IT has been a life of fiddling for musician Billy Condon who has played with some of Irelandâ€â„¢s biggest Country stars and now that he has joined young Gerry Guthrie in his band Bill has also re-released his album f.
It s quintessentially Irish, the peat briquette warmed homes and fired stoves across the country for decades.
It even inspired one of the Boomtown Rats, Patrick Cusack, to adapt it as his stage name - he became known worldwide as Pete Briquette.
The peat briquette was Ireland s answer to fuel shortages in the wake of World War 2 and in time, with mechanisation, it became available to homes nationwide.
Made from milled peat, Bord na Móna was producing millions of them every year in the midlands. At one point it was producing 280 million briquettes annually - if they were laid end-to-end they would have stretched around the world twice!
Updated / Friday, 1 Jan 2021
00:34
Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C.
With the live music industry holed below water level for most of the year, music became a solitary pursuit for many people and despite or maybe because of the travails, musicians stepped up to the mark with some truly stellar work
It was a year of streamed gigs and a new sense of purpose for many new acts, but 2020 also spawned great work from music s biggest names. After already releasing a new album earlier in the year, country pop crossover sweetheart Taylor Swift announced a surprise second album in December. A sister record to the acclaimed