Transcript

'S ag dul ó theach an tórramh dhom ' chuir mé eolas ar mo mhian,
Mo chreach agus mo bhrón nach sa mbailí a chaith mé an oích',
Tá arraing ag dul treasna thríom 's ag cónaí i lár mo chroí,
Is, a stór, mur mbeidh tú abhailí liom ní mhairfidh mé beo mí.

Tháinig Tomás Bán ar cuairt chugam 's mé ar uaigneas liom féin.
Séard dúirt sé, "Ná bíodh buaireamh ort ná rud ar bith mar é.
Sé do chúilín dualach a mharaigh mé, is mar gheall ort a crochfaíor[1] mé,
'S gur measa liom go mór thú ná mo mháithrín atá mo dhiaidh."

Tá cuireadh go Cill Chainnigh againn agus caithfeamar[2] a ghoil ann
Mar beidh seisiún ceathrún ann ag Gaeil is Clainne Gall,
Ní tligfíor ann ach beirt eicínt agus crochfaíor iad, mo léan,
Mar 'tá Tomás Bán Mac Aogáin 's Mac Uí Mhaoláin lena thaobh.

'S a Thomáis Bháin, go cinntí is tú searc is stór mo chroí,
A Thomáis a dtug mé gean duit seachas fearaibh óga an tsaoil,
(Ara,) crochfaíor thú go cinntí murb fhuil[3] ag grásta Dé,
Is, a Dhia, nach mór an feall é ná planda breá mar é.

'S a Thomáis Bhán Mac Aogáin, sé mo léan thú ag dul, ó, i gcill,
Cé hionadh liom do mháithrín bheith brónach in do dhiaidh,
Dhá mbeifeá ar leabaidh an bháis aici cér chás dhaoithe thú a bheith tinn,
Ach do chrochadh as na saltrachaibh 's an bháisteach le do dhroim.

Ní slad mainistir ná teampaill a rinne stór, ó, mo chroí,
Ní feoil ná geir a ghoid sé ná rud ar bith mar é,
Ach mar gheall ar (mhálóid) Stanley sea crochfaíor é mo léan,
'S an té a bhfuil grá dho chlann na Gall[4] aige, an ceann go gcaille sé.

Translation

It was when I left the wake house that I first saw my desire,
Alas and alack that I did not spend the evening at home,
A stabbing pain goes through me and remains in the middle of my heart,
And, my love, if you do not come home with me I will not survive a month.

Fair-haired Thomas came to visit me when I was secluded and alone.
He said, "Do not worry or any such thing.
It was your curled tresses that killed me, it is because of you that I will be hanged,
And I am more concerned for you than for my mother whom I leave behind."

We have been summoned to Kilkenny and we must go there
Because quarter-sessions will be held there by Gaels and the foreigners,
Only two will be condemned there and, alas, they with be hanged,
Namely, Fair-haired Thomas MacEgan and Mr Mullins by his side.

And Fair-haired Thomas, it is certain that you are the love of my heart,
Thomas whom I loved more than all the young men of the world,
You will be hanged surely, unless by the grace of God,
And, God, what a shame it is, such a fine man such as he.

And Fair-haired Thomas MacEgan, it is my affliction that you are going to the grave,
No wonder to me that your mother would be sad after you,
If she had you on your death-bed she would not mind that you were sick,
But for you to be hanged from beams with the rain down your back.

My love did not plunder a monastery or a church,
Nor did he steal meat or tallow or any such thing,
But because of the scourge(?) of Stanley he will be hanged, alas,
And he who loves the foreigners, may he lose his head.

Footnotes

Commentary

According to Mícheál and Tomás Ó Máille (Amhráin chlainne Gaedheal (Dublin, 1905; new edition by William Mahon, Amhráin chlainne Gael (Indreabhán, 1991), 167), Tomás Mac Aogáin, county Mayo, eloped with the daughter of a man named Stanley of privileged settler class. Her father tracked them down and Mac Aogáin was subsequently sent to prison where he was sentenced to death by hanging. According to oral tradition, the young woman composed this song lamenting the imminent hanging of her lover and as a result Tomás Mac Aogáin's life was spared. It is a very popular song in Connacht. References to collected versions in the National Folklore Collection include: Proinnsias Ní Dhorchaí, Clár amhrán an Achréidh (Dublin, 1974), 31, and Ríonach Ní Fhlathartaigh, Clár amhrán Bhaile na hInse (Dublin, 1976), 150-1. For other published versions see: Eibhlín Bean Mhic Choisdealbha, Amhráin Mhuighe Seola (Dublin, 1923), 91-3; Tomás Ó Concheanainn, Nua-dhuanaire III (Dublin, 1981), 19-20, 79; Brian O'Rourke, Blas meala (Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 1985), 65-74; and Jean-Yves Bériou, Dord an dúchais (Dublin, 2008), 119-26. The song is sometimes sung to the melody of 'Curachaí na Trá Báine', as singer Darach Ó Catháin does on Darach Ó Catháin (Gael-Linn, 1975; reissued on CD, 2004).