Altan are an Irish folk and traditional music group, who originated in Gweedore, County Donegal.
Frankie Kennedy used to travel from Belfast to Donegal in his summer holidays, learning Irish and playing music. There he met Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. They married in 1981. They featured on the first of well known Belfast singer and Irish language enthusiast Albert Fry's three albums. Two years later they made their first album together, Ceol Aduaidh (Music of the North). Ní Mhaonaigh grew up in Irish-speaking Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair), learning to play fiddle from her father Francie Mooney, himself a noted fiddle player. At this time Donegal music was little known outside of the county. Kennedy's repertoire included a number of obscure northern flute tunes drawn from his travels in Tyrone and Fermanagh.
