Dúchas is Dóchas is an exploration by Diarmuid de Faoite, Duala Creator in Residence, 2021, of the Gaelic songs of County Clare.
Diarmuid will be joined on the evening by renowned singer-musicians:
Edel Vaughan, Tim Dennehy, Therese McInerney, Aindrias deStaic, Gráinne Cotter, Emer O’Flaherty, Philip Fogarty and Conn Ó’Muineacháin as well as Oireachtas Champion Dancer Seán Browne.
Diarmuid will be joined on the evening by renowned singer-musicians:
Edel Vaughan, Tim Dennehy, Therese McInerney, Aindrias deStaic, Gráinne Cotter, Emer O’Flaherty, Philip Fogarty and Conn Ó’Muineacháin as well as Oireachtas Champion Dancer Seán Browne.
“It wasn’t today nor yesterday that the people of County Clare fell in love with music and the county has a deserved reputation in the field of traditional music. Despite this reputation, however, songs in Irish are rarely heard and even rarer still are songs in Irish from the county, save the ubiquitous ‘Beidh Aonach Amárach’. Though the music has been preserved and enriched, our voice was lost quite suddenly and traumatically with the rapid loss of language” says Diarmuid de Faoite who posed the question; Is the store empty? Through the Duala scheme Diarmuid de Faoite began to dig through the ITMA archives and was delighted to discover that not only have the songs not been lost , singers today continue to sing and compose wonderful songs in Irish.
To date, 130 songs have been unearthed and that figure continues to grow. The songs deal with every topic and come from all over the county, even from parts of the county where the language had died out well over a century and a half ago. The richness of theme and style is vast: these songs are a storehouse of love, humour, politics, society, football, hurling, geneaology and, of course, sedition. They are jewels through which it is hoped to inspire both singers and the communities and parishes they come from to deeper understandings of themselves and their heritage, not only as historical accounts of what was but as proud expressions of who they are now and into the future.
To date, 130 songs have been unearthed and that figure continues to grow. The songs deal with every topic and come from all over the county, even from parts of the county where the language had died out well over a century and a half ago. The richness of theme and style is vast: these songs are a storehouse of love, humour, politics, society, football, hurling, geneaology and, of course, sedition. They are jewels through which it is hoped to inspire both singers and the communities and parishes they come from to deeper understandings of themselves and their heritage, not only as historical accounts of what was but as proud expressions of who they are now and into the future.
Diarmuid de Faoite
Dúchas is Dóchas is brought to you through the Live Local Performance Scheme supported by the Dept. of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Media and Sport.
