Amárach Lá ’l’ Pádraic

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  • Teideal (Title): Amárach Lá ’l’ Pádraic.
  • Uimhir Chatalóige Ollscoil Washington (University of Washington Catalogue Number): none.
  • Uimhir Chnuasach Bhéaloideas Éireann (National Folklore of Ireland Number): none.
  • Uimhir Roud (Roud Number): none.
  • Uimhir Laws (Laws Number): none.
  • Uimhir Child (Child Number): none.
  • Cnuasach (Collection): none.
  • Teanga na Croímhíre (Core-Item Language): Irish.
  • Catagóir (Category): song.
  • Ainm an té a thug (Name of Informant): Joe Heaney.
  • Ainm an té a thóg (Name of Collector): unavailable.
  • Dáta an taifeadta (Recording Date): c.1971.
  • Suíomh an taifeadta (Recording Location): Peter Hunt Studio.
  • Ocáid an taifeadta (Recording Occasion): commercial recording.
  • Daoine eile a bhí i láthair (Others present): Gene Martin.
  • Stádas chóipcheart an taifeadta (Recording copyright status): Gael Linn.

Amárach Lá ’l’ Pádraic1, an chéad lá den tseisiún
Is crua fuar an lá é — ní cruaichte é ná an chinniúint.
Tá na mionnaí ag tíocht anuas orm ‘s tá go leor leor dá gcruthú
Séard dúirt ceannfort na ndaoine uaisle gurb é an róipín mo chruthú.

‘S a dhriotháirín dhílis tabhair abhaile mo hata,
Mo stocaí ‘s mo bhróga ‘s mo chóitín donn daite.
Aithris do mo mháithrín atá le ráithe ar a leaba
Gurb é an róipín caol cnáibe atá in áit mo charabhata.

Tá mo chamán is mo liathróid ar cholbha mo leapa
‘S go mbuailfinn boc báire chomh hard leis an ngealach.
Tá mo stailín dheas lúfar ar sliabh a’m sa mbaile
Ach beidh m’ainm féin amáireach ar na páipéir i gCluain Meala.

Nach trua gan mé i m’iascaire ar thaobh Bhaile an tSléibhe
Nó i m’eala dheas chlúfar ar bhántaí Loch Éirne
Is mise Séamas Ó Murchadha, an fear a b’fhearr a bhí in Éirinn,
An fear nach bhfeicfear ins an gcruinniú seo nó go dtaga Lá an tSléibhe.

Translation

Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day1, the first day of the session.
It’s a hard, cold day — colder than fate.
The testimonies are against me, and a lot of them proven
and the commander of the authorities has said that I am to hang.

Dear brother, take home my hat
My stockings, my shoes, and my brown coloured coat.
Tell my mother, who’s been in bed for a season
that I shall wear the narrow hempen rope in place of a necktie.

My hurley and ball are next to my bed
and I would hit a stroke as high as the moon.
My swift little stallion is on the hill at home
but my name will be in the papers in Clonmel tomorrow.

Isn’t it a pity that I’m not a fisherman on the banks[?] of Baile an tSléibhe
Or in a lovely, feathery swan on Lough Erne.
My name is James Murphy, the best man in Ireland
The man who won’t be seen in this gathering until Judgement Day.

Notes

1. For interested readers, the following has been provided as a guide. It’s a good guide but it’s not a set of hard rules. As is usually the case with living speech, there can be subtle variations. In officially formal standard writing, Saint Patrick’s Day is Lá Fhéile Pádraig. But in naturalistic speech, the first syllable of fhéile is more often dropped, leaving lá ’le. Sometimes, the terminal vowel is also dropped, hence lá ’l’ as sung by Joe here. This usage is followed for other feast days: Lá ’le tSín Seáin, Lá ’le Peadair is Póil ⁊ɼl… In the Irish of Carna, the word fhéile is dropped entirely (Lá Pádraic, Lá Caillín…). Note also that the personal name Pádraig takes the form Pádraic in Conamara / Iorras Aithneach. Across the dialects, you’ll sometimes see the name spelt Pádhraig / Pádhraic, reflecting the fact that the d is silent; PAA‑rig / PAA‑rik, never pud‑RAY‑ig / pud‑RAY‑ik.

Entry updated on 30th June 2019. The audio recording, previously unavailable here, was added and the recording details and notes were updated.

This song was taken from a commercial CD: Seosamh Ó hÉanaí: Ó Mo Dhúchas (Gael Linn CEFCD 191–2; released in 2007 and re-released in 2018). This is a double album. It combines the original vinyl releases Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Gael Linn CÉF 028; released in 1971) and Ó Mo Dhúchas (Gael Linn CÉF 051; released in 1976).

Glacann muid buíochas le Gael Linn, ⁊ le Antoine Ó Coileáin go háirid, as ucht cead leis an amhrán a chur ar fáil anseo.

The album can be purchased from the Gael Linn web site.