The Emerald Ceili Band was formed in 1991 by two brothers, Gerard and Paul Mongan from Omagh, Co. Tyrone along with Jim Colgan and Kevin Morris, who learned to play from Sean Nugent of the Pride of Erin Ceili Band. The instruments were piano accordion, piano, fiddle and drums. At that time they played for local weekly fior ceilis and picked up a good following among ceili dancers.

The Band expanded to six members in 1992 with the addition of PJ Loughran and Seamus Brogan from Co. Tyrone on flute and banjo. They played for their first set dancing workshop that year in Omagh and were regularly busy on weekends as a four piece band for ceili dances and the full band for set dances.

The Emerald Ceili Band made their first recording, Ceili House, in 1995, which was well received. They played at festivals including the Mary of Dungloe Festival in Donegal and the Ulster Fleadh in Armagh. On the eve of the Dublin-Tyrone match of the All-Ireland football final they made their first appearance on RTE's Ceili House radio program. The second appearance on the same programme was later the same year for a set dance in Armagh. A second recording, The Emerald Ceili Band and Friends, was produced in 1996.

Over the years, most of the original members moved on, including one of the founders, Gerard Mongan (piano accordion) who left to study for the priesthood in Maynooth. At the time, he was replaced by two accordion players, one for ceili dances and another for sets. In the summer of 1998, the membership of the Emerald Ceili Band changed to the line-up of Janette and Gerald Durnin, Cora McGee, Matt McGranaghan, PJ Loughran, Michael McGurk and Paul Mongan.

In November 1998, the band made their third appearance on Ceili House, broadcast from the Downhill Hotel in Ballina, Co. Mayo. The recording preceded a sets ceili which was all part of a weekend in remembrance of the victims of the Omagh bomb courtesy of the Moy Valley Comhaltas branch.

In spring of 1999, the Emerald Ceili Band released their third recording, Clear the Dresser and Take the Floor. Like the previous ones, it has been very well received, is selling well and has been broadcast on RTE and many local and national radio stations, as well as stations in Australia and the US.

The band plays regularly at sets ceilis, fior ceilis, weddings and festivals all over Ireland, England and America. They also played for ceilis at the 1999, 2000 and 2001 All-Ireland Fleadhs. Since 2002 they have been a regular attraction at “Willie Week” in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare. On a total of three occasions they travelled to New York to play at Gertrude Byrne's #1 Irish weekend at the Nevele Grande Hotel and Country Club in Ellenville.

In December 1999, the band made their fourth recording on Ceili House. On Friday 19th November they recorded the programme at St. Joseph's Hall, Carryduff, Co. Down for an hour preceding a set dancing ceili. The recording was then broadcast on 4th December.

Tragedy struck on the morning of 20th June 2001 when the band's accordian player, Gerald Durnin was killed in a road accident whilst travelling to sit his final A-Level examination. He had just celebrated his 18th birthday almost exactly a month before. The band members gathered the strength to begin playing again  and recruited a new member, Ronan Warnock from Trillick Co Tyrone, an excellent piano accordian player who holds senior All-Ireland titles on both piano accordian and piano. He is currently studying for a Masters degree in pharmacy at the Queen's University of Belfast. The band played it's first gig since the terrible tragedy at the All-Ireland Fleadh in Listowel Co. Kerry at the end of August 2001. We would like to take this opportunity to thank most sincerely all those in the dancing world that gave us such overwhelming support and encouragement during this difficult time to continue with our music.

A very happy and proud day it was on 6th July 2003 when one of the founding members of the band, Gerard Mongan was ordained to the Priesthood in Saint Eugene's Cathedral, Derry. Fr. Gerard is currently serving the parish of Steelstown in Derry City. We wish Fr. Gerard well and continue to be very proud of him.

In September 2003 we waved goodbye to both Cora McGee and Ronan Warnock as they pursued their academic studies further afield. We wish them both every success.

At that time we welcomed two new members to the band, a good friend of Gerald Durnin's, Omagh-based banjo/guitarist Ryan O'Donnell, and Gortin-based button accordian player, Matt Ward. Both have complimented the band's style and repertoire with their own, thus completing the recipe for many a night's craic and tunes!