25th Silver Jubilee Collection

Tom Cussen and Benny O'Connor are still the backbone of Shaskeen. When they moved back to Ireland about a year after the foundation of the band, they put together the first line-up in Ireland, with PJ. Hernon on accordion and John Dooley on guitar and vocals. They played locally in the Galway area to begin with, but very soon their sphere of influence began to widen. About this time they began a long and fruitful association with Eddie Moloney, the great flute-player and fiddle-player from Ballinakill, in east Galway, who lived in Lower Salthil!. Eddie - whose father had been a founding member of the famou Ballinakill céilí Band - brought a wealth of knowledge about traditional music to the band, as well as a fine store of tunes from his own area, a wonderfully rich source of musicians and of music. It was Eddie who put together most of the selections of tunes that became the hallmark of Shaskeen in those early days and which remain firm favourites to this day.