Seán McKenna announces he is leaving The Mary Wallopers

Ellen O'Donoghue

Seán McKenna has announced that he is leaving The Mary Wallopers after almost nine years with the Irish folk band.

In a statement posted to Instagram, singer, guitarist and founding member of the band McKenna said: "With another busy year of touring looming, I have decided to take a step back and put some time into a couple of projects I've been thinking about for a long time."

He said that the band "started out as a bit of craic and none of us could've ever imagined where it would end up taking us".

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Mary Wallopers (@marywallopers)

"I'd like to thank everyone who helped and supported us over the years, every mad bastard that showed up to the gigs, and to thank my bandmates for all the music and memories along the way," McKenna said in the post.

"I'm making some movements at the minute and have some tunes in the works so keep an eye out," he added.

"After almost ten years of hoorin and drinkin Seán has decided to leave the band, now don’t worry we still love each other and will continue to get pissed together etc," the group said on the post.

"We'll still be touring, just with a moustached shape hole in our lives," they added.

They wished McKenna the best of luck and lots of love.

The group are based in Dundalk, Co Louth, and other founding members include brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy.