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Holy row avoided after The Priests are confused with US punk rockers Priests

The Priests (from left to right) are Fr Eugene O'Hagan Fr Martin O'Hagan and Fr David Delargy. Picture by Ian West/PA Wire
The Priests (from left to right) are Fr Eugene O'Hagan Fr Martin O'Hagan and Fr David Delargy. Picture by Ian West/PA Wire The Priests (from left to right) are Fr Eugene O'Hagan Fr Martin O'Hagan and Fr David Delargy. Picture by Ian West/PA Wire

MASS confusion reigned online after a music promoter confused the Irish classical trio and a US punk rock band with the same name.

The Priests are Catholic priests Fr Eugene O'Hagan, his younger brother Fr Martin O'Hagan and Fr David Delargy, while Priests are a punk rock band from Washington DC.

Ahead of the latter's 2017 US tour photos of the three Irish clerics appeared on music websites to promote the concerts.

Fr Martin O'Hagan has reassured fans it was simply a case of mistaken identity.

In a social media post Fr Martin confirmed the confusion after fans alerted the band to the situation.

"Websites like Songkick and others are currently promoting a US-Tour with “The Priests” in Feb 2017 that has nothing to do with us! (There’s a US rock group with the same name.) They erroneously use our photos and press text and we are trying to get things straightened out ASAP," he wrote on Facebook.

In an update on Monday evening the priest said the problem had been "straightened out" and Songkick had updated their website.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Fr Eugene O'Hagan explained this was not the first time the two groups had suffered from mistaken identity, stating the mix-ups began four years ago when The Priests began to perform in America.

Fr Eugene said he has not met any members of Priests, but has seen photographs of the group, and said the punk rockers must be "equally bemused" by the comparisons.

"They are the complete antithesis of what our constituency would expect," he said.

The Priests have been singing together since the 1970s when they were pupils at St MacNissi's College in Co Antrim.

The highly successful classical musical trio have sold more than £3.5m records worldwide to date and have previously sung for Pope Francis, the British Royal family and the Irish President.