Fureys to bid a fond farewell

The Fureys will play their last ever County Cavan concert as part of their Farewell Tour in the Hotel Kilmore on Sunday, January 18.

The Fureys are one of Ireland’s all-time most acclaimed and influential middle of the road, folk and traditional bands. Fureys classics such as I Will Love You, When You Were Sweet 16, Red Rose Café, Leaving Nancy, The Old Man, From Clare to Here, Her Father didn’t like me anyway and The Green Fields of France have become the soundtrack to the lives of fans all over the world.

Eddie Furey recalls how "many musicians have told us we influenced them after hearing a record from their parents or grandparents' collection". Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics has credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on the guitar while still a teenager. Eddie would return the compliment by joining Dave on stage in Paris for a jam during the latter’s wedding to Bananarama’s Siobhan Fahey.

Inevitably changes have occurred over the years. Their brother Paul died suddenly in June 2002, Finbar left the band in December 1996 and Davey got a stroke in March 2014 which he is still recovering from. However, George and Eddie continued to delight audiences on their tours and releasing CDs.

In May 2026, the Fureys will come to an end. Eddie and George say “We will have very mixed emotions over the next number of months knowing our working lives as we have known them for so long will be coming to an end.

“We know we have been among the luckiest people on earth having a ‘job’ we love and enjoy, traveling the world to places we would never have been to, meeting people and making many friends, we would never have met. However, time catches up with us all and we will look to a new future from the middle of 2026 playing at the odd music session and seeing the younger Furey generation playing their music.”

Catch The Fureys in the Hotel Kilmore on Sunday, anuary 18.