Renowned for their stunning harmonies, trad-infused folk, pop and country music and engaging personalities, The Murphy Sisters are one of the most exciting contemporary acts coming out of Ireland today.
They say that when families sing together something special happens and this is certainly true of Sarah Jane, Katie Alice and Rachel Rose.
Their sibling harmony produces almost inseparable voices. “What we bring to the stage is our harmonies,” Sarah Jane says. “Our background as a family is very important to us. It’s in the music that we play and the songs that we write together.”
To reach the point where The Murphy Sisters stand together today as a popular trio with fans around the world, we have to take a short trip back to their childhood in Claremorris, Co Mayo, in the West of Ireland.
“We were always musical and artistic when we were growing up,” Sarah Jane recalls. “We were encouraged to sing because our parents loved music, but where the group really came from was when Katie Alice took a liking to the fiddle after seeing it performed on TV and begged our parents to get her tuition to learn it”.
“It’s a very unusual story, but that’s where it all began for us. We all started to follow her. I was the older sister and I wouldn’t let her go to music lessons on her own, so I was handed a banjo”.
“I had no interest in doing music lessons, but when I picked up the banjo it was love at first sight. Then our sister Rachel Rose followed suit on concertina. At that time, I was aged 15, Katie Alice was 10 and Rachel Rose was 8. It was a very organic way of starting our traditional music journey, all because Katie Alice had an obsession with the fiddle.”
“From that moment on we were playing in lots of music sessions in Mayo and Galway. We also went to all the Festivals, the Fleadh Cheoils and we just became obsessed with music and performing. When people would ask us to play for them we’d do it for fun rather than for money.”
“Then Katie Alice broke her leg on a trampoline at a party and while recovering she started learning the guitar and asked us to sing with her to help her with the chords. That led to us singing at parties.”
“We didn’t have a group name at the start, but when we got a gig in Cong in Mayo and they were putting us on a poster we called ourselves The Murphy Sisters, and it stuck. The demand for us to perform just kept on growing by word of mouth from there on. People loved what we do and now we’re making a career out of it.”
As well as pursing their passion for music, all three of the Murphy Sisters completed their education and graduated from Limerick University with degrees in Irish Music and Dance (Sarah Jane) and Law (Katie Alice and Rachel Rose).
“We all have our various degrees and now we are concentrating on our full-time career as The Murphy Sisters,” Sarah Jane says.
They are currently writing their own songs with tracks to be released in the months ahead and a full album due in early 2026. “Katie Alice has a great way with words in the songwriting, but all three of us are co-writers,” Sarah Jane reveals. Their original song, Nightmare, was featured in the Netflix drama, Jack Taylor. “Even more special is that Katie Alice actually sings the song with the Actors during a funeral scene in a pub.”
The Murphy Sisters also cut their teeth as live performers playing to local and International audiences at Trad Fest in Dublin’s famous Temple Bar tourist district. “Temple Bar is a real melting pot and we gained lots of fans there from around the world,” Sarah Jane says. “As well as playing our original songs, we also do covers and because we come from a traditional background we fuse the trad into the covers, which people love because we then make the songs our own.”
The Sibling Trio’s new original single “Burnt Bridges” will be released on July 29th 2025. It was produced by Billy Farrell at Deadeye Productions.
Taking care of business is Manager Freddie Middleton who has worked in the Irish Music Business at EMI, BMG and Universal.
Contacts:
Management: Freddie Middleton freddie.middleton@outlook.com
Agent: Mark Downing mark@amamusicagency.ie
Socials: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube
Website: www.themurphysisters.com
Katie Alice Murphy
Katie Alice is the glue that holds the group together. She is a multi-instrumentalist (fiddle/guitar) and vocalist who specialises in harmonies. A voice of an angel, the soprano of the group with a superb range that can hit all the high notes.
Rachel Rose Murphy
Rachel Rose is the baby of the group but don't let that fool you! She can hold her own on any stage with her Adele-like soulful voice and insane concertina and whistle skills. She shreds the concertina like no one ever has before! Her musical creativity is unmatched; she can compose a tune out of thin air, just tell her the key!!
Sarah Jane Murphy
Sarah Jane is the oldest of the group and the resident MC! Her humour, wit and crowd work is second only to her exceptional banjo skills! She shares the mammoth task of lead vocalist with the baby of the group Rachel Rose and is partial to a low harmony or two!