The Wolfe Tones

The Wolfe Tones are an Irish folk band known for performing rebel songs rooted in Irish republican history and tradition. Formed in Dublin, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, a leader of the 1798 Irish Rebellion, and have long been associated with music expressing Irish nationalist and republican sentiment.

Musically, the band draws on traditional Irish folk instrumentation and song forms, applying them to material that recounts historical events, political struggle, and figures from Irish history and the more recent Troubles. Songs such as «Come Out Ye Black and Tans», «Celtic Symphony», and «Grace» have become widely known well beyond their original folk-club audience, with several tracks adopted as terrace chants by football and other sports fans in Ireland and elsewhere.

Over a career spanning decades, the Wolfe Tones have remained a fixture of Irish rebel and folk music, with songs like «Joe McDonnell» and «Sean South of Garryowen» reflecting on specific historical episodes and figures tied to Irish republicanism. Their catalogue is closely tied to a particular strand of Irish cultural and political memory, distinguishing them from more mainstream Irish folk acts.