‘Iníon’ | Inni-K | Album Liner Notes

Mo bhuíochas ó chroí leis na hamhránaithe agus leis na ceoltóirí go léir a roinn liom, i gcuideachta a chéile nó trí thaifead, draíocht agus aoibhneas an cheoil ó bhíos im’ chailín óg. My heartfelt thanks to all the singers and musicians who shared with me, in person or through recordings, the magic of music since I was a young girl.

The roots of this album reach deep. In my mind’s eye, I see myself, aged 11, at home, tracing my finger across a small dent in the front of the record player and listening to a Gael Linn record that Mam and Dad had, hearing the singing of Seosamh Ó hÉanaí. In that moment, I was transfixed. I became fascinated by sean-nós singing and, through the years since, have explored that compulsion alongside other musical curiosities and influences. Iníon is a circling back to my musical lineage to honour my first deep love of sean-nós song and what has been passed onto me. The same momentum carries me and this music forward, joyfully falling into step with fellow explorers of different musical genres, from jazz to classical, to imagine together and share new iterations of some of the songs I love most from our singing tradition.

I try to be a caring, attentive daughter of our rich song and music traditions, and also hope to be an innovative, curious and adventurous one!

I hope you enjoy, dear listener.

Eithne Ní Chatháin(Inni-K)

Eanáir 2022.

1. An Tiarna Randal

Is ó cheirnín de chuid Sheosaimh Uí Éanaí (Joe Éinniú) a bhí sa mbaile ag Mam agus Dad a chualasan t-amhrán seo i dtosach.

It was from a Gael-Linn record of Seosamh Ó hÉanaí Mam and Dad had at home that I first heard this song. Also known as Amhrán na hEascainne (Song of the Eel), it’s an Irish version of the classic European ballad ‘Lord Randall’ or ‘Henry my Son,’ of which there are versions to be found in nearly every European language. It’s unusual in that it was one of only a handful of such ballads that were translated into Irish. The song tells of a man who has been poisoned by his lover. Throughout the verses, he gives a statement of his last will and testament, probably to his sister who is at his bedside questioning him, “Cá raibh tú ó mhaidin, a dheartháirín ó?…Céard a fhágfas tú ag do Dheaide?…Céard a fhágfas tú ag do bhean phósta?” The last verse ends with his final curse on the lover who killed him. The background incident or her motive for poisoning him is not mentioned.

It’s an epic, dark song butextremely enjoyable to sing!

2. Casadh an tSúgáin

This song I learned from Seosamh Ó hÉanaí’s album Ó Mo Dhúchas / From My Tradition(Gael Linn).

Deireann Róisín Nic Dhonncha i Leabhar Mór na nAmhrán(CIC, 2013) an méid seo faoin amhrán:“Fear siúil nó bard atá ag cur síos ar an gcaoi ar casadh isteach sa teach é a raibh an cailín ar thug sé gean di. Níor thaitnigh sé ar chor ar bith le máthair an chailín agus bhí sí ag iarraidh an ruaig a chur air. D’iarr sí air cúnamh a thabhairt di súgán a chasadh…”[A vagabond or bard describes how he was treated in the house of the girl he fancied. The girl’s mother didn’t like him at all and wanted to send him on his way. She asked him to help her to twist the súgán (straw rope)…]

The mother’s ruse was to trick the man into retreating backwards out the door!

The song inspired the first Irish language play written by Dubhghlas de hÍde, performed in the Abbey.

I’ve always enjoyed the words and the air of the song, tumbling forward like the energy of a river flowing rapidly downhill.

3. Lord Gregory

“If any single song in this most remarkable of repertoires scoops all the Oscars, this must surely be it.” So wrote Fred McCormick of the song "Lord Gregory" in his Musical Traditionreview of Dáibhí Ó Cróinín’s book The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin(2000), a book that was revised and re-issued in 2021.

The song is huge, itself full of many ‘valleys and mountains so high.’ Originating in Scotland, it is a close relation of ‘The Lass of Aughrim,’ so central to the drama of James Joyce’s ‘The Dead.’ The ballad scholar Dr Hugh Shields has traced its first recorded discovery in Ireland to 1850.

There are versions with alternative, more tragic endings, where the young woman’s fate reflects moral codes that inflicted untold cruelty on unmarried women who became pregnant. In Bess Cronin’s version, however, Lord Gregory is redeemed: on discovering his mother’s refusal of the woman who came with babe in arms searching for him – “It’s deep in the ocean you should hide your downfall” – he vows to “find that lass of Ormes, and lie down by her side.”

I feel indebted to Elizabeth 'Bess' Cronin (1879-1956) of Múscraí, and to all who made her recordings available, for she is a huge source of songs for me. I especially love the ease with which she sang, natural as anything. This song is one of many I picked up from her recordings and also from a recording of Siney Crotty from the Clare County Library website.

