Cruachan are an Irish folk metal band from Dublin that have been active since the 1990s. They have been acclaimed as having "gone the greatest lengths of anyone in their attempts to expand" the genre of folk metal. They are recognised as one of the founders of the folk metal genre. With a specific focus on Celtic music and the use of Celtic mythology in their lyrics, Cruachan's style of folk metal is called Celtic metal. The band named themselves after the archaeological site of Rathcroghan in Ireland also known as Cruachan. History Keith Fay had formed a Tolkien-inspired black metal band named after the city of Minas Tirith in 1991. Around the same time, he began listening to more folk music and picked up Skyclad debut album The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth. Originally released in 1990, this "ambitious" and "groundbreaking" album made an impact on Fay and he set out to combine black metal with the folk music of Ireland. In 1992, Keith Fay formed Cruachan with a demo recording distributed in 1993. Keith Fay also credits the Irish rock band Horslips as a "huge influence on Cruachan," further noting that "what they were doing in the 70's is the equivalent of what we do now." The year 1995 saw the release of Cruachan's debut album Tuatha na Gael, an album that "suffered under poor production." On the strength of this album, the band received attention from Century Media Records. The band found it amazing to receive interest from "such a big label" but were dismayed at the terms and conditions of the offered recording deal. They refused to sign a "very poor contract" that would have given the record label "the rights to change every aspect of our music." After "lengthy negotiations failed to yield a deal with Century Media Records", the band disbanded in 1997. Cruachan reformed in January 1999 and after signing a recording deal with Hammerheart Records, they released the second album The Middle Kingdom in 2000. By this time, the band had dropped the black metal style in favor of a more traditional metal sound. They also expanded the roster by inviting guest vocalist Karen Gilligan to be a full-fledged member of the group. Their subsequent album Folk-Lore was co-produced by Shane MacGowan of The Pogues fame. Shane MacGowan also contributed vocals to two covers of traditional Irish songs, "Spancill Hill" and "Ride