Ceoltóirí Chualann was an Irish traditional band from Dublin, Ireland, active from 1960 to 1969 and led by Seán Ó Riada. The group's name was derived from the Irish word for musicians, and Cualann, an area outside Dublin where Ó Riada lived. The band was credited with revitalizing the use of the bodhrán as a percussion instrument in Celtic music. The group was formed when Ó Riada sought musicians to perform music for the play The Song of the Anvil by Bryan MacMahon, recruiting a twenty-year-old Paddy Moloney along with tin whistle player Sean Potts, accordionist Sonny Brogan, and fiddler John Kelly. Rehearsing weekly at Ó Riada's house in Galloping Green, the band went on to play traditional Irish songs, dance tunes, and slow airs arranged with instruments such as the harpsichord, bodhrán, piano, and uilleann pipes. The ensemble debuted at the Shelbourne Hotel in September 1960 during the Dublin Theatre Festival at an event called Reacaireacht an Riadaigh (Ó Riada's Recital), which later became a series of radio programmes starting in March 1961. Shortly after formation, Peadar Mercier and Seán Keane joined the lineup. Their music was featured in the 1968 documentary The Village, and their recorded works include Reacaireacht an Riadaigh (1961), The Playboy of the Western World (1962), Ceol na nUasal (1967), and Ó Riada's Farewell (1972). In 1969, the band recorded Ó Riada and Ó Riada sa Gaiety, with the latter released posthumously in 1971.
