Owen and Moley

Owen Ó Súilleabháin and Moley Ó Súilleabháin are musicians from Limerick, Ireland.

This article is about the Irish group. For their debut album of the same name, see size2shoes (album).

Owen and Moley
Owen and Moley in 2008
Background information
OriginLimerick, Ireland
GenresPop
Folk
Rock
Irish Traditional
Years active2007–present
Labelseyemusic (own label)
Associated actsNóirín Ní Riain, Amen, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Julie Feeney
WebsiteOfficial website

Originally known as size2shoes, they released their début album, size2shoes in December 2008 which let to featured performances on national television and radio in both Ireland and the United States.[1][2][3][4][5] They have also performed alongside The Chieftains, Bobby McFerrin,[6] and Sinéad O'Connor.[4][7] Since 2013, Owen and Moley no longer perform under the name Size2shoes and now perform under their own names.[8]

Background

The brothers, Owen and Moley were brought up in a musical household. Their parents, singer Nóirín Ní Riain and composer and pianist Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin taught the duo from an early age to respect music.[9][10] It wasn't until 2007 that the brothers began to record professionally, collaborating with their mother on the Amen album, later released as Celtic Joy in the United States of America. The duo have recorded with Grammy-winning singer Moya Brennan.

Owen Ó Súilleabháin

Owen (born Eoin) Ó Súilleabháin, the eldest of the brothers first recorded professionally alongside Sinéad O'Connor, Nóirín Ní Riain, poet John O'Donohue and the Monks of Glenstal Abbey on the album Biscantorat in 2003.[11] In 2005 he became the director of the Sionna Festival, a large festival based in the University of Limerick.

Owen Ó Súilleabháin was given a degree in Philosophy and University College Dublin and a master's degree in Peace Studies at the University of Limerick. In 2005, he became Orchestral Manager for the World Youth Orchestra in Rome and toured with them through Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jordan and Amman for both Israeli and Palestinian audiences.[12] Owen taught English as a foreign language to refugees at the Adult Education College in Limerick city from 2002 to 2012.[13]

Moley Ó Súilleabháin

Moley (Mícheál Pádraig) Ó Súilleabháin earned an M.A. in Ethnomusicology at the University of Limerick and studied rap music and the rap culture in County Cork, Ireland.

He sang and played bodhrán with The Chieftains at Belfast Festival at Queens in 2007 and is an expert in "Human beatbox" techniques, which introduced him to Bobby McFerrin with whom he has recorded.

History

(2007–2009) Beginning and first album

Although the duo had been writing songs for a number of years, they did not begin recording together until 2007. In 2008 they finished recording their début album, size2shoes, recorded by Kevin Lynch (U2, Elvis Costello) which garnered strong reviews from The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Irish media. The album had size2shoes featured on national media, which prompted them to begin writing more material.

The duo received popular acclaim from Irish media, being compared to Scullion and Sonny Condell. A live performance in Dublin in October 2008, which invited Julie Feeney as a guest singer, drew comparisons with "Simon & Garfunkel and Steely Dan unplugged".[14][15]

In September 2009 the duo performed at Electric Picnic. Their début album, with single Sitting by the Sea, was officially launched at Crawdaddy in Dublin, and they supported Hothouse Flowers the same month.[16]

(2009–2012) Second album

Size2shoes announced they were recording their second album and have performed songs from the record in both the National Concert Hall and Spin FM in early 2009,[17] and indicated that they would be recording part of the album in Australia at the recording studio of Russell Crowe.[18] The album Happy Songs was released in 2011.[19]

Size2shoes had cameo parts in Steven Spielberg's 2011 film War Horse and on its soundtrack,[20]however their scenes were cut from the eventual release.[21][22]

2012-present

Since 2013, Owen and Moley have focused on performing all of the songs that they inherited from their parents along with their own original music.

Discography

Albums
  • 2003 — Biscantorat (with Noirín Ní Riain, Sinéad O'Connor and The Monks of Glenstal Abbey)
  • 2007 — Amen (with Nóirín Ní Riain)
  • 2008 — Celtic Joy (with Nóirín Ní Riain)
  • 2009 — size2shoes (re-released in 2019 as Light in the Dark)
  • 2011 — Happy Songs[19]
  • 2013 — Filleadh: Sacred Songs
  • 2015 — Hearth Sounds - Ancient Songs from Ireland and the World (with Nóirín Ní Riain)
  • 2016 — Fields of Grace: Celtic Meditation Music from the Heart of Ireland
  • 2019 — You Bring Me Beautiful

Singles

Appearances

Filmography

Footnotes
  1. The Arts Show RTÉ Arts Show Highlights
  2. Seoige Archives RTÉ Television
  3. Live from Limerick WFMU
  4. The Tubridy Show Archives RTÉ Radio
  5. Roots Reviews The Irish Times
  6. Moley & Bobby performance download
  7. 25 Minute interview with Michelle McMahon Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Spin South-West with Size2shoes.com
  8. "Owen & Moley O Súilleabháin - Owen & Moley O Súilleabháin". www.owenandmoley.com. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  9. Murphy, Sandra (8 November 2018). "Music Lovers Mourn Death Of Composer Micheal O Suilleabhain". Extra.ie. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  10. size2shoes Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine news archive
  11. "The Monks Of Glenstal Abbey - Biscantorat - Sound Of The Spirit From Glenstal Abbey". Discogs. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  12. World Youth Orchestra Archived 9 February 2013 at Archive.today Official website
  13. Back to school blog Archived 2 February 2013 at Archive.today at size2shoes.com
  14. Sunday Independent Archived 5 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Limerick Event Guide Archived 14 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine review
  16. On Newstalk's Weekend Blend - size2shoes vault
  17. In Conversation with Michelle McMahon Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine size2shoes.com
  18. If the shoes fit… University Observer, 15 September 2009
  19. O’Mahony, Don (19 June 2013). "Brothers serenading Hollywood crowd". Irish examiner. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  20. Niamh Horan (13 February 2011). "Musical brothers ready to step into the limelight with blockbuster film role". Irish Independent. Independent Papers. Retrieved 22 February 2011. Eoin and Micheal... landing a part in his upcoming blockbuster War Horse.
  21. Creighton, Keith (19 February 2012). "Popdose Investigates Size2Shoes' Absurdly Unbelievable Bio". Popdose. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  22. "Lights, camera, Size2Shoes. . ". Independent. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
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