Day by day getting notifications of gigs rescheduled, tickets still valid. Clannad, Robbie Williams, David Garret etc all moved to 2022. Maybe by then we can add Christy Moore!
Been doing a bit of thinking. You know the way you need the crowd to do Lisdoon ? Have you happened across any of those football matches with the fake crowd noises? Well, your Andy is a dab hand with the technology stuff. I reckon he could lift the Lisdoon singalong crowd from a live recording of yours, stick it in your ear buds, and away you go!
Otherwise, let’s get you on the Honda 50 on the Autobahn with Joxer to Stuttgart…
Enjoy the Whitsun time.
Thanks to Phil Hastie for mentioning Liam Clancy. There’s an album on its way here on the back of it.
I need to hear more of this beautiful, complex voice. https://youtu.be/skTZUoP0T-A
Dear Christy,
As the truce ‘holds’ following the death of 248 people ( 13 in israel) , over 100 women and children slaughtered along with Gaza’s chief specialist in Internal Medicine, i had a flash of inspiration.
Declan Welsh ‘white man in Palestime’ on youtube , was worth revisiting.
I may even dip into your ‘trip to jerusalem’.
Stay safe
Rory
Hello Christy,
Good luck with the recording next week. 5, 6 or 7 seven songs. I hope the polishing is going well.
I’m in a writing phase at the moment. I wrote poetry years ago but fell off the wagon when the muse became quiet. Back at it now with songs, chiefly thanks to the prod from you that gave me confidence.
I’d forgotten how easy it is. The hardest thing for me is getting started. Once it’s flowing, I’m fine.
I’ve an idea for a group of songs. I’ll see what appears.
In Donegal at the moment people are up in arms over house built with defective blocks.
Over the last 20 to 30 years, housing estates were being built with blocks coming from a MICA infested Quarry. The quarry in Question was a major supplier to Donegal County Council.
A result of this is that thousands of homes in Donegal have MICA , and are crumbling. Families forced to leave. People who spent their life savings building houses , have had to demolish them.
People want 100 per cent redress from the government and are taking to the streets in protest.
thanks for sharing Seamus…your situation is harrowing to read…I hope some solution can be found to your terrible dilemna..that Thomas Pringle and others will continue to highlight the state of your homes….with all the building regulations and laws that are in place, with all the bureaucracy and paperwork surrounding the industry, its a mystery how such basic mistakes can be made..
Cabbage in Copenhagen….. And Kölsch (dry) in Cologne…. Bring it on!
A sombre note in a post about burying babies… As you say
‘The Catholic Church, beneath its domes of Compassion Charity and Total Control forbade the burial of unbaptised infants within its “sacred” walls….grief stricken parents had to create their own burial sites’
Or in some cases, as in my brother, the poor departed wee mite was taken by the Holy sister, and disposed off. My poor dad found it hard to forgive that he had no grave to visit for his departed child, who died without the splash of the water on the head.
Christy's reply
the “splash of water upon the head” is the beginning of their controlling methods..that’s where they slip the hook in…soon as wee mites could walk and talk they started preparing us to make “first confession’ ,that rapidly followed by “first communion”…all this by the age of 7…..and we were the chosen ones…other wee mites did not qualify for subtle indoctrination but were banned to orphanages, industrial schools, foreign adoptions…
but listen Pat….its 7am…the Sun has risen on a beautiful May morning….I gotta try and make the best of this day…there is work to be done, life to celebrate in doing the work….I wish you well…..
the spirits of departed children live within us… for as long as we remember them with love , their resting place is within us…no Church can take that away
Christy hi
Search for ‘it aint me you are looking for’
Bbc sounds website
5 part series on bob dylan
A confession… i dont really like his performances but i love the songs, may you great fans enjoy this fascinating short series
Cheers christy
Rory
Christy's reply
I’ve recounted this before but its worth repeating..
we were at an Arlo Guthrie Gig in Whelan’s, Dublin many years ago…. he was talking about songwriting in the era of Dylan…he said it was like fishing downstream from Bob…he felt like calling out ;
“Hey Bob, please throw some of the small ones back in”
I’m now putting the finishing touches to my new album with sleeve notes etc.
You previously said some lovely words about ‘Ma’ the song I wrote about my mother and I’m wondering if I could quote you in a press release or sleeve note?
