Celtic Woman make their mark on US charts

The Irish music industry has another international success story on its hands with the debut Celtic Woman album entering the US Billboard 200 this week at number 113.

It’s also number one on the New Artist Heatseekers and World Music specialist charts.

The brainchild of former Clannad manager and long-time music business impresario Dave Kavanagh and Celtic Collections record label MD Sharon Browne, the quintet comprises Orla Fallon, Méav Ni Mhaolchatha, Mairéad Nesbitt, Lisa Kelkly and Chloe Agnew who’s just 15.

Along with updates of such standards as ‘Ave Maria’, ‘She Moved Thru’ The Fair’ and ‘Danny Boy’, the album includes their takes on Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow’, Josh Groban’s ‘You Raise Me Up’ and Clannad’s ‘Harry’s Game’.

The turning point for the project came in March when American PBS TV aired a 90-minute Celtic Woman special shot last year in Dublin’s Helix theatre,

Elsewhere on the Billboard 200, U2 are at no. 39 with How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb; Snow Patrol are at no. 173 with Final Straw; former Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan is at no. 180 with Ronan; and Damien Rice is at no. 195 with O.