Jimmy Monaghan


Jimmy Monaghan is a musician from Belmullet, Ireland. He has released music as a solo artist, and as a member of the anti-folk band Music for Dead Birds.

Early life

Monaghan was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and moved to Ireland at the age of six. He is of Irish and Italian descent.
As a teenager, he was an amateur boxer, winning four Irish national titles. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Four Nations tournament boxing for Ireland and received the Western People Sports Star of the year award the same year. During his time representing Ireland internationally he fought against the German amateur boxer Gottlieb Weiss.

Music career

Music For Dead Birds
In 2007, he formed Music for Dead Birds with drummer Dónal Walsh in Galway city. One of the band's first gigs was a live performance on Anocht FM from the Roisin Dubh in August 2007. Their debut album, And then it rained for seven days, was released in 2009 by the Irish record label Rusted Rail. This was followed by the independently released The Pope's Sister, a concept album about the influence of the Catholic church in Ireland, in 2011, Vitamins in 2014, and Pagan Blessings in 2018.
Solo Work
He began releasing ambient instrumental music in 2011, with The Connacht Tribune writing in 2022 that; "Through five albums he has approached ambient, instrumental soundscapes with piano melodies, gentle guitar, percussion and field recordings – using his music to reflect the calm and space of the areas that inspire it." In July 2012, Psychonavigation Records released his debut solo album Seamus O'Muineachain. The Irish Times reviewed the album positively, calling it a "tremulous if tranquil success." To promote the album he performed at The Electric Picnic festival and Whelan's, Dublin. In 2013, his song Alone In Nature was featured on an An Taobh Tuathail compilation released by RTÉ. In 2017 he produced and released his second solo album Cloves. In 2019, he released the album City of Lakes while living in Hanoi, Vietnam. In March 2020, KEXP premiered a track from his fourth solo album Blue Moon Set. The album featured in Rockerilla magazine, and was broadcast on Stuart Maconie's Freakzone on BBC Radio 6 Music. Several music videos were created for the album, including a video for Slow Closing Day by Irish experimental film-maker Maximilian Le Cain. In 2022, he released the albums Different Time Zones and Isthmus.
Other Projects
In 2012, he released an album with Aisling Walsh under the name Christian Bookshop. Hot Press wrote that the project was "an acoustic folk duo in the classic mode, with a decidedly lo-fi approach." Also during 2012, he played the drums for the Galway-based folk band Yawning Chasm.
From 2013-2014, he released a trilogy of lo-fi punk albums under the name The Crytearions. Irish website Thumped called the project "Uncompromising, entirely unpolished and, in places, not entirely pleasant."
Musical Influences
Monaghan has stated that his early musical influences were Irish traditional music and nu-metal.

Writing

In 2011, his radio drama Thumb was shortlisted for the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Award.
In 2022, he began writing under the pseudonym Jay Honeycomb. Working primarily in music journalism, he contributed to the webzine PopMatters, interviewing musicians including Mike Scott and Eiko Ishibashi.
In June 2022, he self-published the novella Post-Bliss. The Midwest Book Review called the novella "an evocative creation that challenges heart and mind on many different levels: psychologically, socially, ecologically, and ethically." Self-Publishing Review reviewed the book positively, writing; "A raw and savagely contemporary novella, Post-Bliss by Jay Honeycomb taps into the fears and existential angst of today through tangential, subtle, and compelling storytelling."

Personal life

He is an amateur chess player. In 2024, he was awarded the title of Arena Candidate Master by FIDE.
In 2016, an image of him cycling on the Aran Islands was used on an Irish post stamp promoting the Wild Atlantic Way.

Discography

As Seamus O'Muineachain
Albums
  • Seamus O'Muineachain, 2012
  • Cloves, 2017
  • City of Lakes, 2019
  • Blue Moon Set, 2020
  • Different Time Zones, 2022
  • Isthmus, 2022
  • Liminality, 2024
  • Cage Of Time, 2025
EPs
  • Stamford, CT. Circa 1941, 2014
  • Blood Apple, 2015
  • Unnamed Cafe, Hoang Hoa Tham, 2018
  • Sycamore EP, 2021
With Music for Dead Birds
Albums
  • And then it rained for seven days, 2009, Rusted Rail
  • The Pope's Sister, 2011
  • Vitamins, 2014
  • Pagan Blessings, 2018
EPs
  • Black Tides Falling, 2010
  • Your Brand New Life, 2015
  • Nail & Tooth EP, 2017
Singles
  • English Weed/What A Waste, 2015.
  • Summer in Suburbia/Untied, 2020.
As The Crytearions
Albums
  • The Crytearions, 2013, Dramacore
  • I See What It Is And I Am Scared, 2013
  • These Songs Hate You, 2015
Compilations
  • The Crytearions: Selected Recordings from the Album Trilogy, 2016
Other
  • Christian Bookshop, Owl & Hat Records, 2012
  • Spain, 2019