Damian McGinty Returns to Celtic Thunder After His ‘Glee’ Break

Eight years after joining Celtic Thunder at just 14, Damian McGinty returned to the group in 2015 — still the youngest member, but now with years of experience in music, television and life in Los Angeles behind him.

The Derry native, who had spent five years away from the group, rejoined Celtic Thunder for its “The Very Best of Celtic Thunder” tour. At 22, McGinty was stepping back onto a stage that had helped launch his career as a child performer.

Speaking to the Boston Herald ahead of his return, McGinty reflected on how much had changed since his first stint with the group.

“I’ve come back five or six years later with a lot more experience, and I’m still the youngest in the group,” he said.

His return marked another chapter in a career that had taken him from Derry to international touring, The Glee Project and the hit television series Glee.

From Youngest Member to Television Star

McGinty first joined Celtic Thunder when he was only 14, becoming the youngest member of the singing group.

His path to the stage had started much earlier. He won his first music competition at the age of six, and by 13, he had received his first major break after recording a charity CD.

That recording eventually caught the attention of Celtic Thunder producer Sharon Browne and musical director Phil Coulter. They invited the young singer to audition for the new production, and he was selected to become its teenage standout.

Although he spent four years performing with Celtic Thunder, McGinty continued attending school in Derry between tours. His early years with the group gave him an unusual start in the music industry, but his next major opportunity would take him far beyond the concert stage.

The Move to Los Angeles and “Glee”

McGinty left Celtic Thunder after four years and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where his career took a new direction.

At just 18, he competed on the first season of The Glee Project, a talent competition created to find new performers for Glee. McGinty finished in a joint first place, earning an opportunity to appear on the FOX series.

He was subsequently cast as Rory Flanagan, an Irish foreign exchange student, appearing during the show’s third season and part of its fourth season.

Looking back, McGinty said he viewed the experience fondly but acknowledged how young and inexperienced he had been when he first arrived in Los Angeles.

“I look back on it very fondly,” he told the Boston Herald. “I was going in at 18 years old.”

Despite already having several years of professional experience with Celtic Thunder, McGinty said he was still young when he left Ireland and approached life in Los Angeles with a sense of innocence.

“I was very young. I’m still young now,” he said. “I went out to Los Angeles myself. I was looking at everything with my eyes wide open. I was very innocent and pretty naive about it all.”

Returning to the Group That Started It All

By 2015, McGinty had spent roughly four years in Los Angeles while developing his work in both acting and music.

His return to Celtic Thunder came after a five-year break and offered him the chance to reconnect with the group and its audience from a very different stage of his life.

The contrast was striking: the teenager who had once been the youngest member was now returning at 22 with experience from television and years of living and working in the United States.

At the same time, he remained the youngest person in the group.

The timing also came as Glee was reaching its conclusion in 2015. McGinty was unable to participate in the show’s two-hour finale, which brought back previous cast members, because of scheduling conflicts.

A Different Direction for His Music

While living in Los Angeles, McGinty was also working toward a solo career.

He began developing a solo album that he said would sound different from both Celtic Thunder and his earlier work. Rather than continuing exclusively in the musical style associated with the group, he described the new material as having a “Coldplay vibe” and a “Sam Smith vibe.”

Music was not his only focus. McGinty was also working to strengthen his acting abilities and took speech lessons to improve his American accent as he continued pursuing opportunities in Los Angeles.

The goal was to build on both sides of his career rather than remain defined solely by his early success with Celtic Thunder.

A Career That Began at Six

McGinty’s return to Celtic Thunder in 2015 highlighted just how much had happened in his career before he had even reached his mid-20s.

He had entered his first music competition at six, recorded a charity CD at 13, joined Celtic Thunder at 14 and later moved to Los Angeles after earning his opportunity on The Glee Project.

By the time he reunited with Celtic Thunder for “The Very Best of Celtic Thunder,” he was still only 22 — but the experience he had accumulated was already considerable.

His musical influences included big band and swing, while his later ambitions extended into contemporary music and acting.

That solo direction continued after his Celtic Thunder return. In December 2016, McGinty released his first full-length solo album, “This Christmas Time!”

Meanwhile, Celtic Thunder continued its own journey, with the group scheduled to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a holiday cruise in November 2017.

For McGinty, however, the 2015 reunion represented something particularly meaningful: a return to the group that had given a teenage singer from Derry his first major international stage — this time bringing the perspective and experience he had gained during the years away.