The Coterie
The Coterie, a young folk group from Drimnagh (a suburb of Dublin, Ireland) active in the late 1960s with a soft folk sound influenced by the folk revival and light psych culture of the era.
The members were reportedly around 18 years old when they were signed to the Irish label Emerald Records. They released only one LP and a single, then disappeared due to poor promotion and sales.
Band line up: The group consisted of Margaret Maguire (vocals), Kathleen Maguire (vocals) neither were related, Jacqueline McDarby (vocals), and Catherine Donnelly. Their manager was Agnes McDarby. Three band members came from Mourne Road in Drimnagh.
Their first performance was held in Our Lady’s Hall, Mourne Road, Drimnagh where they performed as The Coterie Folk Group.
The Coterie performed at the Castlebar Song Contest in 1967, 1970, and 1971. They also performed in the National Song Contest finishing in third place in 1971 with their song “Tic Toc”. They toured the United States. However, tragedy hit in 1977 when Margaret Maguire passed away suddenly. Jacqueline McDarby and Catherine Donnelly went on to teach music.
Discography
- 7″ Singles:
- “Carnlough Bay / It’s Hard To Be Good” (1968)
- “Back Home To Castlebar / Deportees” (1968) [1]
- Album: A Swing To Folk (1969, Emerald Records) — detailed further via Rough Trade and Record District. [1, 2, 3]
- Compilations: Appeared on the Sad Songs Irish Style compilation in 1970
References:
- https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nYt4tPKiIoEAVsMEECdqj
- Irishrock.org
- Arecorddistrict.com
- Rateyourmusic.com
Research for this article was desktop based.