Lúnasa are internationally acknowledged as being the finest traditional Irish instrumental band of recent times.

In October 1997, Ireland's all-star quintet Lúnasa released their début CD Lúnasa, a searing mix of concert and studio tracks gathered from their first prolific year together. It was immediately hailed as one of the freshest recordings of traditional Irish music in years, called “moving, pulsating, and thrilling to the very marrow” by Roots magazine and “a true must-have disc” by The Irish Voice. From the start, Lúnasa met with instant acclaim. Their first album became an immediate best-seller in Ireland, topping Hot Press' folk charts and nominated one of the year's top ten by the Irish Echo in the USA.

Since that auspicious beginning, Lúnasa has become one of the most sought-after bands on the international Celtic music scene. On their first American visit, word-of-mouth led to sold-out shows and rave reviews. “A standing-room only crowd in New York confirmed Lúnasa's reputation” ... wrote The New York Times. “This is the hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet.” Just a few years later the band were performing in front of 13,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl.

Lúnasa is a gathering of some of the top musical talents in Ireland. Its members have helped formed the backbone of some of the greatest Irish groups of the recent times - Bassist Trevor Hutchinson was a key member of The Waterboys and The Sharon Shannon Band. Fiddler Sean Smyth is an All-Ireland champion who has played with Donal Lunny's Coolfin; Kevin Crawford, considered to be among the finest flautists in Ireland played with the acclaimed traditional group Moving Cloud; piper Cillian Vallely has toured with artists such as Tim O'Brien and Riverdance; newest member Paul Meehan on guitar has toured and recorded with Karan Casey, Mike McGoldrick, Altan and North Cregg.

As confirmation of their excellence live, Lúnasa won the "Coup de Coeur Mirror" prize for their performances at the Quebec City Summer Festival July 2003. This prize is defined as follows ... "Recognizes an artist, in any popular music genre, who the jury agrees has given a truly outstanding performance. The concert must stand out from all the others on the basis of one or more criteria ...".