4. Cuc-a-neaindí

Is í Elizabeth Cronin an fhoinse don amhrán seo leis. Amhrán do pháiste ar an nglúin. Tá ana chraic go deo ag baint leis agusbamhinic mo neachtanna agus nia á gcaitheamh san aer agam leis. Thánadar thar n-ais don tae, buíochas le Dia!

Elizabeth Cronin is also the source for this song. A dandling song for a young child, it’s full of fun and it’s often that I sang it for my nieces and nephew whilst throwing them up in the air! They came back down for tea, thank God!

We wanted our version to be playful, reflecting the fun and rather random lyrics in the song:

Hups a Sheáin, a bhráthair, fuair do mháthair bás

Hups Seán, my friend, your mother died

O ní bhfuair ní bhfuair do chuaigh sí suas an tsráid

O she didn’t she didn’t, she went up the street

Hups a Sheáin, a bhráthair, fuair do mháthair bás

Hups Seán, my friend, your mother died

O ní bhfuair in aon chor, chuaigh sí suas an tsráid.

O she didn’t at all, she went up the street.

As with a lot of these types of songs, you could say it’s much more about the rhythm of the words and the tune, and the act the song is accompanying than looking for any deep meaning!

5. An Raibh Tú ar an gCarraig

Deirtear gur cineál ‘cód’ a bhí san amhrán seo in aimsir na bPéindlíthein Éirinn(17ú céad), tráth dá raibh cosc ar Chaitlicigh an t-Aifreann a cheiliúradh. Bhailíodh daoine amuigh faoin aer ag an gCarraig go rúnda chun Aifreann a cheiliúradh agus chun a gcreideamh a chleachtadh. ‘Séard a deirtear ná gur ceist agus freagra atá san amhrán: an raibh nó nach raibh an t-Aifreann ar siúl.

It’s said that this song was a kind of a ‘code’ used in Penal times in Ireland (17th century), when the celebration of Mass was prohibited. People would gather secretly outdoors at the Rock to celebrate Mass and to practice their faith. To ascertain whether or not it was safe to attend Mass at the Rock, the song asks in the first verse “Were you at the Rock, and did you see my love?” The answer in the second verse would vary depending on whether or not it was safe to go.

Is rí-dhócha, áfach, gur eascair an dá véarsa seo as amhrán grá níos faide. Mar a luaitear ar an suíomh idirlín Cartlanna Sheosaimh Uí Eanaí:“…it seems likely that the poem was originally composed as a love song. In Nua-Dhuanaire 1(Dublin 1971), Breandán Ó Buachalla includes five verses –including the two given here – and refers to John O’ Daly’s attribution of the poem, in Poets and Poetry of Munster (Dublin 1849), to a Tyrone poet named Dominic Ó Mongáin, who was supposed to have composed the verses for Eliza Blacker, who lived in Carrick, Co. Armagh, at the beginning of the eighteenth century."

An illustration, perhaps, of how songs are often adapted throughout the ages to suit the times and reflect the events and experiences of the people. I find it a powerful song to sing. Be it the curling wide-ranging unusual melody it has or the story it holds, I think it’s very beautiful.

6. Éamonn an Chnoic

Some songs you simply fall in love with, and more so with the years. This is one such song for me.

D’fhoghlaim mé an t-amhrán seo ar scoil i dtosach. Ansin, chualas Seosamh Ó hÉanaí á chanadh ar dlúthdhiosca Topic The Road from Connemaraagus thiteas i ngrá le háilleacht na frásaíochta agus an léiriú mothúcháin a bhí aige. Chaitheas seal ag maireachtaint i gCorca Dhuibhne (2009-2012), agus le linn na tréimhse sin, d’fhoghlaim mé ana chuid Gaeilge agus amhráin i gcuideachta Bhreanndáin Uí Bheaglaoich. Bhí leagan aoibhinn álainn den amhrán seo aige agus fonn beagán difriúil ón méid a chuala mé cheana. Fuaireas véarsaí áille i leabhar iontach Bhreandáin Mhic Gearailt An Blas Muimhneach(2007). Gach uair a chanaim é, téann an t-amhrán seo i bhfeidhm orm.

I first learned this song at school. Then I heard Seosamh Ó hÉanaí sing it on ‘The Road to Connemara(Topic) and I fell in love with the beauty of his phrasing and his expression. Whilst living in West Kerry (2009-2012), I learned a lot of Irish and many songs from hanging around with Brendan Begley. He had the most beautiful version of this song with a melody slightly different to what I’d heard before. I got some very beautiful verses from Breandán ‘ac Gearailt’s remarkable book An Blas Muimhneach(2007). Every time I sing it, this song gets me.