Please let me know.
Here is the song just to jog your memory.
Thanks https://youtu.be/dhvUYpnJsLg
Christy's reply
I cant remember what I said but I do remember your song..whatever I said ,I would have meant it…if you think its appropriate for your sleeve -work away…but remember , quotes can work both ways !!!
ps just listened to it again…fair play to you..its a belter and a great tribute to your Mother
And then there’s those really exposed ones that any kind of intro would spoil.
Well below the valley
Christy's reply
“two of them buried beneath the tree
two of them buried beneath the wall,
two of them where the angels lie
at the Well below the Valley O
The Catholic Church, beneath its domes of Compassion Charity and Total Control forbade the burial of unbaptised infants within its “sacred” walls….grief stricken parents had to create their own burial sites… beneath the tree, in the wall, down in the Valley “where the angels lie”
and stiill they keep on ringing the bell …I can hear one ringing as I type these few words…every peal reminds me of their ugly devious callous cruelty…the Bells of The Angelus are calling us to remember
Hello Christy,
I loved what you said about
I was doing my PHD without realising it…..
Learning by doing
Its the only only way
Here’s to lots of future lessons,
The harp was not a problem yesterday because the computers wouldn’t work. We’re trying again today.
I was thinking about what you said about the slippery intros and outros. When you get them right they’re instantly recognisable. The whole song is there before you’ve even started. Ordinary man, Musgrave, North and South of the river………
Rebecca
Dear Christy,
What will we do with our bunkers now that isolation is no longer the only order on the menu.
I still have left in my bunker
5 unused candles
4 tins of pilchards
3 puzzle books
2 gas masks and
a bottle of poitin ,
for the next nuclear war.
I got to thinking about the albums that carried me through the last 15 months and came up with this list, in no particular order…..
David keenan , beginners guide to bravery
The Bobby Sands album, Mcfarlane & o’neill
Grit, Martyn Bennett
Cheaply bought, expensively sold Declan Welsh
Burning Times
Listen
Traveller
Bonny Green Tree, john Reilly
The river holds its breath, Colm mac con Iomaire
The Box Set ( the best album in my collection).
So thanks to music the last 15 months has been immensely easier for me ,than so many others far less lucky ,in our ravaged world.
The bunker now seems so ‘last year’.
Regards
Rory
Christy's reply
Dear Rory,
may your bunker lie idle for the forseeable,thank you for all your input here, the handfull of regular correspondents provide me with a daily journal,
if I may Thank You all in this note to Rory…..
A new album coming along gradually, having had so much time to focus has made for a very different process this time round….
I’m really enjoying the process. I think its the first “new” album since “Lily” in 2016.
Over the next few weeks, there’ll be releases of youtube films/ readings of works by 20th century Irish poets. Linked to Coole Park events… clever innovation, going online – hopefully, in person for 2022… full details of poems/readers on the above website. Tommy Tiernan guested last night – next instalment available.from 26/5/21.
Good luck with intros/ outros and all in between. Next week sounds like fun – getting companeros back together.
Thanks very much Christy, I really appreciate the encouragement 😀. I did a few workshops recently with the wonderful John Spillane and he gave me the confidence to start sharing some of my songs. He mentioned you were always very encouraging to him when he started off and I can see why ! Got 3 heroes in terms of music .. Liam Clancy, John Prine and Christy Moore 😀. You’ve brought us all more joy than you can imagine over the years.
Take care Phil.
Christy's reply
John Spillane is doing great work with his Song Workshops….I am encountering numerous songs that have flowed from his tutoring….John is an inspiring man …just like Liam Clancy and John Prine who have gone on before us…Liam Clancy certainly inspired me…
I met John Prine briefly three times…the memory of his gentle way and soft demeanour still linger…there is a unique quality to John’s writing and singing, something I’ve never heard elsewhere, something I cannot define..
