# Dolphin Records (Ireland)

Dolphin Records is a record label, based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1968 by Joe O'Reilly Snr. As of 2018, Joe's son Paul O'Reilly was acting as managing director of the label, and three of his children had also joined the business.

## History

The founding of the record label in 1968 was preceded by the opening of a record shop by O'Reilly named Dolphin Discs in the Dolphin's Barn suburb of Dublin in 1958.
As of 1976, Dolphin Records, as well as its associated retail chain Dolphin Discs, were still owned by the O'Reilly family, one of whom (Joe) began dating singer Mary Black that year. Joe and his older brother Paul eventually started a second record label, Dara Records, on which to launch Black's career feeling that "she was different to their Dolphin artists". The compilation album A Woman's Heart released by Dara Records in 1992, achieved massive success and "remain(ed) the biggest-selling album in Ireland" as of 2018.
The company was registered with the Companies Registration Office in 2003, with an address at Great Ship Street, Dublin. As of December 2021, Dolphin Records remained active as both a record label and retail chain.
In 2006, Dolphin Records was noted as being the only Irish-owned record label out of the top five highest earning independent labels in the country that year.
In 2018, the label released a commemorative double album entitled An Irish Welcome to mark the visit by Pope Francis to Ireland in August of that year. Speaking to the Irish Independent, Paul O'Reilly was reluctant to divulge which artists had declined to appear on the album, mentioning "Some of the older ones were not so keen, but younger people were queuing up to get on it", adding that the album was "for believers and non-believers (and) it has a religious theme obviously, but it's not in your face."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when bands were "at a loose end" and unable to perform to audiences, Paul O'Reilly asked Irish band Aslan to record a version of The Fields of Athenry in their "distinct style". The band recorded it, which turned out to be their last recording with lead singer Christy Dignam owing to his death in June 2023.

### Dolphin Discs

A retail element of the label, named Dolphin Discs, was set up by Joe O'Reilly Snr in Dolphin's Barn in 1958, a decade prior to the launch of Dolphin Records. The O'Reilly family lived in the nearby suburb of Rialto at the time, later moving to Templeogue.
By 1979, there were five Dolphin Discs shops in Dublin city alone, according to a Hot Press Yearbook for that year, located at 3 Burgh Quay, 59 Saint Stephen's Street, 22 Marlborough Street, 164 Capel Street, and 2a Talbot Street.
In September 2012, Paul O'Reilly announced that the Talbot Street store would be closing by the end of the month. O'Reilly pointed to "digital downloads as the main culprit for the decline in business at the 40-year-old store, as much as 40% in the past three years".

## Notable artists who have appeared on Dolphin Records

* Aslan
* Sean Dunphy
* Paddy Cole
* Philomena Begley
* Muriel Day
* The Wolfe Tones
* Shay Healy
* Maisie McDaniel
* The Freshmen
* Cromwell
* Paddy McGuigan
* The Barleycorn
* Dublin City Ramblers
* Noel Purcell
* Fureys and Davey Arthur
* Red Hurley
* Dermot Morgan
* Brendan Bowyer
* Gene Stuart and the Mighty Avons
* Na Fili
* John McCormack
* Ronnie Drew
* Paddy Reilly
* Gemma Hasson
* Micheál Mac Liammóir
* Patsy Watchorn

## Singles catalogue (extract)

| Cat. No. | Title | Artist | Year |
| DOS 1 | Two Loves / Gold and Silver | Sean Dunphy and the Hoedowners | 1968 |
| DOS 2 | Bottle of Wine / Creole Jazz | Paddy Cole & The Capitol Showband | 1968 |
| DOS 3 | Simon Says / White Cliffs of Dover | College Boys | 1968 |
| DOS 4 | Who's Taking You Home Tonight? / Mother Machree | The Vanguard Six Showband (from Tralee) | 1968 |
| DOS 5 | Ballad of Amelia Earhart / Bile Them Cabbage Down | The Smokey Mountain Ramblers | 1968 |
| DOS 6 | Tommy Jones / Creeque Alley | Oscar Whifney Sound | 1968 |
| DOS 7 | Henry My Son / Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms | Weaver Folk | 1968 |
| DOS 8 | Far Away Out In Australia / Portobello Road | Oliver Kane | 1968 |
| DOS 9 | Monkey Time / Song and Dance | John Drummond & The Capitol Showband | 1968 |
| DOS 11 | My Little Son / Heartaches For A Dime | The Old Cross Bandshow & Philomena Begley | 1968 |