Mna na hEireann

["SEAN TWOMEY (ARCHAEOLOGY) PG" <TWOMEYS@acadamh.ucd.ie>]

Here I am as promised with some 
 backround on the track itself :

( note : most of this information can be found in the book " Bringing 
it all back home " published to accompany the BBC/RTE TV series of 
the same  name , which , yes ,  Kate was 
interviewed for but no , she didn't appear in !! )

Mna na hEireann ( pronounced mnaw na hair-inn ) , was composed by 
Sean O Riada , probably one of the greatest influences on the current 
popularity of traditional music in Ireland and around the world .
He was a man for all seasons; a composer trained in the art music of 
Europe who immersed himself in the oral music tradition of Ireland .
Born in 1931, he was aware of the danger of traditional music 
disappearing during the 1950's , unless Irish people were 
reintroduced to it in a way that was meaningful .

At that time , trad music was confined mainly to the rural areas of 
the country .One of the tasks he set himself was to find a suitable 
setting in which to present the music , without compromising it . In 
an interview after his death , his son Peadar said 
                " He thought that he needed to do something dramatic 
to make people take notice of it . So he decided the best thing to do 
would be to put it in the same sort of atmosphere as classical music 
.... in other words , on stage , in a concert even though it didn't 
suit the music itself ,which he did ...in about 1959."

Ceoltoiri Chualann were the group of traditional musicians O Riada 
gathered together who were entrusted with the mission of restoring 
Irish traditional music to popular appeal .

Some of the concerts given by O Riada and Ceoltoiri Chualann were 
recorded and are still available on disc , and these give some idea 
of the atmosphere of exitement .The music is played with great verve  
, rhythm and feeling, and the personality of O Riada shines through .
The repetoire was Irish dance music, airs and the compositions of 
Carolan and the older harpers . Ceoltoiri Chualann also featured a 
singer Sean O Se, who was a tenor. Sean o se's singing style and the 
accompaniment devised by O Riada was yet another innovation . ( also 
dress suits complete with bow-ties were worn at O Riada's 
insistence!)

At one memorable concert, in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre in March 1969, O 
Riada produced a new piece, a song entitled Mna na hEireann (Women of 
Ireland). The music composed by O Riada was to accompany an 
eighteenth century poem by Peadar O Doirnin, whose bicentenary was the 
occasion for the concert. Sean O Se sang the song but it is today 
more commonly recognised in Ireland as an instrumental .

He died in 1971 at the tragically young age of forty .His legacy also 
includes the enormous Irish success of his music for the film Mise 
Eire ( I am Ireland ). It made O Riada a household name , and raised 
the status of Irish music amongst a section of society who had never 
taken any interest in it before. Guided by his vision, traditional 
music changed radically, and became accessible to a modern Irish 
audience, and through this traditional music the cultural life of 
Ireland was invigorated .

Anyone who heard Kate's stunning rendition of his most famous 
composition may have thought  .. Oi ! where have I heard that tune 
before ?. Well , the group The Christians had a UK hit with a song 
called " Words" which uses the same air , a few years ago .

Sorry this went on so long , but reading about O Riada is truly 
inspirational ,and It is just so moving to hear Kate doing such a 
terrific job on this piece of music . Kind of like the meeting of two 
geniuses really !


SEAN : )