when I was 17 I went to a Fleadh Ceoil in Bunclody County Wexford..on the Sunday Afternoon I came across a street session..Liam Clancy standing amidst a crowd of listeners..he was singing “The Streams Of Bunclody” eyes closed, head back in the Summer Sunshine..I was transfixed and captured by that moment…that was 60 years ago and I’m reliving that moment as I write these few words
Watched a documentary on Scannal recently about the Rossport5 …. David v Goliath, respect for those Mayo folk ! Felt compelled to write a song about it …lyrics below .. song sitting on Soundcloud. Keep safe
The Battle of Ballinaboy
Five warriors in a land thought free
To protect their homes and families
Those Mayo clan a peaceful folk
Attacked by greed, pig in a poke
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Fifty miles to sea, let the dollars roar
Turn on that tap, let our value soar
The natives from this mayo shore
Left undefended, they said NO MORE
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The state it robbed the family land
Memories of time under old command
The state put heads upon the block
And disengaged the safety lock
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The state to all its citizens owe
A Duty of care to oppression we say No
But this state did side and this state did fail
Those 5 good men were sent to jail
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Compelling guardians of this state
To hurt and beat without abate
It tasted vile, a bitter pill
to make it worse they paid the guardians bill
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The Rossport5, stood up for right
They tried to talk, they were met with fight
A time of hurt a time of wrong
State showed no mercy but Mayo she stood strong.
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Best Regards,
Phil
Christy's reply
Hey There Phil,
Thats a good song you got there
very distinctive style too..
thanks for sharing..
keep it going …
Hello Christy and All,
Hope the strumming and picking is doing its thing today.
Playing the harp makes me feel calmer. Apart from today, I’ve got a harp lesson this morning. I hope those damn fingers of mine behave themselves.
Better go and do some tuning.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I’m attempting to round up a herd of intros and outros….I am in need of a good sheep dog here… sometimes I track down a possible intro… by the time I’ve pressed the red button the feckin thing has slipped the net….
next week I have my second bout of recording….the team are assembling to converge at The Black Lagoon…..its gradually coming together but still a long way to go….I have 5 or 6 basic tracks down, another 5,6 or 7 in the queue waiting to be seen and heard …sometimes another prospect will emerge out of nowhere….like happened 36 years ago on the “Ride On “album…I had no intention whatsoever of recording “Lisdoonvarna”
Nowhere close with ‘The Bold Rake’… any more gems from the ‘kitchen sessions’? Just past a year since the start of the lockdown sessions you did with Andy – Jeez, they’re good. I have regular drop ins/ watch a whole broadcast. Great that they’re so easily accessed.
I just looked up the words of ‘The Bold Rake’ and was led to a site I’ve not seen before. http://www.countysongs.ie looks like a great resource for lyrics. No idea about the authenticity of whether or not a certain song originated in a specific place – that’s all part of the mystery and magic of ‘the tradition’, I guess.
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
“when the money was spent it was then she began to condole
and I said my sweet fair maid ’tis better to part and go home”
I’m being recalled to a Fleadh Ceol way back in 1962 ish….I had no guitar case…I had binder twine for a strap….I had maybe 5 songs The Bold Rake, Mary from Dungloe, Rosin The Bow,Enniskillen dragoon, Curragh of Kildare….I was becoming noticed as “the fella that sweats”…..
I was transfixed by songs,porter,ale and the craic…I was doing my PHD without realising it…..
“with my sun burnt thumb stuck up in air
I got manys the lift from here to there”
cars buses vans and trains
in the punishin heat the snow and the rain”…..(Galway Joe Dolan))
Fair play Christy, true for you. Memories, helped along with meaningful music and good company.
Don’t know if you have come across Pádraigín ní Uallacháin and her Irish translation of Bob’s the times they are a changing. I think it is beautiful, link below. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4069815599727873&id=100000984186004
Day by day getting notifications of gigs rescheduled, tickets still valid. Clannad, Robbie Williams, David Garret etc all moved to 2022. Maybe by then we can add Christy Moore!
Been doing a bit of thinking. You know the way you need the crowd to do Lisdoon ? Have you happened across any of those football matches with the fake crowd noises? Well, your Andy is a dab hand with the technology stuff. I reckon he could lift the Lisdoon singalong crowd from a live recording of yours, stick it in your ear buds, and away you go!
Otherwise, let’s get you on the Honda 50 on the Autobahn with Joxer to Stuttgart…
Enjoy the Whitsun time.
Thanks to Phil Hastie for mentioning Liam Clancy. There’s an album on its way here on the back of it.
