Born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Egan moved to Ireland with his parents
and his five siblings when he was three years old. The Egans settled in
Mayo, in Foxford, a town famed for its woolen mills. It was there that
Egan started playing music, under the tutelage of Martin Donaghue, a
button accordion player from Ballindine. Practice paid off for Egan. He
went on to win all-Ireland championships on four different instruments
by the time he was 14, an unprecedented feat in Irish music. After he
heard Mick Moloney playing a banjo on the radio, he decided he wanted
to learn the instrument. His parents went out and got him one. Before
Egan won his all-Ireland titles, his family had moved back to
Philadelphia. Donaghue had prepared him for the whistle and flute
titles, but his banjo and mandolin championships were another story.
After Egan and his two sisters Siobhan and Rory gave up playing
competitively, the opportunity arose for some professional gigs. During
this period, Egan began to perform with Mick Moloney and Eugene
O'Donnell, a trio that has continued to work together on and off over
the years. Egan has had more than his share of musical partnerships and
groups over the years. At the moment, Egan's attention is focused on a
band called Solas. The lineup consists of Egan on flute, whistle,
banjo, mandolin, and other instruments, Eamon McElholm on guitar,
MickMcAuley on button accordion and concertina, Winifred Horan
(formerly of Cherish the Ladies), on fiddle, and a fine singer named
Deirdre Scanlan.
