The Say A Song project, le Doireann Ní Ghlacáin

Traidisiún ársa Gaelach is ea amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós a théann siar chomh fada agus a théann muid féin mar phobal, ach cá luíonn sé sin le heispéireas ghlúin na linne inniu? Glúin na nua-Ghaeilge? I dtraidisiún amhránaíochta ar an sean-nós nuair a hiarradh ar dhuine amhrán a cheol is é ‘Abair Amhrán’, a iarradh. Tá an bhéim ar an scéalaíocht, gné insinte an amhráin agus an méid is féidir leis a insint dúinn faoi shaol an amhránaí. Sula raibh traidisiún liteartha in Éirinn, nó go deimhin traidisiún Béarla, bhí cleachtas saibhir béil ina raibh an focal labhartha, canta nó iontonaithe, lárnach. Tá na hamhráin seo na céadta bliain d’aois agus cuireadh ar aghaidh iad ó ghlúin go glúin ó bhéal. Amhránaithe agus cumadóirí amhrán a rinne iad agus thug siad leo iad thar na blianta. Chuir siad a gcuid mothúchán agus taithí saoil féin in iúl taobh istigh dá phatrúin mhéadracha. Osclaíonn na hamhráin seo fuinneoga ar shaolta mhuintir na hÉireann san am a chuaigh thart ag am ar leith agus in áit ar leith.

Sean-nós (literally old style) singing is an ancient Irish tradition that goes back as far as we do as a people, but what can it tell us of the modern Irish experience? In the sean-nós singing tradition when someone is asked to sing a song the request is to ‘Abair Amhrán’, ‘Say a Song’. The emphasis is on the storytelling, narrative aspect of a song and what it can tell us of the singer’s life. Before there was a literary tradition in Ireland, or indeed an English language tradition, there was a rich oral practice in which the spoken word, sung or intoned, was central. These songs are hundreds of years old and were passed from generation to generation aurally. Singers and composers made and carried songs through time. They expressed their own emotions and life experiences within its metrical patterns. These songs open windows into the past lives of Irish people in a specific time and place.