DEREK WARFIELD & The Young Wolfe Tones return to London this week, helping to celebrate the very first weekend of the New Year, on January 3, 2026 at The Claddagh Ring, 10 Church Rd, London NW4 4EA.
The story of The Young Wolfe Tones has its origins in the ‘ballad boom’ in Ireland which began in the 1960s, mirroring the folk boom in Britain, and the awakening of a wider public to Irish traditional music and folk songs.
In1963 Brian and Derek Warfield and a pal Noel Nagle started playing round the fleadhs of Ireland, purely for fun. With a strong sense of their country's history, and a collection of ballads, looked like they might play a few gigs together, for a few months anyway, and because of their great sense of Ireland, they called themselves the Wolfe Tones, after the great Irish leader.
By this time they had met their fourth member, Tommy Byrne at a fleadh in Elphin, Co. Roscommon.
Their repertoire was what one might call ‘uncompromising’: Wrap the Green Flag Round me Boys, Come Out Ye Black and Tans, the Lonely Banna Strand; gigs began to pour in.
In the 1960s unlike many other bands who were content to steer clear of ‘controversial’ material (that is, rebel songs) the Wolfe Tones dived straight in. “No other Irish folk group, before or since, has told the story of Ireland so completely and unapologetically,” Derek says.
Which is probably true of bands from the Republic, but there were quite a few bands in the North, from the Barleycorn to Wolfhound (both Belfast outfits) who also specialised in rebel music throughout the Troubles. But it was the Wolfe Tones’ combination of musicality, energy and songwriting that took them to the top of that particular genre and have kept the various members performing for fifty years.
After their formation, within a few short years the band were playing in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including in 1976, their first Carnegie Hall concert. The Wolfe Tones, which had only come together to play a few gigs, were now into their second decade and on their way to becoming one of the great folk bands.
Derek has a deep love of the tradition and has written at length about the songs and the music of Ireland and their place in the literature of the country. He has said that he feels Ireland’s song lore and traditions of relating to the events that have passed by in our history is unique. And he does have a lot of proof on his side: for over 400 years there was no national institution that protected Irish heritage and traditions. So it was left to ordinary people to preserve and value the heritage and culture that was in society. Music, song, poetry and dance was preserved by the ordinary person. It is, as Derek points out, an extraordinary story. “I never feel we should apologise for the content of our patriotic song. They are part of what we are.”
The Wolfe Tones focused in on that unique canon, and this radical approach brought them huge success. But in 2001 the band split, the reasons for which can probably be filed under the heading “musical differences” — Derek himself calls it “artistic differences” and both factions went on to carve out an successful careers.
In 2005 Derek put together a band containing some of the finest musicians and singers in Irish music – The Young Wolfe Tones. Further successes followed.
Derek cites 2016 as a pinnacle of the Young Wolfe Tones career: “We were chosen to perform on the 24th April at the 1916 centenary commemorations at the General Post Office in O’Connell Street Dublin at 12noon.
“This was the exact same time the Irish proclamation was read by Pádraig Pearse one hundred years ago to the minute.
“Of all the honours bestowed on the Wolfe Tones old and young this privilege was the most significant. It was an honour to perform the music and songs of remembrance and the patriotic ballads that were sung by the volunteers inside the building during the struggle for our freedom, and we performed them with the same passion and emotion.
“The Foggy Dew, Wrap the Green Flag Round me The Soldiers Song were some of the choruses that rang out along the main thoroughfare to the 30,000 people assembled.”
After spending decades years as one of the foremost folk musicians in Ireland, Derek Warfield is revered as a singer, songwriter, historian, author and entertainer in all parts of the world where Irish roots have been put down.
Derek has been proudly presented with the keys to San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles for his contributions to Irish Song & Music over the years and was honoured as Dublin Gael of The Year 2013 by the New York Dublin Society.
Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones
Saturday, January 3, 2026
The Claddagh Ring, Hendon, NW4
