In a snug pub known locally as Tata’s, Charles Hendy is calling out “notions” – the distinctly Irish strain of having ideas above one’s station. “We have no problem giving guest list to a plumber,” he says, the day’s first pint of plain at hand. “In fact, I think the whole idea of being a musician should be a lot more like being a plumber. Music is an everyday trade.”
Alongside his brother Andrew and Seán McKenna, Hendy helms the Mary Wallopers, the Dundalk balladeers elevating traditional Irish folk for a new era. Raised on trad giants such as the Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers, they formed in 2016 and are a rare generation-bridging proposition. Just like the Dublin folk savants Lankum, their music “speaks truth to power” while, crucially, taking power from tradition. Setting them apart is a rascality that honours the craic every bit as much as having a conscience.
