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Dolphin Records (Ireland) - Wikipedia

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Dolphin Records
Foundedc. February 1968[1][2]
FounderJoe O'Reilly Snr.
StatusActive
GenreIrish rock, traditional Irish music, novelty songs
Country of originIreland
LocationSouth City Business Park, Oldbawn, Tallaght, Dublin

Dolphin Records is a record label, based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1968 by Joe O'Reilly Snr.[3][4] As of 2018, Joe's son Paul O'Reilly was acting as managing director of the label, and three of his children had also joined the business.[3]

The founding of the record label in 1968 was preceded by the opening of a record shop by O'Reilly named Dolphin Discs in the Dolphin's Barn suburb of Dublin in 1958.[4]

As of 1976, Dolphin Records, as well as its associated retail chain Dolphin Discs, were still owned by the O'Reilly family, one of whom (Joe) began dating singer Mary Black that year.[5] Joe and his older brother Paul eventually started a second record label, Dara Records, on which to launch Black's career feeling that "she was different to their Dolphin artists".[4][5] The compilation album A Woman's Heart released by Dara Records in 1992, achieved massive success and "remain(ed) the biggest-selling album in Ireland" as of 2018.[4]

The company was registered with the Companies Registration Office in 2003, with an address at Great Ship Street, Dublin.[6] As of December 2021, Dolphin Records remained active as both a record label and retail chain.[2]

In 2006, Dolphin Records was noted as being the only Irish-owned record label out of the top five highest earning independent labels in the country that year.[7]

In 2018, the label released a commemorative double album entitled An Irish Welcome to mark the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland in August of that year.[8] Speaking to the Irish Independent, Paul O'Reilly was reluctant to divulge which artists had declined to appear on the album, mentioning "Some of the older ones were not so keen, but younger people were queuing up to get on it", adding that the album was "for believers and non-believers (and) it has a religious theme obviously, but it's not in your face."[8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when bands were "at a loose end" and unable to perform to audiences, Paul O'Reilly asked Irish band Aslan to record a version of The Fields of Athenry in their "distinct style".[9][10] The band recorded it, which turned out to be their last recording with lead singer Christy Dignam owing to his death in June 2023.[10]

A retail element of the label, named Dolphin Discs, was set up by Joe O'Reilly Snr in Dolphin's Barn in 1958, a decade prior to the launch of Dolphin Records.[11] The O'Reilly family lived in the nearby suburb of Rialto at the time, later moving to Templeogue.[4]

By 1979, there were five Dolphin Discs shops in Dublin city alone, according to a Hot Press Yearbook for that year, located at 3 Burgh Quay, 59 Saint Stephen's Street, 22 Marlborough Street, 164 Capel Street, and 2a Talbot Street.[12]

In September 2012, Paul O'Reilly announced that the Talbot Street store would be closing by the end of the month.[13] O'Reilly pointed to "digital downloads as the main culprit for the decline in business at the 40-year-old store, as much as 40% in the past three years".[13]

Notable artists who have appeared on Dolphin Records

[edit]

Cat. No. Title Artist Year
DOS 1 Two Loves / Gold and Silver Sean Dunphy and the Hoedowners[2] 1968
DOS 2 Bottle of Wine / Creole Jazz Paddy Cole & The Capitol Showband 1968
DOS 3 Simon Says / White Cliffs of Dover College Boys 1968
DOS 4 Who's Taking You Home Tonight? / Mother Machree The Vanguard Six Showband (from Tralee) 1968
DOS 5 Ballad of Amelia Earhart / Bile Them Cabbage Down The Smokey Mountain Ramblers 1968
DOS 6 Tommy Jones / Creeque Alley Oscar Whifney Sound 1968
DOS 7 Henry My Son / Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms Weaver Folk 1968
DOS 8 Far Away Out In Australia / Portobello Road Oliver Kane 1968
DOS 9 Monkey Time / Song and Dance John Drummond & The Capitol Showband 1968
DOS 11 My Little Son / Heartaches For A Dime The Old Cross Bandshow & Philomena Begley 1968
  1. ^ White, Lawrence William (2016). "Dunphy, Sean". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.009885.v1.
  2. ^ a b c d Keane, Eamonn (16 July 2016). "Dolphin Records". irishrock.org. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  3. ^ a b Foley, Ann Marie (18 August 2018). "Pope Francis – An Irish Welcome music CD released". catholicireland.net. Catholic Ireland. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Smith, Andrea (20 August 2018). "How the best man won this woman's heart". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Andrea (2 November 2014). "'Being away from my children while touring was heartbreaking. I felt so guilty...'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Records for company number 234797 (Dolphin Records)". core.cro.ie. Companies Registration Office. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  7. ^ O'Flynn 2009, p. 59.
  8. ^ a b Collins, Liam (1 July 2018). "Zozimus". Irish Independent.
  9. ^ Dwyer, Riccardo (21 July 2023). "Aslan release last ever recording featuring Christy Dignam with 'The Fields of Athenry'". hotpress.com. Hot Press. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  10. ^ a b Quigley, Maeve (22 July 2023). "I Always Thought Christy Was Invincible". Irish Daily Mail.
  11. ^ Hennessy, Michelle (24 September 2012). "Dolphin Discs to close after 40 years on Dublin's Talbot Street". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  12. ^ Wynne-Jones, Steve (16 March 2019). "Lost In Music: Dublin's record shops, 40 years on". 909originals.com. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  13. ^ a b O'Driscoll, Des (28 September 2012). "Scene and Heard". The Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  14. ^ "Sean Dunphy (obituary)". Irish Independent. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  15. ^ Keane, Eamonn. "Cromwell (1970-)". irishrock.org. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  16. ^ Smith, Andrea (12 November 2006). "Ronnie's note of optimism". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2025.