enjoy major chart success with the Edwyn Collins (former leader of Scotland's Orange Juice on Postcard Records) hit "A Girl Like You" which went on to become a worldwide smash.

However the label stalled in the late nineties when it turned down The Magnetic Fields album 69 Love Songs which ended up being a huge critical and commercial success. In 2006, according to Ireland's Hotpress Yearbook (2006,) Setanta Records is now being run by Keith Cullen in a joint partnership with Denis Desmond, boss of Irish promoters MCD, who may use it in the future as a launching pad for some of his favourite domestic Irish acts like The Sawdoctors and Aslan.

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Ireland's Hotpress Yearbook (2006)

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