Patrick Michael Karnahan and Richard Restivo met on the set of "Back to the Future III" in 1989. This is when the idea of the Black Irish band began to first bloom. Both Patrick and Rick were in the "Hill Valley Brass Band," while future band mate Steve McArthur was given a speaking role as festival man #1. During filming breaks, Patrick and Rick began to formulate the idea for a traditional folk group that would cross cultural and musical boundaries...an acoustic folk band with no limits! At the first band meeting the name Black Irish was chosen. Early the next morning the Loma Prieta Earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area .

The Great North is becoming a regular destination for the Black Irish Band, where they performed at the 100th anniversary of the Yukon Gold Strike in Skagway, Alaska, the 100th anniversary of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Carcross, Yukon, the Fairbanks Celtic Festival in 2001 and the Calaveras Celtic Faire in 2002. The band's music has been heard at the Golden Spike National Historic Park in Utah, and the National Maritime Museum in San Francisco, as well as state museums and parks like The Alaska State History Museum, Sutter's Fort in Sacramento, Bodie State Historic Park, The Monterey Maritime Museum, and Columbia State Historic Park.

The Black Irish Band, also known as the Hooligans of Jamestown, have a musical style that is as timeless as the rugged landscape of the west, a tribute to the people whose lives were spent building the world we now take for granted. The band has a large compliment of traditional maritime and railroad music, as well as ethnic tunes in their repertoire. They commonly play Irish, Italian, and American folk music with an assortment of original songs and traditional western ballads.The bands musical style captures the spirit of the immigrants of this land, the men and women who tamed the Wild West.