Christy Moore "Well Below The Valley"

Ireland's Favourite Ballad!

So 'Raglan Road' was named as Ireland's favourite ballad ~ no argument with that ~ but as I said further back leaving out 'Paddy's Lamentation' was strange given its importance with regard to the number of Irishmen who died in the American Civil War. The above song though was collected by Francis James Child who was an American professor at Harvard University and popularized by Irish folklorist Tom Munnelly who got it off an Irish Traveler named John Reilly from Boyle in County Roscommon, as did Christy I believe. A dark and sinister ballad it was used in the intro to the film ' The Magdalene Sisters' for obvious reasons. Sean Mackin recorded it there and definitely worth a listen. There are other versions out there and Saya Novinger knocks the hell out of it if you'll pardon the pun. Many stories about the song, true or not I don't know, (lost for over one hundred and fifty years ~ banned in Cromwell's time) etc. You have to be dammed good to go at it with a bodhran and in the best of your health and given that difficulty and the content of the song with regard to the treatment of women in Irish society, how it got left off the list I don't know! Think I'll make up a listen of my favourite ballads. Also known as 'The Maid and the Palmer'. Uploaded by 'fullshilling' on youtube. With thanks.

Ireland's Favourite Folk Songs ~ RTE!

Ireland's Favourite Folk Songs ~ RTE!

Another Sunday morning and reeling through the newsfeeds I came across a reference to a programme on RTE about the subject above and curiosity getting the better of me I had to go look-see as they say and I wonder how they arrived at their final list. Now there are only so many hours in the day and I didn't read why but I'd contend there are glaring omissions from that list. Some of those included aren't Irish at all and while you'd get hard to argue with any list that includes Eric Bogle, perhaps the greatest writer of folk songs of them all, though some would argue for Richard Thompson, I believe Eric is Scottish/Australian and I believe Robbie Burns who is Scottish has some claim to, "The Parting Glass". Now for the Omissions and the importance of them for many reasons ~ Go figure!

Where is Christy Moore's, "Viva La Quinta Brigada, They Never Came Home?"  Where is Jimmy MacCarthy's, "Bright Blue Rose, Missing You?" Where is Dominic Behan's, "Building Up and Tearing England Down?" and a number of others of his as well not to mention his brother. Where is Van Morrison's, "Coney Island?" Where is The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem's, "We Want No Irish Here?" Look at the expression on President Kennedy's face when they sang it! And that's just some of them! If you are going to do a programme on "Ireland's Favourite Folk Songs" then you'll need a longer list and another timeframe and perhaps another working guide.   

Two Hours Later: I did go back and read "How we picked the Shortlist" and  obviously there are people there with different levels of interest in different fields of interest and everything is a compromise at the end of the day anyway but the definition of favourite from the dictionary reduces down to something of what one likes most, or that is expected to win and since the qualifier here is "Ireland" then surely the prize must go to Pete St. John's "The Fields of Athenry". Game over if you'll pardon the pun. If you start dragging in other criteria I might as well add a personal favourite, Steve Earle's "Dixieland" at least it's some recognition of the hundreds of thousands of Irishmen who fought in the American Civil War. About the same number as fought in the first world war but there is not a monument or remembrance to be seen in recognition of them anywhere. (Paddy's Lamentations ~ Sinéad O' Connor, Mary Black)  Be careful of your lists folks and what you define to be 'Favourite'.