The Cliffs of Dooneen. A beautiful ballad for St. Patrick's Day.

Hello everyone! Here is another beautiful tune from Irish folk music. It's called The Cliffs of Dooneen and it was made popular by Planxty and Christy Moore (a song by him was posted on the blog some time ago).

The words were originally written by a man called Jack McAuliffe born about 1886, however, what you can hear in Planxty's cover is an adaptation.

County Kerry is in Munster, one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south.

The scenery of the cliffs is spectacular.

Take a view o'er the mountains, fine sights you'll see there...

It's a nice place to be on a fine summer's day...

Click on this link to watch a live performance of Planxty and enjoy this beautiful and evocative song. I hope you like it.

Erin Go Bragh!

THE CLIFFS OF DOONEEN- Planxty

You may travel far far from your own native home

Far away o'er the mountains, far away o'er the foam

But of all the fine places that I've ever seen

There's none to compare with the cliffs of Dooneen.

Take a view o'er the mountains, fine sights you'll see there

You'll see the high rocky mountains on the west coast of Clare

The towns of Kilkee and Kilrush can be seen

From the high Rocky slopes of the Cliffs of Dooneen.

It's a nice place to be on a fine summer's day

Watching all the wild flowers that ne'er do decay

And the hare and the lofty pheasants are plain to be seen

Making homes for their young round the cliffs of Dooneen.

Fare thee well to Dooneen, Fare thee well for a while

And to all the fine people I'm leaving behind

To the streams and the meadows where late I have been

And the high rocky slopes of the Cliffs of Dooneen.

You may travel for far from your own native home

Far away o'er the mountains, far away o'er the foam

But of all the fine places that l've ever seen

There's none to compare with the Cliffs of Dooneen.

St Patrick's Day 2012 The Wild Rover

More songs for St. Patrick's Day.

This one is another must in any pub. It's called The Wild Rover. This song is very popular in Ireland but actually it comes from Scotland. It is considered a drinking song. However, in its origins it was used by the Temperance movement: a kind of  social group in the 19th century that criticized excesive alcohol use and put pressure on the government to promote an anti-alcohol legislation or prohibition of alcohol.

With the past of time, the song became an anthem among beer and whiskey drinkers. Its popularity spread throughout Britain, Ireland and America via Irish immigrants.

Today, the song is used by Blackburn Rovers football fans in England with the words adapted to suit the team in question.

Being a classic, it has been sung by many folk bands worldwide and it's frequently used to put an end to live shows.

We'll hear two versions: one by the Blarney Lads and the other by The Dubliners. The first one is accompanied by beautiful pictures from Ireland. The second one was recorded live in 2007.Which one do you like best?

Now that you've heard the song you can try singing along with this Karaoke version.

Here are the words and my Spanish translation. Notice there may be changes  according to the version because this is a folk song and every singer does their own variations.

St Patrick's Day 2012 (Mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da!!!)

Hello everyone!

On March 17 we're going to celebrate Ireland's National Day, St Patrick's Day. A very important festival to Irish people in Ireland and those expatriate living abroad.
One of the most exciting things about Irish culture is music and on this day, thousands of Irish people worldwide meet in the pub singing to the sound of traditional Irish folk music.
How about preparing for the occasion with some great music?

One of the greatest Irish folk bands of all time are The Dubliners. Their repertoire is massive, yet one of their most popular tunes is the folk classic Whiskey in the jar.
This video shows a live performance from 2007. The Dubliners are alive and kicking and the audience is having a real good time!



You can download the lyrics from this link: Whiskey in the jar lyrics.

If you prefer, you can watch this video in case you feel like singing along as if you were in a karaoke.



I also found some good stuff on youtube especially for those having trouble with this quick song (I hope you are not a little tipsy by now). Below, there's a brilliant translated video to make things easier:

Whiskey in the jar (Spanish subtitled). (Video opens on a different window)

Such a popular song was made into a lot of versions. One of the most popular ones was by Metallica and you can watch how Dubliners go crazy when the song begins.



I hope you enjoy this post. In the meantime:

SLAINTE!!!!!