The song is a touching conversation between Éamonn and his lover who can’t let him in, for they would both be killed: “Beimid araon múchta.” He has no choice but to live the rest of his days far away overseas where he has no kin: “Is go gcaithfidh mé dhul tharr farraige soir, ós ann ná fuil aon dem’ghaolta.”

Dar le Daithí Ó hÓgáin in Leabhar Mór na nAmhrán(CIC): ‘Is é is dóiche ná go raibh amhrán grá ann sa 17ú céad, bunaithe ar an seantéama úd díospóireacht ghrá idir fear agus bean – eisean ag iarraidh uirthi siúd é a scaoileadh isteach ina teach istoíche.’ [It is most likely that there was a love song in the 17th century, based on the old theme, a love argument between a man and a woman – him asking her to let him into her house at nighttime.]

Ó hÓgáin goes on to surmise that the song was the prompt for the nickname 'Éamonn an Chnoic' given to Éamonn Ó Riain, a Tipperary man who was outlawed and on the run for shooting a tax collector who was trying to confiscate a cow from a neighbour.

7. Úirchill an Chreagáin

Art Mac Cumhaigh (1738-1773) a chum.

In A Hidden Ulster, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin writes: "This is the most celebrated song in the Oriel tradition. An aisling or vision poem, it was once described as ‘a monument more enduring than bronze’. It is one of two or three songs of which a popular version survived in the unbroken oral tradition in Oriel after the loss of the Irish language as the vernacular of the locality."

A conversation between the poet and a bean sí(a fairy woman). When asked who she is, she tells him she doesn’t sleep this side of the Boyne, that she spends the night in Tara and is in the middle of Tyrone in the morning! ‘Bím san oíche i dTeamhair is ar maidin i lár Thír Eoghain’.

8. The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow

I tend to be very fond of the melodies of songs from the north of Ireland and Scotland. They seem to me to be very beautiful indeed. This is one of my favourite melodies and songs to sing. Though the song is well known in the north of Ireland, it is supposed to have originated in Scotland. There are many singers whose renditions of this song I love – Paddy Tunney and his mother Brigid, Cathal McConnell, and Helen Diamond.

9. Hó-bha-ín

Is ó thaifead de Shorcha Ní Ghuairim, Traditional Songs from Conamara(Gael Linn, 2002), a d’fhoghlaim mé an suantraí álainn seo.

I learned this lovely lullaby from a recording of Sorcha Ní Ghuairim (Gael Linn, 2002)

Note: Hó-bha-ín is equivalent to the English phrase hush-a-bye.

One can imagine a mother making up verses as her mind wanders the borderlands between consciousness, dreams, and sense, as she tries to lull a baby to sleep:

Agus d'imigh do Mhama le Filipe Dall,

Agus níl 'fhios a'm beo cé hé!

And your mother went off with Blind Philip,

And I don’t know for the life of me who he is!

Is tá capall an tsagairt i ngarraí Sheáin Ghabha,

Mura gcuire tú as í, óra, déanfaidh sí foghail.

And the priest’s horse is in Séan the blacksmith’s garden

If you don’t put her out, oh, she will cause trouble!

Buíochas

My sincere thanks to my collaborators on this album – Matthew Berrill, Brian Walsh & Mary Barnecutt - for their musical minds and expertise, and especially for the care and heart they gave to the process of helping me bring my vision for these songs to life. Huge thanks also to Caimin Gilmore who contributed so beautifully to track 1.

A special word of thanks to the following: sound engineer and chief navigator in guiding this little ship to harbour, Edu Prado; and vocal coach, singer and friend Michelle O’Rourke whose vocal lessons were a shining highlight of my 2021 lockdown experience and marvellous preparation for this album.

Thanks also to Seán Mac Erlaine, Garrett Shouldice, Nóra Fulton, Tom Mulligan and the Cobblestone crew, all my singing students, Deirdre Ní Chonghaile, my Patreon posse, Don Weed, Tristan Rosenstock, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich, Mícheál Ó Cuaig, Leslie Keye and Aoife Harrington.

Thanks to the Arts Council of Ireland for supporting the making of this album through both the Professional Development Award and the Deis Recording and Publication award.

Táim fíor bhuíoch do gach éinne a spreag mo shuim sa tsean-nós ó bhíos im’ chailín óg. I’m very grateful to all those who encouraged my interest in sean-nós singing since I was a young girl. Mo bhuíochas go speisialta le Máire Uí Raghallaigh.

Ar deireadh, mo bhuíochas ó chroí lem’ thuistí, Patsaí agus Aodán.

Lyrics | Focail na n-amhrán

An Tiarna Randal

Cá raibh tú ó mhaidin, a dheartháirín ó?

Cá raibh tú ó mhaidin, a phlúr na bhfear ó?

Bhí mé ag iascach ‘s ag foghlaeireacht,

Cóirigh mo leaba dhom