The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk group, best known for their arrangements traditional Irish ballads, drinking songs, rebel songs, and sea shanties.

They were best known for their work in New York in the 1960s with Tommy Makem (as Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers), and are credited with popularizing Irish folk music in America.

The brothers (originally Paddy, Tom, and Liam) emigrated to the USA in the 1950s, and recorded The Rising of the Moon, their first album, in 1956. Their big break came in 1961, when they appeared the Ed Sullivan Show in front of a TV audience of 40 million.

The group then attracted international attention, recorded numerous albums and going on worldwide tour. They were also mainstays in the New York folk scene—Bob Dylan called Liam Clancy one of his major creative influences.

Makem left the group in 1969, and younger brother Bobby later joined the group.

They got their signature Aran Island sweaters from their mother, after she read a story about harsh winter weather in New York.