Celtic Thunder Amazing Grace: The Video And The Story

This is Celtic Thunder singing “Amazing Grace” in their Christmas show, filmed before a live audience in Poughkeepsie, New York, and released in 2010. The late George Donaldson is on stage. Below I cover who the group are, the former slave trader who wrote the hymn, and why Celtic voices love it.

Some songs bring a hall to its feet. “Amazing Grace” manages it nearly every time, and Celtic Thunder’s version shows why.

Hit that play button and enjoy.

Pretty incredible video if I do say so myself!

If you enjoyed this video, watch Celtic Thunder sing Heartland here.

Where the Celtic Thunder Amazing Grace video comes from

The clip comes from Celtic Thunder’s “Christmas” show. KPBS reported it was filmed before a live audience in Poughkeepsie, New York.

The CD and DVD came out in October 2010, and PBS stations aired the show over several Christmases.

The official store lists this a cappella “Amazing Grace” on the Christmas DVD. It isn’t on the 14-track Christmas CD.

Who is singing?

KPBS and the DVD notes name the singers as Irishmen Damian McGinty, Keith Harkin, Paul Byrom and Ryan Kelly, with Scotsman George Donaldson.

“Christmas” topped Billboard’s World Albums chart, holding No. 1 for nine weeks by Christmas 2010.

Who are Celtic Thunder?

Celtic Thunder is a group of male singers from Ireland and Scotland. Producer Sharon Browne put on the first show at the Helix in Dublin in 2007.

The idea, says the official site, was men of different ages singing songs about their shared Celtic heritage.

The original five were George Donaldson, Paul Byrom, Keith Harkin, Ryan Kelly and Damian McGinty. When they started, the group’s site said the cast ranged in age from 14 to 40.

Phil Coulter’s part

The Derry songwriter Phil Coulter was involved from the start. On his own site, he describes helping with casting, writing original songs and choosing the rest.

He also says he came up with the name during a violent storm, while recording in the Glens of Antrim. Fair enough, really.

Coulter was musical director in the studio and on tour for about four years. He also wrote “The Town I Loved So Well” and co-wrote “Puppet on a String” with Bill Martin, the UK’s 1967 Eurovision winner.

How PBS made them famous in America

Americans mostly met them on public television, starting with their first special in 2008.

By 2018, Sony Music said their shows had aired more than 22,500 times across all 50 states on PBS.

It also counted over 3.4 million US album sales and well over a million tickets sold. Sony adds that Billboard gave them year-end world music honours, including Top World Music Artist, in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2016.

The members over the years

Damian McGinty went on to win “The Glee Project” in 2011 and played Rory Flanagan on Glee. He later returned to the group.

Later singers include Emmet Cahill, Neil Byrne, Michael O’Dwyer, Emmett O’Hanlon and Ronan Scolard. Today’s line-up is Cahill, Byrne, McGinty and Scolard.

How did George from Celtic Thunder die?

George Donaldson died of a massive heart attack at his home in Glasgow on 12 March 2014. He was 46. The group’s press release confirmed it, as did Pollstar.

Born in Glasgow on 1 February 1968, he taught himself guitar and flute. In the group he was known as the steadfast one, the only Scot and the only married family man.

He once sang for his father and 65,000 fans at Celtic’s opening match of the 2000/01 season.

He left his wife Carolyn and daughter Sarah, then 13.

It makes this clip a bit harder to watch now.

Who wrote Amazing Grace?

John Newton, an English clergyman and former slave ship captain, wrote the words. You know the opening line: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound”.

Newton was born in London in 1725. In March 1748 he prayed while steering a ship through a fierce storm. He marked that date as his conversion for the rest of his life.

Still a slave trader

He didn’t quit the slave trade straight away. Britannica says he saw no conflict at the time. He captained three slaving voyages between 1750 and 1754, until ill health ended his sea career.

He was ordained in 1764 and became curate of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, where he stayed until the end of 1779.

When was it written?

The Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney says he most likely wrote it in late December 1772, for his New Year’s Day service on 1 January 1773.

It was first printed in “Olney Hymns” in 1779, under the title “Faith’s Review and Expectation”. Newton wrote about 280 of the book’s 348 hymns. His friend, the poet William Cowper, wrote the rest.

It is a hymn about looking back on a wasted life and being forgiven.

From slave trader to abolitionist

In 1788 Newton published “Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade”. Britannica describes it as a frank account of life on slave ships, including his own remorse for his part in the trade.

He is closely linked with William Wilberforce. Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807, and Newton died that December.

The tune

Nobody knows who wrote the melody. The tune, now called “New Britain”, turns up in American tune books between 1829 and 1835.

William Walker paired it with Newton’s words in “The Southern Harmony” in 1835. That book helped spread the hymn across America.

Hymnary.org notes the tune uses a five-note scale. It suits unaccompanied voices, which is exactly how Celtic Thunder sing it here.

Why Irish and Scottish groups sing it

So it’s an English hymn on an American tune. Why does it feel so Celtic? Blame the bagpipes.

In 1972 the pipes, drums and military band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards took “Amazing Grace” to No. 1 in the UK. It hit the top in April that year, per the Official Charts Company.

Pipes at American funerals

In the US, the custom of pipers at police and fire funerals is usually traced to Irish and Scottish immigrants. In the 1800s, many Irish arrivals took jobs as firefighters and police officers.

Many of these pipers play in Emerald Society pipe bands, named for the Emerald Isle. “Amazing Grace” is said to be the tune they’re best known for.

So for plenty of Irish American families, this is a funeral hymn as much as a Christmas one.

Where to see Celtic Thunder now

They’re still touring. The official site says they’re back on stages across the US and Canada this autumn.

Dates change, so check celticthunder.com/2026tour before you book.

The site has also announced a 2027 Australian tour and CT Cruise 2027, a cruise around Northern Europe. No dates were listed when I checked.

Celtic Thunder Amazing Grace FAQ

What show is Celtic Thunder’s Amazing Grace from?

Their “Christmas” show, filmed live in Poughkeepsie, New York, and released on DVD in October 2010.

Is Amazing Grace on the Celtic Thunder Christmas CD?

No. The official store lists it on the Christmas DVD only. The 14-track CD doesn’t include it.

Who is in Celtic Thunder now?

The official site lists Emmet Cahill, Neil Byrne, Damian McGinty and Ronan Scolard.

Who wrote the music for Amazing Grace?

Nobody knows. The tune, “New Britain”, first appears around 1829. William Walker set Newton’s words to it in 1835.

Celtic Thunder Amazing Grace: The Christmas Performance and the Story Behind It