Ireland has a rich history of traditional music, much of which is hundreds of years old, and some of which go back perhaps thousands of years, to a time before Christianity came to this island. Most of the songs have been passed down through generations, many in oral form, sung acapella around a fireplace by the seanachai (
shan-ah-kee), the revered storyteller, perhaps at the time the only man in a village or town who could read, and then woven into musical compositions to be learned and handed down from father to son.
Many sing of legends from Irish folklore, many of battles and bravery, and many of the strife Ireland has been through in her long and troubled history --- we have certainly been invaded more than once. These songs speak of times past, people long dead, ways that have been overtaken by modern life, but they also tell the stories of conflicts of this time, like the Great War and the Easter Rising, among others. They are played by our better known traditional groups, like the Wolfe Tones, the Dubliners and the Chieftains, Planxty and others, as well as singer/songwriters like Christy Moore and Mary Black. Although they often reference and remind us of bad times, there are the joyful jigs and reels, and other songs which celebrate life and love, and remind us why these songs are still sung today.
Here are a few of the ones I know and recognise, the ones that come up most when you're at an Irish bar, or indeed a football match...
One of the most famous is “The green fields of France”, which although only written in 1976 has quickly become one of the most recognisable and well-loved Irish trad tunes (given that it was written by a Scot, perhaps it shouldn't be claimed as such, but we do) and has been performed by, among many others, the Chieftains, the Dubliners, the Furies, Makem and Clancy and Stockton's Wing.
Referencing the “Troubles”, as we called the thirty-year occupation of Northern Ireland by the English Army, and the rampant sectarian violence that sprung from that conflict, “The town I loved so well” is another recent song, written by one of our greatest pianists and composers, Phil Coulter, and covered by among others, the Dubliners and Johnny MacEvoy. It's a searing indictment of the “war” in Northern Ireland, and the legacy left behind, the human cost as the lyric laments
”With their tanks and their guns/ Oh my God, what have they done/ To the town I loved so well?”
A song written, ostensibly in the 1970s but with parallels in a written manuscript from 1880, “The fields of Athenry” concerns a convict sentenced to deportation to Australia, and the memories of a town he will never see again. It comes up a lot in Irish football chants, and our most famous and popular version is sung here by Paddy Reilly.
Another song written to condemn the idea of war is “And the band played Waltzing Matilda”, which was in fact written by the man who penned “The green fields of France”, Eric Bogle, and concerns largely the battle of Gallipoli in World War One. This is Makem and Clancy relating the tale in music.
Irish songs were often written from an emigrant's point of view, as the unfortunate who had to leave his home reflected on what they had left behind. “Carrickfergus” is such a song, its origins said to go back to the late eighteenth century, and a very popular song wherever the Irish in America gather.
As I mentioned, Ireland has had its fair share of conflict and invasion, mostly by “the damn English” (!) and many of the traditional songs reflect that, rebel songs which reference things like the Easter Rising of 1916 or various battles (won or lost) fought against the English. Songs like “Boolavogue”
“Off to Dublin in the green”
“Rising of the moon”
and the popular “A nation once again”.
But not all Irish trad songs are sad or morose. Indeed, many celebrate the simpler things in life, like partying and getting drunk and just generally enjoying yourself (sound familiar?), as in “Lanigan's ball”
“The Rose of Tralee”
and of course “If you're Irish”.
And who doesn't know “An Irish lullaby”?
There are the great love songs, like “I'll take you home again Kathleen”
the haunting “Danny boy”
“Will ye go, lassie, go”
and the utterly bewitching “She moved through the fair”.
Of course, there are the more serious, sombre ones too, like “The mountains of Mourne”
“Spancil Hill”
and of course “Cockels and mussels” (usually mistitled as “Molly Malone”, for obvious reasons).
Though it's relatively recent (1967) I like “Four green fields”
And for those of you who doubted it existed, here to close this section is the traditional, original version of the song made world-famous by Thin Lizzy, “Whisky in the jar”.