Talented South Mayo sisters set to release new single 'Burnt Bridges'

Renowned for their stunning harmonies, trad-infused folk, pop and country music and engaging personalities, The Murphy Sisters who hail from South Mayo are one of the most exciting contemporary acts in Ireland today. 

They say that when families sing together something special happens and this is certainly true of Sarah Jane, Katie Alice and Rachel Rose. Their sibling harmony produces almost inseparable voices. “What we bring to the stage is our harmonies,” Sarah Jane says. “Our background as a family is very important to us. It’s in the music that we play and the songs that we write together.”

The Claremorris trio have played in various places in Ireland and abroad including Trad Fest in Temple Bar in 2023 and 2024, the group spent the last six months writing their own songs. “As well as playing our original songs, we also do covers and because we come from a traditional background we fuse the trad into the covers, which people love because we then make the songs our own,” Sarah Jane explains.

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“We were always musical and artistic when we were growing up,” Sarah Jane recalls. “We were encouraged to sing because our parents loved music, but where the group really came from was when Katie Alice took a liking to the fiddle after seeing it performed on TV and begged our parents to get her tuition to learn it.

“It’s a very unusual story, but that’s where it all began for us. We all started to follow her. I was the older sister and I wouldn’t let her go to music lessons on her own, so I was handed a banjo.

“I had no interest in doing music lessons, but when I picked up the banjo it was love at first sight. Then our sister Rachel Rose followed suit on the concertina. At that time, I was aged fifteen, Katie Alice was ten and Rachel Rose was eight. It was a very organic way of starting our traditional music journey, all because Katie Alice had an obsession with the fiddle.”

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As well as pursuing their passion for music, all three of the Murphy Sisters completed their education and graduated from University of Limerick with degrees in Irish Music and Dance (Sarah Jane) and Law (Katie Alice and Rachel Rose). “We all have our various degrees and now we are concentrating on our full-time career as The Murphy Sisters,” Sarah Jane concludes.

The sibling trio’s new original single “Burnt Bridges” will be released on July 29. It was produced by Billy Farrell at Deadeye Productions. A second single will be released in the Autumn with an Album release planned for next year. 

You can access the latest single by clicking here.