Fiach Moriarty on his album ‘Liberties’

Fiach Moriarty, the Irish singer-songwriter, spoke to The Liberty about his music career and his third album, Liberties.

Fiach is from Dublin and plays guitar, piano, violin, and mandolin, sings, and writes songs. His debut album, So I, came out in March 2010 and appeared in the Irish top 100 album chart, peaking at number 62. His second album, The Revolution, was released in April 2015 and debuted at number 29 on the Irish chart.

As well as being a solo performer, Fiach is also a member of the band ALDOC, and in 2022, Fiach became the lead guitarist for Horslips. From 2019 to 2021, he would perform every Friday night with The Late Late Show’s house band. Moriarty began to learn the violin when he was five, at school in Inchicore.

He grew up with traditional Irish folk music in the home but due to his mother’s piano playing, he was also influenced by Mozart and Beethoven.

Picture Credit: TG 4

Moriarty draws much of his musical inspiration from Irish history. His album The Revolution is based mainly on the 1916 Rising and World War I.

“When I was five, I saw a little German kid, a little bit older than me, busking on Grafton Street playing violin. I begged my mam for a fiddle and got one soon after and never stopped really. I picked up a guitar at 12 and writing songs almost immediately felt very natural.”

In 2024, Moriarty released his first solo release in five years, the song “I’m for Gallipoli,” a duet with Damien Dempsey, as the lead-in single for his album Liberties, which was released last October..

After being asked why he decided to create an album about the Liberties, he stated: “I wanted to write an album about my great granduncle Jack Kavanagh. He was the forgotten member of the family. I researched him ad discovered he had died at Gallipoli. So, the album is about him. He was from the Liberties, as all that side of my family are. So, in essence, Jack’s story was not unusual for a man from that time. The album title just made sense.”

I’m for Gallipoli was nominated for Best Original Folk Track in the 2025 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. 

He has performed on tour with Ray Davies, Mary Black, Eddi Reader, Damien Dempsey and Declan O’Rourke, and Paul Brady and Chris White of The Zombies have praised his work. 

Chris White claimed, “I was rendered speechless by his voice and songwriting. There was nothing I could say to this artist. Lyrically and musically, he is one of the best singer-songwriters around.”

Fiach relives the best moments from his career: “So many great memories but opening for Paddy Casey in the RDS when I was only 21 or so was great. Opening for Ray Davies of the Kinks for his Irish tour in Dublin, Belfast and Killarney was magic. Having Paul Brady accompany me on one of my own songs was great too.

“But I think joining Horslips and stepping into Johnny Fean’s massive shoes is probably the most terrifying and best memory. Johnny was an incredible guitarist so learning and playing, trying to emulate those riffs was a real dream. I hope I did his playing some justice.”

Fiach has been nominated for an RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award for Best Original Track.

He’s performed all over, but said: “Olympia Theatre is probably my favourite venue I’ve ever performed in. So much history in that room.

“I probably haven’t performed that much in Dublin 8, even though I was born there, went to school there, and lived there for a while, ” he said.

“But I am playing in Goldenbridge Cemetery on 11^th May at 1 pm for a very special event as part of Culture Date with Dublin 8.”

When asked what the future holds for his music career, Fiach says: “I am currently recording a single which I hope to put out in autumn. It’s the story of Brian MacNeill, son of Eoghan MacNeill. In the Civil War, he fought on the anti-treaty side, while his brothers and father remained on the pro-treaty side.”

Fiach Moriarty’s music is availabe on his Spotify and socials: @fiachmoritarty on Instagram and Facebook.