The Singers' session continues to grow and grow. We had over 30 songs last Singers' night. Regulars and newcomers sang up and those who didn't, listened.
There was Me name is Dick Darby, I'm a cobbler ..., "Willie the Ploughboy" and "Blue tar road". Nanci Griffith's song "It's a hard life wherever you go" was given an excellent outing, as was Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927", Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline...
Anyone who made it to The Grehan Sisters' great gig on Saturday, 26th July, knows that Helen took to reciting Shakespeare at one point and she was warming up to it at the Singers' session when she sang Love's labour isn't lost, it only caught a frost...
Two songs on related themes were "Liostáil mé le sáirsint" and "Willie Taylor". We heard "The boatman of Lough Key", "William Hollander" and the "Rose of Tralee".
That's just a taster. Speaking of which, thanks to Breege and Helen for providing such consistently good sambos and cakes too!
A good luck wish to one of our singers, Eimear Browne who was not present at the July session, as she was preparing for her 250km row down the Shannon, starting at the Shannon Pot on 24th July and finishing in Limerick on August 4th. Eimear is rowing in aid of Helping Hands, Cambodia. She'll be playing her fiddle every night at stops along the route and she might be persuaded to sing [in] a bar or two as well.
Tuilleadh ceoil, tuilleadh amhránaíochta, bí agus dí an mhí seo chugainn. Bígí ann.
June 21st - Summer Solstice Session!
A good crowd turned out for the Boyle Singers' Session in Dodd's on June 21st. Some were local and some travelled, from South Sligo and South Roscommon, and a from a good few places in between. There were well over 20 songs sung, several stories told and a couple of poems recited.
Mrs John Conroy was one of the humorous hits of the night. There were many choice lines in that song: I will, says she, transported be, for Mrs John Conroy… We could do with hearing it again to capture some more.
Úna Bhán Mac Dermott was the heroine of one song and a different Úna Bhán, Úna Bhán McDonnell was the heroine of a song by John Keegan Casey (the author of The Rising of the Moon).
Another local love song was Willie Reilly and his Coleen Bawn: O rise up, Willy Reilly and come along with me.... This early 19th century song has travelled all over the world. William Bulfin in his Rambles in Eirinn mentions the estate near Ballinafad where Squire Folliard and his daughter, the Coleen Bawn of the song, lived. That song involved the process of law as did the Land League incident in 1881 at Coolavin, Co. Sligo described in the newly composed song The Coolavin Lament, sung by its composer the other night.
Every song can’t get a mention, unfortunately, but two personal favourites were:
A lady fair in a garden walking, When a well-dressed gentleman came riding by.
He stepped up to her for to view her, And said, 'Fair lady, would you fancy I?'
And
Edward on Lough Erne Shore
The Sun was setting behind the mountain, The dew was falling upon the leaves
And I was seated beside a fountain, And a feathered songster sang on a tree.
And last but not least - the Knockcroghery song.
Oíche mhaith.
Mrs John Conroy was one of the humorous hits of the night. There were many choice lines in that song: I will, says she, transported be, for Mrs John Conroy… We could do with hearing it again to capture some more.
Úna Bhán Mac Dermott was the heroine of one song and a different Úna Bhán, Úna Bhán McDonnell was the heroine of a song by John Keegan Casey (the author of The Rising of the Moon).
Another local love song was Willie Reilly and his Coleen Bawn: O rise up, Willy Reilly and come along with me.... This early 19th century song has travelled all over the world. William Bulfin in his Rambles in Eirinn mentions the estate near Ballinafad where Squire Folliard and his daughter, the Coleen Bawn of the song, lived. That song involved the process of law as did the Land League incident in 1881 at Coolavin, Co. Sligo described in the newly composed song The Coolavin Lament, sung by its composer the other night.
Every song can’t get a mention, unfortunately, but two personal favourites were:
A lady fair in a garden walking, When a well-dressed gentleman came riding by.
He stepped up to her for to view her, And said, 'Fair lady, would you fancy I?'
And
Edward on Lough Erne Shore
The Sun was setting behind the mountain, The dew was falling upon the leaves
And I was seated beside a fountain, And a feathered songster sang on a tree.
And last but not least - the Knockcroghery song.
Oíche mhaith.
Tribute to the Grehan Sisters
A date for your diary:
One of our two (Breege and Helen) able founders and MCs of the Boyle Singers' Sessions, Helen Grehan, will join her sisters on Friday 25th July, at 10pm, to give a concert during the Boyle Arts Festival, billed A Tribute to the Grehan Sisters.
One of our two (Breege and Helen) able founders and MCs of the Boyle Singers' Sessions, Helen Grehan, will join her sisters on Friday 25th July, at 10pm, to give a concert during the Boyle Arts Festival, billed A Tribute to the Grehan Sisters.
May 17th 2008 in Dodd's Crescent Bar
The Boyle Singers' session moved to a new venue in Dodd's Crescent Bar this weekend.
The range of songs sung continues to expand: from Lord O'Bore and Mary Flynn, to Robbie Burns' Ae Fond Kiss, from Sigerson Clifford's Boys of Barr na Sráide about Cahirciveen, to a song bringing in all the beauty spots local to Boyle. There were a few tunes played too and some excellent guitar-work from Helen and Philip.
Next session: 3rd Saturday in June
The range of songs sung continues to expand: from Lord O'Bore and Mary Flynn, to Robbie Burns' Ae Fond Kiss, from Sigerson Clifford's Boys of Barr na Sráide about Cahirciveen, to a song bringing in all the beauty spots local to Boyle. There were a few tunes played too and some excellent guitar-work from Helen and Philip.
Next session: 3rd Saturday in June
Next singing session in Boyle - May 17th, 2008
NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE :
The Singers' Session will be held in the backroom of Dodd's Pub on the Crescent in Boyle from May 17th onwards. Look forward to seeing you there.
The Singers' Session will be held in the backroom of Dodd's Pub on the Crescent in Boyle from May 17th onwards. Look forward to seeing you there.
19th April in Wynne's
It might have been called "A feast of forty songs" in Wynne's last Saturday night. If you like singing and talking about songs, that was the place to be.
The regular attendees kept up their usual high standards. Highlights included, Laurel Hill :
When war had oppressed every nation with horror
And Wellington ventured his life o'er the main
and Bogie's Bonnie Belle :
Now Bogie had a dochter, her name was Isabelle
She was the lily o' the valley an' the primrose o' the dell
Dick Gaughan is a singer who has recorded that last song, incidentally, and he's on tour in Ireland at the moment, with gigs in Monaghan on Thurs 24th April, Barrys in Grange on Friday 25th April and Matt Molloy's in Westport on Saturday the 26th.
The regular attendees kept up their usual high standards. Highlights included, Laurel Hill :
When war had oppressed every nation with horror
And Wellington ventured his life o'er the main
and Bogie's Bonnie Belle :
Now Bogie had a dochter, her name was Isabelle
She was the lily o' the valley an' the primrose o' the dell
Dick Gaughan is a singer who has recorded that last song, incidentally, and he's on tour in Ireland at the moment, with gigs in Monaghan on Thurs 24th April, Barrys in Grange on Friday 25th April and Matt Molloy's in Westport on Saturday the 26th.
Singing - 2nd May - Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim
Four Gaelic singers from the Outer Hebrides will be singing in Kiltyclogher on Friday, 2nd May. Julie Fowlis, Mairi Smith, Anna Murray, Meave Mackinnon.
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