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Head and shoulders portrait of a woman
Fiona Ritchie of NPR's Thistle and Shamrock and her own Thistle Radio. Photo by Andrew Lynch, shared online with a creative commons license.

Fiona Ritchie’s Thistle and Shamrock Signs Off

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This post was written by Nancy Groce and Steve Winick. First-person singular statements refer to Steve.

With gratitude and best wishes, the American Folklife Center notes that on September 30, 2024, after more than 40 years on the air, our longtime friend and colleague Fiona Ritchie ended her successful and influential weekly public radio program “The Thistle & Shamrock.” The show’s end was carefully planned, and announced jointly by Fiona Ritchie and NPR back in June.

Ritchie’s Thistle & Shamrock was an institution in the Celtic music world. When it wrapped up it was syndicated and aired on 237 National Public Radio stations. In 41 years it has educated generations of Americans about traditional Celtic music and folklore and introduced current performers and musical trends in Celtic Europe and North America. Featuring historic and contemporary recordings as well as interviews and conversations with singers, composers, folklorists, journalists and cultural experts, the weekly program highlighted music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Celtic Spain and North America.

A woman outdoors
Fiona Ritchie, host of Thistle & Shamrock. Photo by Louis DeCarlo. Courtesy Fiona Ritchie.

Fiona Ritchie started the show in 1981 while living in the U.S. after college, on radio station WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina. She expanded it to the national NPR network in 1983. In 1990, she moved back to her native Scotland from where, aided by a small staff, she produced and distributed the show for about 35 years.

Among other accolades, Fiona’s work has been awarded four World Medals from the New York Festivals International Competition for Radio Programming and a Flora MacDonald Award from St. Andrews University, which also conferred upon her an honorary doctorate degree. In 2014, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to broadcasting and traditional Scottish music. She told NPR that she estimates that she has “shared 30,000 music tracks on air, hosted more than 400 guests and 200 live performances, and traveled in conjunction with ‘Thistle’ to 70 towns and cities across the U.S.”

In 2014, Fiona published the well-received book and CD Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia, which was co-authored by Warren William College President Doug Orr and features a foreword by Dolly Parton. She also curates Thistle Radio, a 24/7 web-based music channel.

On a personal note, readers may remember a post from several years ago in which I paid tribute to two “radio guys.” I promised in that post to do a similar tribute to “radio women,” but life got in the way and I never wrote it. Of course, the person I was thinking of first and foremost was Fiona Ritchie, whom I have listened to and admired since I was a teenager. When I did a Celtic show on the radio myself in New York in the 80s and 90s, Fiona’s show was my essential homework and she was my radio role model. Nancy Groce has listened to Fiona almost since the beginning, as have other members of the American Folklife Center staff. Because of these close ties with the American Folklife Center, in 2015 we invited her for an “Open Mic Interview” with Nancy, which you can see at this link.

In 2016, Fiona returned the favor. She helped the American Folklife Center celebrate our 40th anniversary by featuring Nancy and me in our official capacity as AFC staff members, talking about the history of the Center and sharing lots of examples from our archive. We recorded a 2-part special show “AFC on The Thistle & Shamrock! 2016,” which you can hear at this link.

Fiona generously lists these two episodes among the highlights of her storied radio career, and we are touched that she also mentioned them back in June in her announcement of the show’s end.

As regular listeners, we will miss weekly episodes of The Thistle & Shamrock, but Fiona assures us that she is stepping away from the demands of weekly production to turn her attention to special projects. She also plans to continue her active involvement with Celtic music and culture. And, of course, we can also listen to the Thistle & Shamrock Archives at NPR. We thank her for all she has done to promote, celebrate, and study Celtic music as we look forward to hearing about her next projects. Thanks for everything, Fiona!

Comments (14)

  1. End of an era – I hope there will be archives and in the ideal reruns!

  2. Great tribute. Long live Thistle & Shamrock in the NPR Archives.

  3. Tune in to “Across the Pond” Sundays 4-5 pm (Central Time) on KDRP.org
    Edinburgh native, folklorist and singer Ed Miller has been sharing Scottish, Irish and American folk music with listeners in Central Texas since the early 1970’s and is now available on line at KDRP.org

    • Thanks Ed! You know we greatly admire you too!

  4. We listened to nearly every program on WPLN in Nashville TN and loved them all. Many thanks, Fiona and Co., for countless pleasant hours!
    KWK

  5. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the great music and conversations. And a big thank you for introducing me to the Tannahill Weavers, I see them every year. You will be missed by your many fans!

  6. My wife and I moved to the San Diego area from Tucson in the early 80’s. That’s when we discovered The Thistle & Shamrock. That was our first formal introduction to Celtic Music. Both my wife and I are Scots-Irish. The music went right to our souls. Fiona ignited a new chapter in our lives. I had previously worked as a professional musician in the 60’s. In ’97 I reentered that profession as a solo guitarist performing and recording Celtic Music. Fiona’s radio program started that journey. Forever grateful.

  7. Oh Darling Fiona! I have been a Public Radio Person forever! I grew up in Upstate NY…a different continent from NYC. The very accomplished Musical Society I grew up with were primarily from Ireland but they made sure all of us Yankees were exposed to the fantastic musical talents from your part of Europe❣️My late husband and I had a Migrant Tree Planting Company and traveled the US extensively planting trees. We relished in ‘Thistle and Shamrock’ on Sundays to revive our souls from planting 1000s of trees by hand.
    Blessings Precious Darling 🌺 And Thank You🎉

  8. The Thistle & Shamrock was my first introduction to music from the Celtic Nations and greater diaspora. It was on this program that I heard an advertisement for CelticFest Mississippi. I immediately asked my parents if we could go to the festival. Ever since those early exposures I’ve immersed myself in traditional musics from these areas. Thank you Fiona Ritchie for decades of this program. Thank you Steve and Nancy for this post!

  9. I have been listening to this show since it was a show. She has a singular voice and a talent and will be missed. Thank you for writing this tribute.

  10. Saturday evening NPR Hawaii had Prairie Home Companion and then Thistle and Shamrock for years.

  11. Can not imagine my Sunday nights without Thistle & Shamrock ! No matter where I was, I made sure to catch this broadcast.
    What will I listen to now ?
    😰

  12. I listened to Thistle and Shamrock for years, almost from the beginning, until the local station that carried it dropped the programming (pre-internet) and I hadn’t been able to find it again. Now I will listen to the archives and catch up!

  13. I listened to Thistle + Shamrock from the beginning on North countrypublic radio 88.3 on Sunday night. Fionas thick Scottish brogue was delightful to listen to + in her weekly program l could be inspired, enlightened + saddened in her selection of old + current tunes + have learned much about the many bands + musicians of my favorite music. I will miss her program. God bless you Fiona + l wish you health, happiness + a long life. Respectfully Metalman Adirondack Mts Ny

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