Dublin, Ireland

Our journey continues south, crossing a bit of County Meath again to Dublin, which is both the name of the city and it's surrounding county.  The Greater Dublin area is home to almost a quarter of the population of the Republic of Ireland, so no wonder it is home to many great musicians.  The obvious place to start would be the Dubliners' version of Molly Malone, arguably the anthem of Dublin, but it is too obvious really and there is too much other good music to get through, so I'll just put a picture of the statue of Molly Malone up.

A lot of the music coming out of Dublin predictably has distinctly urban influences. Kila have been playing their contemporary interpretation of traditional music since 1987, mixing it with elements of rock and world music.  This one is a collaboration with Japanese musician Oki Kano and can be found on the 2006 album Kila and Oki.  The track is called Ní Liom Féin

A more recently formed outfit, Lankum are, according to their own description 'a four-piece group from Dublin, Ireland with an alchemical ability to combine traditional folk roots with contemporary undercurrents to forge music that is dark, mysterious and transcendental.'  Many of their songs have social issues as their theme.  Now I always like a drinking song, even if this is a sad one: Drinking Song from the Tomb from their album Cold Old Fire:

*edit: We went to see them on the 12th of July this year at the Earagail Festival in Letterkenny, County Donegal.  I highly recommend you see them if you get a chance:

Former electrician Daoirí Farrell has made a name for himself with his beautiful traditional singing style culminating in him winning the BBC Folk Musician of the year award in 2017.  Here's a wee set together with Blackie O'Connor from Co. Clare on Uilleann pipes.  Blue Tar Road can be found on his album True Born Irish Man: 

Glen Hansard started playing music on the streets of Dublin and shot to international fame playing guitarist Outspan in the 1991 movie The Commitments.  This song McCormack's Wall is from the album Didn't He Ramble:

The next song by Dublin born duo Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne I got from a compilation Rough Guide to Irish Folk and laments the futility of wars.  The Men That God Made Mad:

Mary Black has been a fixture on the Irish music scene for over 25 years.  This song, The Holy Ground is off the 1993 album of the same name.

This post could go on for a quite a while, but with a tear in our eye we will depart Dublin with a song by John Doyle, Bitter the Parting from his album Wayward Son: 

As usual you can follow my journey on this map.  Next stop County Kildare

County Louth, Ireland

From County Meath we head towards County Louth on the east coast bordering Northern Ireland.  It's known as the Wee County, as it is the smallest county of Ireland by area.

Here we meet Eithne Ní Uallacháin, a talented singer/songwriter, who tragically took her own life in 1999 after battling depression for many years.  She was actually born in County Mayo, but County Louth was both her ancestral home as well as being the county where she settled, namely in the town of Carlingford.  She also particularly explored the music of the Oriel region, a Medieval kingdom covering parts of the modern counties of Louth, Armagh, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry.  In her later career she also explored other world music influences such as Balkan and Scandinaian, culminating in her last album Bilingua, which was published 15 years after her death by her surviving husband Gerry O'Connor and her son Dónal.  Here a short film about the making of this album:

I can warmly recommend you to purchase this beautiful album.
Here is another song from the album, Óró:

Her husband, Gerry O'Connor, born in Dundalk, is an accomplished Irish fiddle player in his own right.  Here he is playing with his son Dónal and Niall Hanna from County Tyrone playing above what looks like Carlingford Lough. 

Some of his music can be found on his album Last Night's Joy.  

More famously from Dundalk are the Corrs, a family band combining traditional Irish music with pop and rock, creating their own Irish flavoured pop.  Here's one of their livelier numbers, Toss the Feathers, which can be found on their album Forgiven, Not Forgotten, if you like that sort of thing.

Now I couldn't get away with visiting County Louth without visiting my friend, budding author and musician Tara Tine.  Apart from recently having written 2 books as part of a Fantasy series in the last 2 years, she also recorded her first EP, Battle Cry:  

Also check out her YouTube channel, where she can be heard playing some of her more bluesey numbers.  Look out for more to come from this beautifully creative woman.

On special recommendation by Tara I have also just discovered Sophie Coyle from Dundalk.  This hauntingly dark song, Burning Gorse, comes from her album Blame Me for the Storm. 

Folk Rocker Jonathan Kelly from Drogheda was mostly active in the 70's and has collaborated with some big names including Eric Clapton.  Here is a song from his album Twice Around the Houses: Ballad of Cursed Anna

As usual you follow my trip on this map.  Next stop Dublin.

County Meath, Ireland

From Cavan we cross into County Meath,the spiritual heart of Ireland as it includes the neolithic burial sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. 

 In ancient times it was also the seat of the High Kings of Ireland in Tara.  In more recent history it was also where the famous Battle of the Boyne was fought.

