About me

Born in Luton into a family with strong Irish links, Damaris Woods is part of a ‘golden generation’ of young musicians playing Irish traditional music in England. She has enjoyed success in the highly-competitive Fleadh Cheoil competitions and is regarded as being in the top flight of Irish instrumental musicians.

Now living in her mother’s home place of County Meath, Damaris is recognised as one of the leading Irish banjo players of our time and was featured alongside Barney McKenna of the Dubliners and Gerry O’Connor in the ‘banjo extraganza’ on RTE television’s famed ‘Late Late Show’and is just as well known as a teacher as she is a performer.

Damaris is a member of The Young Wolfetones and can be found performing with the band through Ireland, England, the USA and Australia.

Damaris teaches at many different summer schools throughout Ireland during the year and is now a regular at the ‘Joe Mooney Summer School’ in Drumshambo, Co. Leitrim.  She has put together what’s thought to be the World’s Biggest Banjo Band, ‘The Damaris Woods Banjo Minstels’, featuring twenty young players and ten other musicians, all of them her students who have received rave receptions at two major Irish banjo festivals in Cavan and Longford in 2007.

Damaris has also successfully run, for many years, the “Ag Seinm Summer School”, co-ordinating and teaching across a huge range of instruments.  The school caters from 5 years up to adults, and its success is evident in the returning pupils year after year, coming back for excellent teaching, a wide choice of tunes and a fun time.

Damaris has also toured internationally in the band Coisir. Their debut album ‘On the Right Track’ was regarded as one of the outstanding releases of 2004.