| Margaret Brady | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Margaret Barry |
| Born | 1917 Cork, Ireland |
| Died | 1989 |
| Genres | Traditional Irish, Sean Nós |
| Occupations | Travelling Musician |
| Instruments | Banjo |
| Associated acts | Michael Gorman |
Margaret Barry (1917–1989) was a traditional Irish singer and banjo player.
Born in Cork into a family of Travellers and street singers, she taught herself how to play the zither banjo and the fiddle at a young age. At the age of sixteen, after a family disagreement, Margaret left home and started performing as a street musician.
In the early 1950s she moved to London. With her flamboyant delivery and idiosyncratic banjo-playing, Margaret Barry became well known in the pubs and clubs of Irish London in the 1950s and '60s, frequently accompanied by the fiddler Michael Gorman. The duo was an important part of London’s Irish exile music community, and Barry’s singing and banjo playing became a main influence on the younger generation of ballad singers in Ireland and the UK, including Luke Kelly.