06/09/2026
A mighty weekend coming this October at the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat - Máirtín is teaching singing. Join up to the class today
Máirtín de Cógáin, a renowned singer, dancer, story-teller, and master of the bodhrán, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Irish Artist in America Achievement Award by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society (TIMES). The award, which recognizes individuals who have advanced the teaching and performance of Irish music in the United States, will be presented at the 23rd Annual O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat on October 22-25 in
Midlothian, Texas.
“We are pleased to honor Máirtín with this award,” said TIMES Executive Director Ken Fleming. “His entire life has been devoted to Irish cultural arts, and his many talents, which besides music and dance, include storytelling, acting and playwriting, make him a unique performer and educator and a worthy recipient of this recognition.”
Máirtín was born in Carrigaline, a small town south of Cork City in Ireland. He hails from a musical family, but it was his family’s love of dancing that captivated Máirtín from an early age. His father, Barry Cogan, organized monthly céilís, but he is also an excellent storyteller, a talent that young Máirtín would inherit. He credits his dad as the person who
most shaped his approach to performing.
Despite his growing success as a singer, dancer, and storyteller, Máirtín would find himself at sessions on the outside looking in at the “golden circle of music” that included his musician friends. His mother, Aislinn, recognizing his yearning to be in that circle, presented him with a toy bodhrán while waiting for a lift home from their Comhaltas Branch and sent him off to learn from De Danann alumni Eric Cunningham, and later, Colm Murphy. Within a few months he had acquired a brand new drum, and, to his surprise, found himself teaching classes. He had finally found his instrument, and his professional journey both as performer and teacher began.
He dabbled in playing a number of instruments during his youth — whistle, fiddle, bagpipes, and accordion — but those interests were soon outweighed by the discovery of a gift for singing. Máirtín became an avid collector of songs, learning the Sean-nós style from Danni Maichi Ua Súlleabháin and later being influenced by other famous singers such as Séamus Mac Mathúna and Ciarán Dwyer. Having grown up in an Irish-speaking home and sharing his parents’ love of the “Teanga na Gael,” Máirtín expanded his knowledge by earning a degree in Irish language from University College Cork.
Since those early days, Máirtín has toured the globe with The Máirtín de Cógáin Project, The Fuchsia Band, Galilean and several years with The Voice of Cork, Jimmy Crowley, his friend and mentor and a central figure in the Irish folk scene since the 70s. De Cógáin has performed and taught bodhrán, singing, storytelling, Irish language and folk dancing at many festivals and music camps in the U.S. Along with his experiences as an actor in movies such as “The Wind that Shakes the Barley” and numerous theatrical productions, some of which he has co-written, Máirtín has kept himself busy.
Today, as a resident of California, Máirtín remains active in preserving and sharing Irish arts with whomever he can. He currently produces a podcast, The Ballad Lounge, with Rory Makem, which explores the history and impact of the great songs of Ireland. He still performs gigs with various ensembles, teaches at music camps and festivals, organizes musical Bus Tours of Ireland, and, whenever he can, savors a good session, sitting inside that “golden circle of music” with his friends, with his bodhrán in his hand, a song in his head, and story ready to tell.
Previous Irish Artist in America Achievement Award recipients include Kevin Burke (2010), John Doyle (2011), James Kelly (2012), Brendan Mulvihill (2013), Joanie Madden (2014), Mick Moloney (2016), Liz Carroll (2017), Séamus Connolly (2018), Rose Conway Flanagan (2019), James Keane (2020), Randal Bays (2021), Brian Conway (2022), Colin Farrell (2023), Liz Knowles (2024) and Billy McComiskey (2025).
For more information about TIMES, go to www.irishtradmusic.org. About the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, go to www.oflahertyretreat.org. TIMES is a non-profit organization based in Richardson, Texas whose mission is to “assist and encourage people in their learning and playing of traditional Irish music through culturally unique, educational programs and performance events.”
