The group first formed in 1985 when Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna Ó Braonáin , who had known each other as children in an Irish-speaking school, Coláiste Eoin in Booterstown , Dublin , began performing as buskers (i.e. street musicians) on the streets of Dublin, under the name “The Incomparable Benzini Brothers”. They were soon joined by Peter O’Toole and had won a street-entertainer award within a year. They renamed the group “Hothouse Flowers” (the name was suggested by singer Maria Doyle Kennedy during a brain-storming by band-members and friends in the Trinity College Arts Block café) and began writing songs and performing throughout Ireland. Rolling Stone magazine called them “the best-unsigned band in Europe”.
Group first formed
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