Sunday Sessions: Irish Welcome
Welcome. Welcome home.
Those are part of the first words in the song Óró Sé Do Bheatha Abhaile They are in Irish.
It’s a song well known in Ireland and in Irish communities outwith Ireland as well. There are a number of versions of the words.
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh sings one with words by Padraig Pearse, which among other things brings in pirate queen Grace O’Malley from centuries back.
But wait, you might be thinking, what is Muireann doing singing this song in a very windy out of doors and what about that man with that strange looking musical instrument? And why have I chosen this video of the song to show you?
It’s in Patrick season, coning up on Saint Patrick’s Day, as I write this.
I thought to give you a song in Irish, and a song of welcome and strength too, given all that’s going on.
Muireann and her family recorded the song at a time when strength and courage were needed too, during lockdown time for the pandemic where they live in west Kerry in Ireland.
Muireann is an award winning singer, broadcaster, and educator. She began her time in music learning traditional song in Irish in the sean nos unaccompanied style, and learning yo play the flute as well.
She toured the world as the lead singer with the top Irish band Danu, singing in both English and Irish as well as playing her flute.
The time came, though, when she chose to start her own career, and for that, she deiced to return to the west Kerry Gaeltacht where she’d grown. up.
She wasn’t quite sure how or if a solo career would work, but work it did, with several solo albums alongside collaborations with artists from electronica, classical, and Celtic backgrounds, as well as work with folk musicians from other traditions.
Muireann also proved to have an engaging presence as a television and radio presenter, which finds her in demand for those roles too.
Along the way she has won many awards, among them one of the top recognitions in Irish traditional music, the TG4 Gradaim Ceoil, and Best Folk Singer at the RTÉ Radio Folk Awards.
So singing on a windy March day to share music for Patrick season both with her neighbors and the wider world was a natural choice for Muireann.
So was asking her husband and daughters to join in. Muireann’s husband Billy Mag Fhloinn is a fine musician in his own right and a university professor, a scholar of folklore. Among other things he explores what ancient instruments sound like, and sometimes builds replicas of them himself. Hence, the horn.
If you’d like to see Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh in a more formal setting, I’ve included a video of her singing with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and several folk collaborators on the classic song Roisin Dubh in this story about learning Irish over at Perceptive Travel.
You may also wish to see
A story about that album with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, which is called Roisin Re Imagined
About one of her albums that features songs of the sea: Thar Toinn
About the album Dual, a collaborative project with Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis
If that mention of pirate queen Grace O’Malley intrigued you, here are lyrics to a song about her by Cathie Ryan and John Doyle
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Thanks to Rebecca N Caudill for the image