Planxty then resumed touring as a four-piece again during the summer of 1980 , playing a tour of Italian castles in July and returning to The Boys of Ballisodare festival on 9 August , where they were joined by Whelan and a young Cork fiddler , Nollaig Casey . Shows around this time would feature the quartet for the first set , with Whelan and Casey joining in for the second set . This sextet played a week of shows at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on 18 – 23 August 1980 , which was recorded for a potential live album that eventually emerged in 1987 as the unlicensed release '' The Best of Planxty Live '' . The same sextet also played a series of one-off events , including at the Hammersmith Odeon in March 1981 , and recorded a suite called " Timedance " — with full orchestra and rhythm section — which was also performed during the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest , held in Dublin on 4 April 1981 . " Timedance " was the genesis of what Whelan would later compose for '' Riverdance ''
Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Andy Irvine (musician)