Hermitage Green: 'You never know what’s going on behind the money, the suits'
It’s been 15 years since Dan and Barry Murphy, Darragh Griffin, Darragh Graham and Dermot Sheedy, through an impromptu jam session, formed Hermitage Green.
It’s been 15 years since Dan and Barry Murphy, Darragh Griffin, Darragh Graham and Dermot Sheedy, through an impromptu jam session, formed Hermitage Green. Their first gigs, in the bar co-owned by the Murphy brothers’ older brother, paved the way for a band that’s made the local global, and achieved somewhat of a utopian career path for a group with little original expectations. (Even their name was chosen for the makeshift playspace created by Dan and Barry in their Limerick housing estate).
To date, the five men have sold out venues like the Olympia Theatre, released two studio albums, had their music streamed millions of times, signed with and departed from a major label and toured the world. (Fans will have also recently noticed lead singer and former Munster player, Barry, singing at this year’s Autumn Internationals. “It’s really nerve-racking for someone to just say go,” he smiles. “But one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”)
The industry has shifted a myriad since Hermitage Green’s first gigs in the backroom of The Curragower. While some might assume for the worse – the TikTokification of music, neocapitalism, an obsession with virality – Barry is at pains to shine on the positive. “The major thing that I’ve noticed today is that there are so many more gigs now. I don't know if it’s that people are trying to fill the gap that mass left, or that we’re looking for something to look at that’s not our phones, but that desire to do something that connects us and is worthwhile is huge.”
Ask any member, and they’ll tell you, Hermitage Green have always been a live gig band. In their earlier years, they were clumsily billed as Ireland’s answer to Mumford & Sons, a tether that mercifully never outshone their original purpose. “We’ve always just wanted to make and play music together, that’s never changed.”
The fans see and feel this through their music, all of it – “We don’t have one song that people always request; it’s a real mix, which is class,”– as well as their politics. Taking beats from the long association of folk music with speaking truth to power, in recent years the band have been outspoken in their beliefs, like signing an open letter to former President Biden on the genocide in Gaza.
“When that came out, and you saw who wasn’t allowed to sign it, it kind of also came out that certain labels and agencies were more attached to what Israel was trying to do,” he says. “The world we work in… you never know what’s going on behind the money, the suits. We’ve all heard the horror stories, but that’s not going to stop us from doing whatever we want.”
This also includes small acts of audacity, like when Barry faced backlash in 2024 for wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the c-word while performing in Kansas City. “I made my own t-shirt with Chief Martin Brody from with ‘size of that c**t’ written on it,” he laughs. “Because that’s what an Irish person would say in that scenario.”
The t-shirt was not necessarily meant to provoke, nor was it explicitly political, but it was tinged with a kind of audacity that seems to be all but eradicated in North America today. (People have requested copies; Barry assures he simply hasn’t gotten around to it yet.)
It would be easy to attribute Hermitage Green’s popularity with the Green Wave––the kudos Irish art is receiving all over the world––but Irish music fans know the real story; theirs is a commitment to grafting and perseverance. Barry is also at pains to credit the Basic Income for the Arts, which two band members receive, for being “life-changing” for their music.
Back in 2021, he criticised the government’s lack of roadmap for the entertainment industry post-COVID. Today he’s much more upbeat. “We all have to work outside of the band to make it work,” he says. “So, only speaking from our perspective, if we were to all have an artist grant, it would allow us to carve out a bit more time for new music. They [the Government] can always do more… But I’m glad to see people benefitting from this in any way.”
At their 15th anniversary shows, Griffin, Graham, Sheedy and the Murphys intend to do one thing and one thing only: thank the fans for their unwavering support, by the glow of the kerosene light. Though their music has evolved, their fanbase has remained loyal, something which has promoted their revisiting of older music in their upcoming sets.
“We’re going to try to mix it up and get as many requests as we can into our sets,” he says. “This is all about a thank you to everyone who has supported us. These gigs are for them… and we just hope they have a good time.
- Hermitage Green play four shows at St Luke’s in Cork December 18-21
