My ancestry is part Scottish, part Welsh, part Irish, and part Viking (beware of the Viking part!). My dad’s grandparents came over from Scotland to Canada … my dad’s dad was born in Canada … my dad’s mother, Anna McNamara, came to Canada from Ireland (and my birth name is Anna), and she too came across the border from Canada to the USA. My family is a family of immigrants. My research about Anna McNamara tells me she was born in a small community somewhere along the river Shannon in Ireland, that’s as specific as I can find, so far. I know a bit about my Scottish ancestors and my Irish ancestors, but I don’t know much about the Welsh connection yet, nor their traditional music. But both Scottish and Irish music appeal to me a great deal.
There are many videos online of traditional Irish music. I was especially taken with one group of videos called “Harps for Hope”, an effort introduced by Harp Ireland. In 2019, Harp Ireland, Cruit Éireann, accepted UNESCO recognition of Irish harping on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage; international recognition that Irish harping is a key element of Ireland’s living heritage and must be safeguarded for future generations.
That organization, Harp Ireland, set this “Harps for Hope” effort in motion. Once that project became known, many other Irish harp players began writing and playing music in support of that group’s efforts, all of them supporting the hope that we all hold in our hearts for everyone. I’ll share one woman’s contribution to that effort below at the end of this blog post.
But first, first … let’s get our toes tapping and our energy UP!
Don’t worry, there will be no bagpipes in the videos below (although I do love bagpipes).
Please relax and enjoy the videos below. The first video is of the “trad” band “Dervish” (notice the harp player) playing live in Hargadon’s Bar in Sligo, Ireland. Toe tapping for sure!
Whoop! What fun! Yes indeed!
And now we take a wee deep breath … and we move on to Irish music that’s bit more sublime, but equally enchanting … harp music.
Laoise Kelly is an Irish harper of some repute. She has performed for Irish Presidents and for the 25 EU Heads of State in Dublin. She represented Ireland with the Irish Embassy in Nigeria, Ghana, Russia, Argentina, and is honoured to have represented Ireland at the World Harp Festival in Paraguay. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as her accomplishments are concerned.
Here are two old traditional Irish tunes played in this one video on Irish Harp by Laoise Kelly. The first tune is “Lon Dubh”, or Blackbird (you’ll hear why). The version played here on harp comes from the legendary travelling fiddler Johnny Doherty from Donegal. The other tune on this video (at about 1:48) is an old version of “Maidrín Ruadh”, or The Little Red Fox, from County Kerry.
As promised, here below is another harper’s contribution to the “Harps for Hope” project. Janet Harbison is a harper, a teacher, a composer, a stage director, and a Grammy Award winner. She travels and teaches worldwide. She is very well known and very highly regarded. She has composed hundreds of pieces of music for harp. She composed the piece she plays here.
There is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland, called Strangford (that’s its name in the English language). In Irish, the town is called Baile Loch Cuan. The water and islands in the video here are the waters and islands around this very small community.
You can bet that I now have plans to go to Ireland, and the River Shannon, and see if I can find the area where my grandmother Anna came from, and maybe even find where she was born.
May this traditional Irish blessing be yours …
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
Neither of us is even Irish, but we sure liked this music. The last one especially. What a sweet, comforting piece of music.
M&M, the word “comforting” fits exactly. I just found out that a friend of mine over on Fawn Lake here in Washington State died late yesterday. So I’m hoping she is comforted as we are by that music … and her family and friends and neighbors as well. And yet, because life is what it is, let’s remember to enjoy that first “trad” music above … and kick up our heels too! We wouldn’t know sadness without joy, so let’s remember joy too. Thanks M&M.
I’m so sorry you lost your friend. That last piece of music was so perfect. And yet the other two pieces were too … they were about life and joy, like you said. Thanks for the Irish medley, it was perfect!
Such nice words. Thank you Judy Bee.
Ann, I just had my DNA done a few months ago and I’m Viking too! I’m Danish and northern Norwegian and they say that means my ancestors were very much probably Vikings, and I have some Scottish and Irish in me as well, and a bit of German. Your photos in the blog look like maybe you have red hair, I do too. Hey cousin! 🙂
Sorry about your friend. 🙁
Yes I have red hair. Well, it’s a bit grey these days, but there’s still some red in there. That old Viking blood still courses through my veins. Thanks for the nice words, Shawn. Always good to hear from a cousin. 🙂
Reminds me of our kitchen party Keighley’s on Ptince Edward Island….great fun.
Exactly! Great fun indeed. 🙂 In Gaelic, the word is spelled “ceilidh”, and it’s pronounced “kay-lee” just like your word is I bet. Thanks Richard.
Losing people you care about is hard isn’t it. But you have such a great heart Ann that I bet you have lots of people who love you and that you love right back. Play that soft music but play that toe tapping music too. When I listened to it, I found my feet tapping the floor and my head bouncing along with the music happy as can be. We miss those we care about, but also we dance!
Oh gosh, thanks Tim. You are so nice, your words make me feel better for sure. And yes, absolutely … let’s dance! 🙂
I love that music all of it. And I love that you are a Viking! 🙂
I love being a Viking too! Not sure how a modern day Viking is supposed to act though, so I guess I’ll just be me. 🙂
Nice music! And nice blessing at the end. Thank you.
Thanks Nevada. I wish you everything in that blessing and more. In fact, I wish that for all you folks reading the blog … the best to you and yours.
Both of my parents are from Ireland and I was surrounded by Irish music for many years. My dad was from Limerick, where the Shannon river flows. It is beautiful country there, as is so much of Ireland, and I look forward to bringing my adult sons there one day. I hope you get there to explore your ancestry.
Thank you for bringing us this lovely music, it is both invigorating and calming. I wish you many happy memories of your friend, she will always be in your heart.
Oh Mary, all of what you wrote is so wonderful, including the phrase “where the Shannon river flows.” I will get to Ireland one of these days, and I just might run into you when you’re visiting there along with your sons too. Thank you for the kind words about my friend.
For those readers here who might not know the quote about the river Shannon, there is a song called “Where the River Shannon Flows”, written by James Russell in 1905. If you’re Irish, it might just bring a tear to your eye. Here’s a link to Kate Smith’s 1947 version …