It is therefore no surprise that a fair bit of traditional music emanated from this county.  The legendary Bothy Band had some of its roots in the County with at least 3 member of the group born here, and most went on to have successful solo careers.  The Bothy Band was only active for 4 years during the 1970's, but they left a lasting impression on the Irish music scene with their dynamic style.  Here they are playing a live gig, Old Hag You Killed Me,which can be found on the album of the same name.

The man on the uileann pipes, Paddy Keenan, was born to a travelling family in Trim, County Meath and still performs around the world and is sometimes dubbed the Paganini of the Uileann pipes.  Here he is performing with Cyril O'Donoghue of County Clare on bouzouki.The tunes are Willie Coleman's / Scatter the Mud / The Old Favourite.  I can't find these particular tunes on any of his albums, but here is a list of his extensive discography.

Also part of the Bothy Band was Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill from Kells, County Meath on piano and vocals, who also played in other bands such as Skara Brae and performed with her sister, Maighread and her brother Graham.  She had a successful solo career too.  This song from the archives, Na Gamhna Geala (The White Calf) is from her 1975 album Tríona: 

Here she is performing together with her sister Maighread and Dónal Lunny from Tullamore, County Offaly performing a song called Bruach Na Carraige Báine from their 2010 album Idir an Dá Sholas (Between the two lights):

In 2009 the two sisters got together with 2 other friends in Donegal to celebrate the life of their brother Mícheál, who tragically died prematurely, to form the group T With the Maggies.  This song, Domhnach Na Fola, is from their 2010 self-titled album and describes the events of Bloody Sunday, when in 1972 British soliers shot and killed 13 unarmed civilians during civil rights marches in the city of Derry. 

Next stop County Louth.  As usual you can follow the route on this link.

Counties Monaghan and Cavan, Ireland

From Armagh we cross into the Republic of Ireland to County Monaghan.  Now Monaghan and County Cavan are two of three counties that belong to the historic province of Ulster that did not get included in the modern entity of Northern Ireland when the country was split in two in 1922 (the other being County Donegal).  These two Counties are not really on the way from anywhere to anywhere else and are relatively sparsely populated.  In fact, they might be the only two counties in Ireland that I have never visited and I have never met anybody from Monaghan to my knowledge.  I can't help wonder if these places actually exist or if they just filled a blank spot on the map.  It's kind of my 'Terra incognita' in Ireland.  In fact there seems to be so little happening in Monaghan that on a list of top attractions in the county according to TripAdvisor, this hardware shop comes in at number 8:

Later edit (May 2022): In the meantime I have ventured out and confirmed that Co. Monaghan actually does exist and is not some kind of Bermuda Triangle.  This is a picture of Lough Muckno next to Castleblaney from a quick day trip yesterday:

The county also boasts some excellent catering facilities...

...and you can buy some Big Tom souvenirs in the town...

So consequently I had some difficulty finding some good music originating from the area.  Monaghan's most famous musical son appears to be a guy called Big Tom, who died last April.  Here's him singing a song about his home town of Castleblaney...

No, I don't like this much either, we'll move on swiftly.  There have been a number of songs written which do mention places in Co. Monaghan.

This is a song called Little Hills of Monaghan by a band called Cornerboys in the Cosy.  Well actually it looks just like a session in a pub called The Cosy in Monaghan.

The final song for Monaghan is actually written by Tommy Makem of Armagh whom we met in my last post, but it does mention Crossmaglen and Ballybay, both Monaghan towns.  It is performed by Finbar and Eddie Furey of Dublin fame and can be found on their album I Live Not Where I Love.  

For County Cavan I found Luke Ward, a Cavan man playing the bouzouki, accompanying Donegal man Martin Tourish on accordeon.  It's called Cavan Cowboys and is published on their album Clan Ranald.

Also from Cavan there is the powerful voice of Lisa O'Neill lamenting the lack of public transport in the county with No Train to Cavan from the album Same Cloth or Not: 

Finally, even if you plan to take your car to Cavan, beware of the potholes.  This is a tune played by Sharon Shannon from County Clare from her album Sharon Shannon and Alan O'Connor in Galway.

Next up is County Meath.  As usual you can follow my virtual travels on this map.

County Armagh, Ireland

Our journey continues from County Down on to County Armagh, still in Northern Ireland.  The city of Armagh is the ecclesiastic centre of Ireland with both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic church having their main cathedrals here.  St. Patrick himself is said to have set up shop here.  

