Transcript

Mo mhíle slán le Éirinn, is breá deas é an samhradh féin,
Níl caint ar obair mhór san oích' ná rud ar bith mar é,
Sealadh ag tarraingt fheamainne, ag cur fhataí is ag baint fhéir,
Ní rabh fear ar bith dhá bhoichte nach rabh feilm aige féin.

Mo bheannacht leis an teach úd inar chaith mé seal don tsaol,
Mo bheannacht le mo dheartháireachaí a bhíodh ann ag déanamh grinn,
A Dhia, nach bocht an cás dom é gan fháil ar filleadh choích',
Sin é a fhágfas m'intinn buarthaí is an ghruag ag titim dhíom.

Nuair a bhí teach agamsa faraor nár fhan mé ann,
Anois atá sé scapthaí uaim is gan blas ar bith dhá bharr,
An fear a choinneodh ceart dom é, céad faraor, fuair sé bás,
Is a Mhicil bán, a dheartháirín, sé do chliamhain 'tá in t'áit.

D'fhágaí siad an cladach uaim ar maidin leis an lá,
Dia linn is Muire, is iad an triúr a chuaigh sa ngábh,
Dheamhan blas ar bith dár cheannaigh siad nach dtáinig dhon Tráigh Bhán,
Ach mo thriúrsa buachaillí maithe gan a mbeo ná a marbh a fháil.

Shíl mé go rabh fábhar a'm leis an bhfear a rinní an bád,
Níor airigh sé gan caraid mé is mé i bhfad ón Tráigh Bhán,
Shíl mé dá mbáití míle fear go dtiocfadh Micil slán,
Is a dheartháirín breá, nár chuimhnigh tú ar theacht i dtír sa snámh?

Bhí cion ar Phat 's ar Tom agam, is cathú mór 'na ndiaidh,
Mo dheartháir eilí, Máirtín, a báitheadh fadó ariamh,
Ba mheasa liom mo Mhicil bán ná a bhfaghtaí d'fhir ariamh,
Mo dhiomú dhon toinn bháistí nár fhágaí sibh 'na diaidh.

Translation

A thousand farewells to you, Ireland, where the summer is fine indeed,
There is no talk of great work at night or anything like it,
A while drawing seaweed, setting potatoes and cutting hay,
There was no man, however poor, who didn't have his own farm.

Farewell to that house where I spent a part of my life,
Farewell to my brothers who used to play there,
O Lord, how bad my lot that I can never return,
That is what has me vexed and losing my hair.

A pity I did not stay in my house when I had one,
Now I have lost it and thus have nothing,
The man would would keep it right for me, alas, has died,
And fair-haired Micil, little brother, it is your brother-in-law who is in your place.

They left the shore in the morning at daybreak,
God and Mary help us, they were the three who went into danger,
All their possessions came back to the White Strand,
But my three good boys were never found, dead or alive.

I thought I had favour with the man who made the boat,
He did not know that I was without friends far from the White Strand,
I thought that if a thousand men drowned that Micil would survive,
And my fine brother, did you not think of swimming ashore?

I loved Pat and Tom, and was heartbroken after them,
My other brother, Máirtín, who drowned long ago,
Fair-haired Micil's death was harder on me than any other,
My curse upon the drowning wave that killed you all!

Commentary

This lament, also known as 'Amhrán na Trá Báine' and 'Curachaí na Trá Báine', is attributed to Bríd Ní Mháille of White Strand, Garuma Island, county Galway. She was living in Boston, Massachusetts, when she was informed of a tragic drowning which claimed the lives of her three brothers, who were returning from Galway in a currach. It is a very popular song in Conamara. The folklore associated with the song are discussed in Ríonach uí Ógáin, Faoi rothaí na gréine (Dublin, 1999), 19-24, and in Pádraig Ó hÉalaí and Lochlainn Ó Tuairisg, Tobar an dúchais: béaloideas as Conamara agus Corca Dhuibhne (An Díseart, An Daingean, 2007), 170-2. Many singers, including Sorcha Ní Ghuairim and Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, sing 'Amhrán na Trá Báine' to a different melody to that sung on the present recording. See Ríonach uí Ógáin, Amhráin Shorcha Ní Ghuairim: traditional songs from Conamara (Dublin, 2002), 43-6, and Nicholas Carolan, Seoltaí séidte ([Dublin], 2004), 81-3. Darach Ó Catháin sings 'Tomás Bán Mac Aogáin' (cf. Pádraig Ó Néill's version in the Doegen collection) to the same melody as that to which Ní Ghuairim and many other sean-nós singers sing 'Amhrán na Trá Báine' (cf. Darach Ó Catháin, Gael-Linn CD, 2004). For more information see, for example: Father Tomás Ó Ceallaigh, Ceol na nOileán (Dublin, 1931), 103-5; Mícheál Ó Gallchobhair, 'Amhráin ó Iorrus', Béaloideas 10 (1940), 16-7; Ríonach Ní Fhlathartaigh, Clár amhrán Bhaile na hInse (Dublin, 1976), 136-7; Tomás Ó Concheanainn, Nua-dhuanaire III (Dublin, 1981), 16-7, 78.