Transcript

'Á mbeinn féin in Airde[1] Cuain,
In aice an tsliabh atá i bhfad bhuaim[2],
A Rí, gurbh aidhearach mo chuairt,
Go Gleann na gCuach Dé Domhna(igh).

Och ó, Éire uileag is ó,
Och ó, Éire leann dubh ó,
Éire, leann dubh agus ó,
Mo chroidhe trom is é leonta.

'Á mbeinn féin i (mBun Abhainn) Duinne,
Far a bheil[3] mo chairdean[4] uile,
Gheobhainn ól ann, ceol is sómas,
Bhéarfaidh mé (gaol le snuaidh) na hóige.

Och ó, Éire uileag is ó,
Och ó, Éire leann dubh ó,
Éire, leann dubh agus ó,
Mo chroidhe trom is é leonta.

'S iomdha Nollaig a bhí mé féin
Agus mé[5] ar beagán ciall,
Ag imir ar an tráigh bhán,
Is mo camán bán i mo dhoirne.

Och ó, Éire uileag is ó,
Och ó, Éire leann dubh ó,
Éire, leann dubh agus ó,
Mo chroidhe trom is é leonta.

'Á mbe(ith) agam ach báta[6] is rámh
Rachainn ar an tsnámh,
Le dúil as Dia go riginn[7] slán,
Go bhfaighinn bás in Éirinn.

Och ó, Éire uileag is ó,
Och ó, Éire leann dubh ó,
Éire, leann dubh agus ó,
Mo chroidhe trom is é leonta.

Translation

If I were in Ardicoan,
Near the mountain which is far from me,
Lord, my visit would be merry,
To Gleann na gCuach ('Cuckoo's Glen') on Sunday.

Och O, all Ireland, and O,
Och O, Ireland, sorrow, O,
Ireland, sorrow and O,
My heart is heavy and wounded.

If I were in Cushendun,
Where all my friends are,
I would get drink there, music and ease,
I would love the one with the youthful complexion (?).

Och O, all Ireland, and O,
Och O, Ireland, sorrow, O,
Ireland, sorrow and O,
My heart is heavy and wounded.

Many a Christmas was I,
With little sense,
Playing on the white strand,
With my pale hurley in my fists.

Och O, all Ireland, and O,
Och O, Ireland, sorrow, O,
Ireland, sorrow and O,
My heart is heavy and wounded.

If I only had a boat and oar
I would go to sea,
Hoping to God to arrive safely,
So that I could die in Ireland.

Och O, all Ireland, and O,
Och O, Ireland, sorrow, O,
Ireland, sorrow and O,
My heart is heavy and wounded.

Footnotes

Commentary

This song is attributed to the poet Seán Mac Ambróis. It is associated with the singing tradition of county Antrim and many versions were collected there while Irish was still spoken as a vernacular. According to Énrí Ó Muirgheasa, the poet is living in exile in Scotland grieving the death of his wife. The sight of the mountains of his native county Antrim, which he can see from Scotland, further deepens his sense of loss and sadness. He longs to return home and to die in his native Ireland. See Énrí Ó Muirgheasa, Dhá chéad de cheoltaibh Uladh (Dublin, 1934), 194-5. Dr Eoin Mac Néill collected a version from Séamus Mac Amhlaibh, county Antrim, which he published in Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge 6 (October, 1895). Another version with music, collected by Toirdhealbhach Ó Tuathail, was published in Irisleabhar Muighe Nuadhad (1914), 87-8. The song and its composer are discussed by Seán Ua Cearnaigh in 'Airdí Cuan agus an té a chum', Treoir 12:4 (1980), 23 (republished in Treoir 36:2 (2004), 18). For other versions of the song see, for example: Aoidhmín Mac Gréagóir, Siamsan na Beanna Fada ([Dublin], 1907), 33; Nils M. Holmer, On some relics of the Irish dialect spoken in the glens of Antrim (Uppsala, 1940), 94-7; and Seán Óg and Mánus Ó Baoill, Ceolta Gael (Cork, 1975), 10-11. Ciarán Ó Duibhín has compiled a number of versions of the song in his discussion of this Doegen recording which can be accessed at http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/doegen/mckiernan.htm. This song is transcribed also in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 282-5.