Feather & Flock
Winner of the Gold Award in the Specialist Speech programme category at the 2024 IMRO awards.
Feather and Flock is a six-part series about some of Ireland’s most iconic breeding birds. Each episode combines ecology, folklore and music to uncover the incredible lives and journeys of these wild creatures. Presenters Anja Murray and Brían Mc Gloinn hear from biologists, behavioural ecologists, folklorists, a poet, linguistic experts and others in an exploration of each bird and its place in Irish culture. The series is soundtracked with immersive on-location recordings from Brían Mac Gloinn and series collaborator Seán Ronayne of Irish Wildlife Sounds, along with avian themed folk music and original compositions by Brían Mac Gloinn and friends. Episodes 1 to 3 were broadcast earlier this year and are available from the Lyric Feature page of the RTÉ website.
Episode 4: Skylark
Skylark is a charismatic bird of open ground and the uplands, widely celebrated for their impressive singing ability. In this episode, ecologist Anja Murray and musician Brían Mac Gloinn begin with the Skylarks’ fame in poetry, with poet Martin Dyar. The pair also get an insight into the fascinating science of birdsong with John Quinn, behavioural ecologist in UCC, and the physiology that allows these birds to produce such an impressive range of sounds and complexity of song. To compare the way songbirds and traditional singers learn their songs, we hear from Tríona Ní Shíocháin of NUIG about creative transmission and the Irish singing tradition. The role of Skylark in traditional songs and folklore is discussed with Ríonach Uí Ógáin, former director of the National Folklore Collection.
A team of musical collaborators feature in this episode too: The Lark in the Morning is sung by Brían & Diarmuid Mac Gloinn; tunes by uilleann piper Emmett Gill; and Brían also premieres a new song written especially for this episode.
Presenters: Anja Murray and Brían Mac Gloinn
Produced by: Anja Murray
Original score and songs by Brían Mac Gloinn
Sound Design & Editing: Brían Mac Gloinn
Series Producer: Eoin O Kelly
Production Co-Ordinator: Michael O’Kane
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 27th October, 6pm-7pm
