Irish song — A matter of history

A few years ago, I was introduced to The Irish Tenors. Created in the same vein as The Three Tenors (Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras), this endeavor brought together three of Ireland's finest voices to sing the music of their homeland. Their concerts feature many, many songs that proclaim a desire for freedom and/or tell the story of brave Irish men and women. Their shows are mainstays of PBS pledge drives (and yes, "Danny Boy" is always sung).

It was around that time that I took a real interest in my family's Irish heritage. I haven't figured out who in our Lynch clan made the first trip out of Ireland, but I've done a lot of reading up on the history of Ireland and her people.

And one thing that has struck me is the amount of music that has come out of such a tiny country (about the size of Indiana) -- and how much of that music actually documents its history. In fact, I wonder if any other country has produced such a large repertoire of music that also serves as a historical record? The rebellion of 1798 seems to have particularly inspired poets and songwriters. But of course the writers, proponents of freedom, weren't just documenting events (and creating legends) — they were drumming up support.

As people traveled between counties or even between countries — like the first Irish who emigrated to America in the 19th century — they brought the songs with them, songs that told of the horrors endured by the Irish at the hands of the British. American brethren would then send support (i.e., money, particularly in the case of the 1916 Easter Rising).

Wikepedia even has a page devoted to Irish ballads, with a long list of political/soldiering songs, divided by rebellion: 16th and 17th centuries, 18th century, 1798 rebellion, 19th century, Napoleonic wars, The Great War (World War I), 1916 rising, War of Independence and Post-Treaty Republicanism, The Troubles (including U2's classic "Sunday, Bloody Sunday") ... wow, those Irish sure had to fight a lot. (And this doesn't even include the Norman invasion and the heavy-handed rule by Elizabeth I.)

One of my favorite songs I first heard sung by the Irish Tenors' remaining founding member, the fabulous Anthony Kearns, is "Boolavogue." The song relates the story of the 1798 Battle of Vinegar Hill — when the doomed Father John Murphy led his group of rebels against the British troops.




For the people of Ireland, these songs are deeply ingrained in their very being. They aren't a people to forget their history, and they sing these songs in their pubs and in their homes — and in their sporting venues. "The Fields of Athenry," a folk ballad set during the Great Irish Famine about a man who has been sentenced to prison in Botany Bay, Australia, for stealing food (from the wealthy, oppressive British) to feed his family, is actually an unofficial anthem of the Irish National Rugby Union. (Check out the fans singing along.)

Even though the Republic of Ireland won its freedom in 1921, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland came to a peaceful end in 1999, I doubt Ireland's balladeers and poets will stop recording the country's events in song. It's only a matter of time before the country's current economic trouble is immortalized... oh... wait...



I created the slideshow at the top of this blog entry as a visual complement to my words. The music is "Red Is the Rose," by The Irish Tenors, and "Boolavogue," by Anthony Kearns.