Altan

Altan is a common masculine Turkish given name used also as surname and a Mongolian given name. Altan means "golden" in Mongolian and "red dawn" in Turkic. The related word "Altın" is also Turkish for "golden" and a common Turkish surname.

Given name

Surname

Altan (disambiguation)

Altan is a surname and given name both in Turkish and Mongolian.

Altan may also refer to:

Altan (band)

Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband the late Frankie Kennedy (1955-1994) . They brought Donegal's rich collection of Irish language songs and instrumental styles to audiences around the world, and they remain the world's foremost Irish traditional group with over a million records sold. They were the first traditional group to be signed to a major label when they signed with Virgin Records in 1994. Altan have established a large following in Ireland, UK, Europe, United States, Canada and even in Japan. They have worked with a wide variety of well-known musicians including Dolly Parton, Enya, The Chieftains, Bonnie Raitt and Alison Krauss.

Origin

As a 18-year-old young student and musician from Belfast, Frankie Kennedy used to travel to Gweedore, County Donegal on his summer holidays, learning Irish and playing traditional Irish music on Irish flute and tin whistle. There he met native 14-year-old Irish-speaker and musician Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, the daughter of famed musician Proinsias Ó Maonaigh from Gweedore and the two fell in love with each other but Ní Mhaonaigh being very young, an innocent friendship began. When she was 15, she was allowed to go to dances under her brother Gearóid Ó Maonaigh's watchful eye, and gradually Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh became a couple. They both took jobs as trainee teachers at St. Patrick's College in Dublin. In 1979, the two musicians made their recording debut as accompanists for the well-known Belfast singer and Gaelic enthusiast Albert Fry on his self-titled debut album. (In total, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy would feature on the first three albums of Albert Fry.) Two years later, in 1981, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy graduated from college and married when Mairéad was 21.