John "Johnny" Moynihan (born 29 October 1940, in Phibsboro, Dublin), is a folk singer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is often credited as being responsible for introducing the bouzouki and the Irish bouzouki into Irish music in the mid 1960s. Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", as a young man he played in the band Sweeney's Men with Andy Irvine, Terry Woods and (Galway) Joe Dolan. Sweeney's Men broke the mould of Irish music and are credited with starting the folk revival there in the late 1960s. The group made two albums, Sweeney's Men and The Tracks of Sweeney. The latter was without Irvine, who had taken himself off to the Balkans, an area that made a lasting impact on his subsequent music. Both albums are available on Transatlantic Records. In the 1970s Moynihan briefly joined Planxty for their album Cold Blow and the Rainy Night. After Planxty, Moynihan went his own way and for a period of time fronted the Fleadh Cowboys, a popular band in 1980s Dublin. He also flirted briefly with De Dannan and can be heard on their second album, Selected Jigs, Reels & Songs (never issued on CD). He reunited for a one-off concert with Irvine in Galway in 2001 and can be seen and heard frequently in the Cobblestone Pub, Smithfield, Dublin.
In 2006, Moynihan could often be seen playing live in an east-Clare based trio performing old-time Appalachian music, "Frankie, Jonny, and Sweetheart" (a play on the song Frankie and Johnny. The other members are Lena Ullmann on clawhammer banjo, and Frank Hall on fiddle.
He is an erratic character though and it was considered doubtful if he and Irvine would ever play together again; however, they did so for a one-off gig as Sweeney's Men in Rostevor Co Down on 22 July 2007 (with Paul Brady deputising for Joe Dolan who was unwell).
He was famously associated with the folk singer Anne Briggs in the 1970s and both of them traded off their mutual inclination for wild behaviour. He plays backing guitar on several Anne Briggs songs.
The world of Moynihan and Sweeney's Men are best summed up in Andy Irvine's song "My Heart's Tonight in Ireland" on his "Rain on the Roof" album. It is available from Irvine's own website, [1].
More information about Moynihan and his career with Planxty can be found in the 2006 book by Leagues O'Toole entitled 'The Humours of Planxty.'