Transcript

Rinne mé smaoineadh in m'intinn 'gus lean mé dhó go cinntí
Go n-éalóchainn ó[1] mo mhuintir is go ngeobhfainn[2] ' an Oileáin Úir,
Sé a bhfuil mé ag iarraidh dho impí ar an Ard-Rí atá os mo chionnsa
Mo shábháil ar gach dainséar go gcríochnaí mé mo shiúl.

Shiúil mé fiche míle is ní fhacas teach ná daoiní,
Capall, bó ná caora a dhéanfadh innilt ar an bhféar,
Ach coillte dlúithe agus gleannta agus búirtheach beathaigh allta,
Na fir is na mná gan tointe orthu a chasfainn fá mo mhéir.

Chuaigh mé isteach i dteach ann agus badh é sin teach na Críostaí
D'fhiafraigh fear an toighe dhaom cérb as é an buachaill óg,
D'aithris mé dhó i mBéarla gur tóigeadh mise in Éire,
Thart fá bhruach an tsléibhe agus mé ar bheagán bróin.

Bhí seanbhean insa gclúid ann[3] agus í ag sníomh a túrna[4],
D'éirigh sí go lúthmhar agus chraith sí liomsa lámh,
"Céad fáilte romh fhear do thíre seach ' bhfacas beo dho na daoiní,
Ó, is gur tóigeadh mise in Éire i dtoiseach, ó, mo shaoil."

Ó Bhríosaigh go Gleann Éada is go barr na Craoibhe Léithe,
Go Dartraí chaoin na féile is go Sléibhtí Bheanna Bó,
Nuair a dhearc mé ar gach taobh dhaom 'gus bhreathnaigh mé na daoiní,
('S) trua gan mise in Éire agus mé cóirithe as cionn cláir,
An áit a bhfaighinn mná mo chaointe, taos óg a bheadh[5] lách siamsúil,
A dhéanfadh greann is siamsa dhaom go n-éirí aríst an lá.

Translation

I made my mind up and I stuck to it surely
To escape from my family and go to the New World,
What I ask and implore the High-King above me
Is to spare me from every danger until I finish my journey.

I walked for twenty miles and saw no house or people,
Horse, cow or sheep grazing on the grass,
But dense woods and glens and the roar of wild creatures,
Men and women wearing not a thread that I would twist around my finger.

I went into a house there and that was the Christian house
The man of the house asked me where the young boy was from,
I told him in English that I was raised in Ireland
At the side a mountain in happiness.

There was an old woman there in the corner weaving on her wheel,
She quickly got up and she shook my hand,
"A welcome to your fellow countryman above all others,
And I was raised in Ireland at the beginning of my life."

From Bresagh(?) to Glenade and to the top of Creevelea,
To gentle generous Dartree(?) and to the Hills of Benbo,
When I looked at either side of me and I saw the people,
It is a pity I am not in Ireland when I'm laid out in my coffin,
Where I would have women to keen me, and young people who would be friendly and playful,
Who would have fun and sport from me until the day arose again.

Footnotes

Commentary

This song is generally known as 'An tOileán Úr'. It is an unusual song in that it describes the experiences of an Irish emigrant who went to America. Having wandered through dense woods and fertile glens, the poet delights in meeting a Christian family in a house. He discovers that the old woman in the house was born and raised in Ireland. In some versions, the poet decides to return to Ireland as a result of the encounter. This song is still popular in Irish-speaking districts of Donegal. In many versions the poet is said to be originally from near Lough Erne, county Fermanagh, but as Énrí Ó Muirgheasa points out in his discussion of this song: 'Nothing in a song is so likely to get corrupted when it travels beyond its native district than the names of places' (Céad de cheoltaibh Uladh (Dublin, 1915), 139-40, 293-4). For other versions see, for example: Pádraig Ó Canainn, Filidheacht na nGaedheal (Dublin, 1940), 154; Seán O'Boyle, The Irish song tradition (Dublin, 1976), 78-9; Manus Ó Baoill, Ceolta Gael 2 (Cork, 1986), 64-5; Joe Byrne and Nan Morris, Cantan agus cotillion (Co. Mayo, 1997), 36-7. Colm Ó Domhnaill of Rannafast, county Donegal, sings the song on Seoda sean-nóis as Tír Chonaill (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 1996).