Recognised worldwide as a nation enriched with an incredible music tradition, we are blessed with a vast repertoire of Folk songs. These songs are at the heart of who we are. They act as a prism through which we see the nation as a whole; our history, our politics, our psyche, our present, and of course our future.
Folk songs have an ability to touch our hearts. They have the power to capture the spirit of an era, to comment forcefully on social or political movements or events and to stir patriotic feelings. They can make us reflect on the hardships caused by love, life, injustice, exile, emigration, imprisonment or death.
RTÉ is spearheading a national cross-media campaign to identify the nation’s favourite folk song. The whole purpose of this is to start a national conversation about our rich folk song heritage, and the impact of these songs on our lives.
Ireland’s Favourite Folk Song is a new five part series, presented by Mary Black, starting on RTÉ One, Sunday 28th April at 7.30pm. Each of the programmes will feature two songs of the ten songs nominated by the public back in January.
A bespoke performance of each song will also be uploaded onto rte.ie/culture, with background information and history on each song. And of course, that’s where you can also cast your votes.
EPISODE 1
The first two songs of the ten shortlisted will feature in this first episode. In the programme, guests share their knowledge of the history of each song as well as insights to its musicology and popularity. They will also campaign for each song as to why they believe it deserves to be Ireland’s Favourite Folksong.
The contributors for Programme One are:
JOHN SHEAHAN – MUSICIAN
OLIVER CALLAN – SATIRIST
DARAGH O’MALLEY – ACTOR
RUTH-ANNE CUNNINGHAM – ARTIST/ SONGWRITER
GEORGE & EDDIE FUREY – MUSICIANS
CATRIONA CROWE – ARCHIVIST & BROADCASTER
TEMPER-MENTAL MISSELAYNEOUS – RAPPER/ POET