What is "solas"

Solas \Sol"as\, n. Solace. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.

Solas ( Irish: light) is an American musical group officially formed in 1996, playing Irish traditional music as well as original compositions that dabble in the country, rock, and americana genres.

Their name comes from an Irish word meaning "light". At the time, the band was made up of Séamus Egan, who had already recorded two solo albums as well as a soundtrack to a film; Winifred Horan, a member of Cherish the Ladies; John Doyle, previously a member of Susan McKeown & The Chanting House with Egan; Karan Casey and John Williams. Their first performance was in Georgetown University's Gaston Hall in Washington, D.C. in 1995.

Solas received national exposure on American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion in May 1996. That same year, they recorded their first album and, in October, toured the U.S. A second album followed in 1997 and several members of Solas appeared on Karan's debut solo album as session musicians. Following their second album, John Williams left Solas to pursue a solo career to be replaced by Mick McAuley. In 1999, between the releases of The Words That Remain and The Hour Before Dawn, Karan left for a similar purpose and was replaced by Deirdre Scanlan. John Doyle left after the release of The Hour Before Dawn, being replaced by Donal Clancy. Clancy left after the release of The Edge of Silence, and was replaced by Éamon McElholm.

In June 2008 the band announced Mairead Phelan had joined the group as their new singer. In September 2010, Niamh Varian-Barry from Cork replaced Mairead Phelan as lead singer of Solas. On July 11, 2013, they announced on their Facebook page that Niamh was leaving the band and that Noriana Kennedy would be replacing her.

In 2015, Solas toured with Moira Smiley as the featured singer and Johnny Connolly on the accordion in place of Mick McAuley, who was in the orchestra for Sting's "The Last Ship". Mick returned for the Spring 2016 tour.

Solas is a 1999 Spanish film written and directed by Benito Zambrano.

The film explores the lives of a mother and daughter and their struggle for survival and happiness. Both of the women in the story are portrayed as alone (sola, plural solas), each in her own way.

It won five Goya awards in 2000 and several other prizes.

Solas is an Irish liturgical music group and resource entity formed in 1991, performing, recording and distributing original church music by local, and mostly Catholic, composers. The group is based in Belfast but has attracted musicians and writers from across the island of Ireland, and as of 2003, has been largely in hiatus.

Solas was founded by Brian Foley, who coined the name, which comes from an Irish word meaning "light".

Solas is the eponymous debut album by Irish-American music group Solas, released in 1996 on the Shanachie Records label.

SOLAS may refer to:

• SOLAS (Ireland), a State Agency in charge for further education and training in the Republic of Ireland
• Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study
• International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
• Service Oriented Localisation Architecture Solution (SOLAS)

<!-- This long comment was added to the page to prevent it being listed on Special:Shortpages. It and the accompanying monitoring template were generated via Template:Longcomment. Please do not remove the monitor template without removing the comment as well.

SOLAS is a state agency in Ireland with responsibility for assisting those seeking employment. It was established on .