Ireland in Songs and Ballads

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Bringing together some of the finest songs and ballads in the Irish tradition, this unique treasury also explores their origins and inspiration. Including tales of the Famine, emigration and the Irish in America, street ballads, patriotic and love songs, it will enrich your understanding of the Irish and their songs and provide years of enjoyment.

Included are the stories and music of such classics as: The Black Velvet Band, Carrickfergus, The Dawning of the Day, The Fields of Athenry, Kelly of Killane, The Last Rose of Summer, The Mountains of Mourne, The Rose of Tralee, The Shores of Amerikay, Skibbereen, The Wild Colonial Boy and more.

Stories and Articles:

The Irish Emigrant: A brief note on the 'coffin ships'.

Lady Dufferin: Helen Sebina Sheridan or Lady Dufferin (1807-1867) wrote many ballads, including her most famous ''The Irish Emigrant'.

Hardship and Bigotry: Attitudes towards the early Irish emigrants in America.

Early Irish Settlers in America: Long before the famine and as far back as 1607, records show the arrival of settlers from Ireland to the 'New World'.

Farewell to Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia (New Scotland), home to Scottish and Irish emigrants.

Transportation: Recalling the transportation of Irish prisoners to penal colonies in Australia.

The Wearing of the Green: A short biography of Dion Boucicault.

The Wild Colonial Boy: A brief look at the famous outlaw.

Connemara Cradle Song: Delia Murphy, the collector and recording artist.

Oft in the Stilly Night: Thomas Moore and his beautiful Melodies.

The Bard of Armagh

Slievenamon: A short biography of Charles Joseph Kickham.

The Dawning of the Day: Edward Walsh and the story of the song.

Percy French: A short biography of the man who penned 'The Mountains of Mourne' and a host of Irish evergreens.

The Hiring Fair: An important source of farm labour in Ireland of old.

The Rose of Tralee: A look at the beautiful love song written for Mary O'Connor, a servant girl.

Carrickfergus: The town of Carrickfergus on the shores of Belfast Lough is probably best known for the song that bears its name.

Roddy McCorley: The miller's son who was executed after the 1798 rising.

My Own Dear Galway Bay: A short biography of Francis A. Fahy

Johnny Patterson: A short biography of 'The Rambler from Clare'.

The Potato in Irish History

Skibbereen

The Great Irish Famine

The Harp That Once

O'Donnell Abu

The Moon Behind the Hill: A lament from behind prison bars.

Kelly, the Boy from Killane: A short historical article on the 1798 rising in Co. Wexford.

Follow Me Up to Carlow: The defeat of Lord Deputy Grey at Glenmalure in 1580.

The Waxies' Dargle The annual cobblers' outing to Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Teddy O'Neill: The popular 19th-century street ballad.

The Snowy Breasted Pearl: Translated from the ancient Irish ballad by Dr. George Petrie.

The Dear Little Shamrock

The Irish Horse

James Lynam Molloy Author of many songs, including 'The Kerry Dances'.

Set Dancing in Ireland

A Brief History of Hurling

The Cliffs of Dooneen: Overlooking the Shannon River in Co. Clare.

Hunting the Wren

Songs and Ballads: Bantry Bay / Bard of Armagh, The / Black Velvet Band, The / Boolavogue / Bould Thady Quill / Carrickfergus / Cliffs of Dooneen, The / Come Back Paddy Reilly / Connemara Cradle Song, The / Curragh of Kildare, The / Danny Boy / Dawning of the Day, The / Dear Little Shamrock, The / Farewell to Nova Scotia / Fields of Athenry, The / Flower of Sweet Strabane, The / Follow Me Up to Carlow / Galway Races, The / Garden Where the Praties Grow, The / Harp That Once, The / Homes of Donegal, The / Irish Emigrant, The (I'm sitting on the Stile, Mary)/ Irish Rover, The / Kelly of Killane / Kerry Dance, The / Last Rose of Summer, The / Leaving of Liverpool, The / Love Thee Dearest / Mary From Dungloe / Moon Behind the Hill, The / Mountains of Mourne, The / My Own Dear Galway Bay / O'Donnell Abu / Oft in the Stilly Night / Queen of Connemara, The / Raglan Road / Rocks of Bawn, The / Roddy McCorley / Rose of Tralee, The / Sally Gardens, The / Shores of Amerikay, The / Skibbereen / Slievenamon / Snowy Breasted Pearl, The / Spinning Wheel, The / Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door, The / Teddy O'Neill / Waxies' Dargle, The / Wearing of the Green, The / Wild Colonial Boy, The / Wild Rover, The / Wren Boys' Song, The.

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