In musical terms Armagh's most famous son was Tommy Makem (1932-2007).  He was known as The Bard of Armagh (after a popular song title) and even the Godfather of Irish music.  He was born in Keady, Co. Armagh, which he described as the hub of the universe.  He emigrated to the USA in 1955, where he popularised Irish music together with the Clancy Brothers, playing at the Newport festival, where they were nominated as best newcomers in folk together with Joan Baez.

Here he is with the Clancy Brothers (from Tipperary) singing a County Armagh song, Master McGrath.  It's available on the album In Concert - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.  The song is about a famous Irish greyhound in the 19th century who was owned by Lord Lurgan.  Lurgan is another small town in County Armagh, where there is now a statue of Master McGrath.

This is Tommy singing the song that gave him his nickname, The Bard of Armagh from the album The Legendary Tommy Makem Collection

Also from Armagh is one of the most amazing flute and whistle players, Brian Finnegan, for whom breathing appears to be optional.  He was a founding member of the band Flook.  Here he talks about a project 'Night Ride to Armagh' where he collaborates with a number of other musicians.  I'll let him explain.

And here a version of said song:

Brian mentions the Armagh Pipers Club in his wee documentary.  Here he is playing with them at the BBC Folk Awards:

Now Armagh is also a border county between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, so smuggling has long been a lucrative business.  This is a humorous song on the smuggling trade by Seamus Moore, who is actually a Kilkenny man, so he might get a mention again when we get down there.  The Transit Van is available on the album The Best of Seamus Moore.

 Finally we can't leave County Armagh without meeting the Twisted Sisters (not to be confused with an American heavy metal band) I've seen them live a few times at the Sunflower Fest in Hillsborough, County Down and they are absolutely hilarious singing about Chips and Guinness, I Don't Want to Die in Big Knickers and My Clitoris.  They do give a warning before each gig to exercise 'parental guidance' for the young and impressionable...  Their songs can be found on their album Pure Hallion on their Bandcamp page (link see above).  This clip I took at the Sunflower Fest a couple of years ago.

As per usual, you can follow my virtual journey here.

Next stop Monaghan and Cavan

County Down, Ireland

- Every journey begins with one step -

So the journey begins, at the beginning obviously.  And What better day to start a tour of Ireland than on St. Patrick's Day.  Imagine you are packing your bags and step into a camper van, such as this one I used to own many years ago,

 to travel the world to discover its music in all its variety.  Some countries, countries that I know well, we will linger to explore regional differences, other countries that I don't know so well, we'll make briefer visits to.  

I shall be making this virtual journey from the comfort of my armchair.  Music is the one of the few things that cheers me up in this world where we disrespect the planet by trashing it and disrespect each other for being different.  Music can be a unifying force in this.  The music I choose will be purely my personal choice and include some obvious choices as well as more obscure ones.  They will not always be pure traditional tunes and songs, but I want them to speak of a place to me.  So if you have any suggestions of music from places along my route that I should listen to and include, feel free to comment below.  You can follow my route here.

We begin our journey In Ireland, or more precisely in Portaferry, County Down, Northern Ireland, where I currently reside.  

Irish music doesn't need much of an introduction, as it is part of the brand Ireland alongside Guinness, the shamrock and St. Patrick's Day.  Music is played in the pubs, dance tunes, stories of resistance, emigration, drinking, life and death.  All for a bit of craíc.  Many songs are sung in English, but songs in the old Irish language are also popular.

We start with just such a pub session that I recorded on St. Patrick's Day a couple of years ago in the Portaferry Hotel.  They are just a few of our very talented local musicians getting together for a pint or 3 and enjoying playing a few tunes.  Excuse the poor sound quality at times.

There is a song about the town of Portaferry too.  The best recording I could find is by songwriter Gareth Davies-Jones, who is originally from County Down, but lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne these days.  It's on his 2011 album Chasing Light.  Ironically the gist of the song is, why would you want to travel if you live in such a beautiful place as Portaferry.

From Portaferry we could be taking the short ferry trip to the mainland , but instead we'll head up the Ards Peninsula to see if it is really 6 miles from Bangor to Donaghadee...  This is performed by Ottilie Patterson from nearby Comber in Co. Down.  She was actually more famous as a blues singer with the Chris Barber Jazz Band.  This is from the album St.Patricks Day - Irish Sing-a-Long.

Finally, we can't leave County Down without a version of her most famous song.  So we are heading to Banbridge town in the County Down, where the legendary Star of the County Down comes from.  This version is by Van Morrison and the Chieftains.  Whilst the Chieftains are not from the County Down, Van Morrison was born in East Belfast and, as the County border runs through Belfast along the river Lagan, I claim him a County Down Boy.  This song is also on the album Irish Heartbeat

Next stop will be County Armagh.  See you there!

HAPPY PADDY'S DAY EVERYONE