The Mary Wallopers

The Mary Wallopers were formed in Dundalk on the east coast of Ireland in 2016. Initially consisting of brothers Charles and Andrew Hendry and Sean McKenna, the band’s relentless touring schedule is bringing them to ever larger audiences, as evidenced by their trips to Norwich (the 300 capacity Arts Centre in October 2022; Epic Studios a year later; and last night the 1550 capacity UEA LCR).  
Currently a six piece, the continued rise of the band is a joy to experience. Bringing a well-calibrated sense of outrage at social injustice to their mixture of traditional Irish folk songs and their own material, it’s easy to see why they are continuing to gain momentum. The endurance of much traditional music is linked to its ability to tap into deeper social and psychological currents and present these in a format that’s invigorating, rather than depressing, to experience. The Mary Wallopers may well be the most skilful and committed exponents of this approach currently active. Their songs deal with all manner of social and personal horrors, but never in a manner that feels hopeless.  
It’s not just their humour, demented energy and profanities which sustain them; they can be restrained and reflective when they need to me – in the middle of the gig the three singers take turns to perform solo, highlighting the depth of talent available for them to draw on. That they are developing the ability necessary to add their own excellent material to their carefully curated song selection from traditional sources, is surely another indication that their rise is set to continue.  
They bring a comparable sense of commitment and respect to the creation of new songs as they do to the performance of old ones.  Their own composition ‘The Idler’ (sung solo by Sean McKenna), sits well alongside Dominic Behan’s ‘Building Up And Tearing England Down’ and Pecker Dunne’s ‘Wexford’.  
They close their main set with three phenomenal performances of tracks from their debut album: ‘Cod Liver Oil and The Orange Juice’ by Hamish Imlach; ‘Eileen Og’ by Percy French and ‘Frost Is All Over’. The band’s comments about the later song, released as a single two years ago, provide a neat summary of their ethos:  
“'Frost is All Over' is a traditional Irish song about taking everything in your stride and not caring about what everyone says you should care about […] we added the verse about landlords as we feel they are a sensitive sort who need reminding of how much we care about them.”