Padraigin Ni Uallachain - An Dealg Oir - The Golden Thorn

(June 2002) 14 tracks

Irish Gaelic is the language of southeast Ulster, and the gentle but strong voice of Padraigin Ni Uallachain re-awakens the traditional songs of the area.

Selected from a song research project, these pieces indicate the breadth of the material * tender love songs, laments, and strong rhythmic pulse are all very characteristic. Alll but one have not been previously recorded.

Padraigin is joined by a group of talented traditional musicians including Steve Cooney, Liam O'Flynn, Helen Davies, Laoise Kelly, Odhran O Casaide, Ronan O Snodaigh, Maire Bhreathnach, Pat Crowley and Liam O Maonlai.

Pádraigín has completed a study of the Gaelic songs of her native southeast Ulster (North Louth and South Armagh). This CD contains 14 of them which have been recorded with instrumental accompaniment.

As well as being good to listen to, it’s an important event * because of the loss of the language in the area in the 1940s and 1950s, these songs had fallen into disuse. Recordings existed in collections of old cylinders, and in transcriptions that Séamus Ennis had made of the cylinders.

While many are versions of songs common in other parts of Ireland, what we have here are beautiful variants, both in the music and the words. At long last, songs which had existed for many generations, and which had been stilled for only a few, have escaped back to the real world.