In Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, Ireland in October 1994, at the Oireachtas Festival, a group of four musicians received an invitation to the Inter-Celtic Festival in Lorient, France. The original four were Benny Mc Carthy on accordeon, Donnchadh Gough on bodhrán & uilleann pipes, Dónal Clancy on guitar (all from west Waterford) and fiddle player, Tricia Hutton (Carlow).

A suitable name was needed for the group and Tricia came up with "DANÚ", the name of the Celtic Queen Goddess. Due to commitments with another group, Tricia was unable to travel and another fiddle player, Daire Bracken (Dublin), a friend of the musicians, was contacted. In August of the following year, DANÚ played their first ever gig, in Lorient and the band were an immediate success.

They were invited back in 1996, this time as a six-piece band. Again, one of the band was unable to go (Dónal), so three new musicians were needed to make up the six. Dublin brothers Tom on flute and Éamonn Doorley on bouzouki, had played at a session in Monkstown with the lads the night before they left for Lorient in 1995 and were an easy choice for inclusion in the second tour. Guitarist Timmy Murray was invited to fill in for Dónal and the band set off once again.

This time, with the Doorley brothers adding two new instruments and their special touch, the concerts were an even greater success and the group won the prestigious "Boulee Des Korrigans" award for best new band of the festival.

The band began to tour outside the country shortly afterwards, kicking off with a tour of the west coast of the U.S.A. in March, now as a seven member ensemble. European tours followed in the summer of 1997, seeing the band in France and Denmark, most notably in the Saint-Chartier Festival and The Tønder Festival, before returning to the U.S.A in September.

The new year saw Timmy Murray leave due to work committments in his teaching job and Dónal Clancy, by now, living half of each year in New York, again stepped in, splitting his time between playing with DANÚ and his father, singer Liam Clancy.

After DANÚ's appearance in the Irish National Concert Hall in January 1998, Dónal's heavy commitments to the band "Clancy, O' Connell and Clancy" brought him back to America, this time permanently. Guitar player Noel Ryan, from Tipperary, then stepped in and was an instant success, touring with the band in Denmark in March.

The prestigious Vossa Jazz Festival in Norway was next for DANÚ - the only folk/traditional band to play the festival in 1998. The Queima das Fitas Student Festival in Coimbra, Portugal followed in May, where the band played live to an audience of 15,000.

August 1998 included the Dranouter Folk Festival in Belgium, where DANÚ were included on the festival CD. The Feakle Folk Festival in Co. Clare, Ireland saw the last concert with the band by singer Cárthach Mac Craith and fiddle-player Daire Bracken, who both had personal and work commitments and were finding it increasingly difficult to cope with DANÚ's busy work schedule. This was a major blow to the band, as both were valued members. They remain strong friends and often appear as special guests of the band when playing in Ireland.

DANÚ's second appearance at the Tønder Festival saw the introduction of today's line up, which now includes singer Ciarán Ó Gealbháin and fiddle player Jessi Smith. The band received rave reviews of their performances at Tønder 1998 and since then, musically and in every other way, have gone from strength to strength, gaining great credibility in Ireland with their new level of maturity. DANÚ are now at their most cohesive ever!