Dolores Keane

Irish folk singer, musician and actress.
Born: 26th September 1953 near Caherlistrane, County Galway, Ireland
Died: 16th March 2026 in Caherlistrane, County Galway, Ireland
The third youngest of eight children, she was raised in the musical Keane family and first came to prominence singing with her aunts Rita and Sarah Keane, both well known sean-nós singers. In 1975 she was a founding member of De Dannan, leaving the group in early 1976 and rejoining it in the mid 1980s for the albums Anthem (1985) and Ballroom (1988). She recorded several albums with her then husband John Faulkner before establishing a solo career. Her 1988 recording of Dougie MacLean's Caledonia became one of her best known performances, and the title track of Lion In A Cage (1989), written in protest at the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, reached number one in the Irish charts. She contributed Caledonia and The Island to the 1992 compilation A Woman's Heart, which became the best selling album in Irish history. Further solo albums include Solid Ground (1993) and Night Owl (1998). She stepped away from recording and touring in the late 1990s and returned to performing after 2014. In 2023 she released My Refuge, her first new music in almost twenty years.
Married to John Faulkner from 1977 to 1988.