Songs of Iveragh - Amhráin Uíbh Ráthaigh Volume 2
In this second volume of ‘songs of Iveragh’ selected form the Binneas archive, we will delve a little deeper into the rich legacy of song that abounds in this part of Kerry. The songs that feature in this book belong to the ordinary members of the community. They are the songs of the farmers, housewives, fishermen, boat-builders, sportsmen and others. The themes are wide ranging – a Biddy prank, drag hunting, emigration, Daniel O’Connell, civil war, love, loss, and longing etc. All the songs are deeply rooted in the social fabric of the areas in which they were composed. They provide us with a vignette on the material culture of the period of their composition, but more importantly they reveal the attitudes and beliefs of the people at that time.
Sa dara imleabhar de ‘Songs of Iveragh / Amhráin Uíbh Ráthaigh’ leantar leis an gcamchuairt chultúrtha trí thraidisiún amhránaíochta na leithinise seo i ndeisceart Chiarraí. Baineann na hamhráin atá sa leabhar seo leis an bpobal, an chosmhuintir, na gnáthdhaoine. Baineann na hamhráin le feirmeoirí, mná tí, iascairí, saora báid, laochra spóirt agus mórán eile nach iad. Caithtear solas ar théamaí éagsúla – bob a buaileadh le linn na Brídeoige, madraí fiaigh, imirce, Dónal Ó Conaill, cogaíocht, grá, crá croí agus uaighneas. Is cuid de dhlúth agus inneach na háite na hamhráin seo. Cuid thábhachtach dár n-oidhreacht agus dár dtraidisiúnan méid atá cumtha iontu. Tá siad tagtha chughainn mar bhronntanais ónár sinsir agus is féidir linn iad a úsáid mar eochair chun stair agus scéal ár bpobail féin a nochtadh. Iarracht atá sa bhfoilseachán seo ar chuid don scéal san, a bhí ligthe i ndearúd b’fhéidir, a thabhairt chun cuimhne arís.
No one is more welcome ‘round a fireside than the singer of a good song”
(The words above were written by song collector and composer Herbert Hughes, Caherciveen, September 1936)