I need to hear more of this beautiful, complex voice.
https://youtu.be/skTZUoP0T-A
Dear Christy,
As the truce ‘holds’ following the death of 248 people ( 13 in israel) , over 100 women and children slaughtered along with Gaza’s chief specialist in Internal Medicine, i had a flash of inspiration.
Declan Welsh ‘white man in Palestime’ on youtube , was worth revisiting.
I may even dip into your ‘trip to jerusalem’.
Stay safe
Rory
Hello Christy,
Good luck with the recording next week. 5, 6 or 7 seven songs. I hope the polishing is going well.
I’m in a writing phase at the moment. I wrote poetry years ago but fell off the wagon when the muse became quiet. Back at it now with songs, chiefly thanks to the prod from you that gave me confidence.
I’d forgotten how easy it is. The hardest thing for me is getting started. Once it’s flowing, I’m fine.
I’ve an idea for a group of songs. I’ll see what appears.
Rebecca
Tear into it……..Art is Whatever
This is a YouTube video of a family affected by MICA in Donegal
https://youtu.be/iiQ76QIV1QE
you are gaining attention as you spread the word
Hello christy
My name is seamus noone
I’m from Donegal
In Donegal at the moment people are up in arms over house built with defective blocks.
Over the last 20 to 30 years, housing estates were being built with blocks coming from a MICA infested Quarry. The quarry in Question was a major supplier to Donegal County Council.
A result of this is that thousands of homes in Donegal have MICA , and are crumbling. Families forced to leave. People who spent their life savings building houses , have had to demolish them.
People want 100 per cent redress from the government and are taking to the streets in protest.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/297785338568131/permalink/305207667825898/
thanks for sharing Seamus…your situation is harrowing to read…I hope some solution can be found to your terrible dilemna..that Thomas Pringle and others will continue to highlight the state of your homes….with all the building regulations and laws that are in place, with all the bureaucracy and paperwork surrounding the industry, its a mystery how such basic mistakes can be made..
Cabbage in Copenhagen….. And Kölsch (dry) in Cologne…. Bring it on!
A sombre note in a post about burying babies… As you say
‘The Catholic Church, beneath its domes of Compassion Charity and Total Control forbade the burial of unbaptised infants within its “sacred” walls….grief stricken parents had to create their own burial sites’
Or in some cases, as in my brother, the poor departed wee mite was taken by the Holy sister, and disposed off. My poor dad found it hard to forgive that he had no grave to visit for his departed child, who died without the splash of the water on the head.
the “splash of water upon the head” is the beginning of their controlling methods..that’s where they slip the hook in…soon as wee mites could walk and talk they started preparing us to make “first confession’ ,that rapidly followed by “first communion”…all this by the age of 7…..and we were the chosen ones…other wee mites did not qualify for subtle indoctrination but were banned to orphanages, industrial schools, foreign adoptions…
but listen Pat….its 7am…the Sun has risen on a beautiful May morning….I gotta try and make the best of this day…there is work to be done, life to celebrate in doing the work….I wish you well…..
the spirits of departed children live within us… for as long as we remember them with love , their resting place is within us…no Church can take that away
Thanks Christy for your reply.
I’ll try and get a copy into your hands when I have it.
All the best.
Best of Luck with it
Christy hi
Search for ‘it aint me you are looking for’
Bbc sounds website
5 part series on bob dylan
A confession… i dont really like his performances but i love the songs, may you great fans enjoy this fascinating short series
Cheers christy
Rory
I’ve recounted this before but its worth repeating..
we were at an Arlo Guthrie Gig in Whelan’s, Dublin many years ago…. he was talking about songwriting in the era of Dylan…he said it was like fishing downstream from Bob…he felt like calling out ;
“Hey Bob, please throw some of the small ones back in”
Hi Christy
I’m now putting the finishing touches to my new album with sleeve notes etc.
You previously said some lovely words about ‘Ma’ the song I wrote about my mother and I’m wondering if I could quote you in a press release or sleeve note?
Please let me know.
Here is the song just to jog your memory.
Thanks
https://youtu.be/dhvUYpnJsLg
I cant remember what I said but I do remember your song..whatever I said ,I would have meant it…if you think its appropriate for your sleeve -work away…but remember , quotes can work both ways !!!
ps just listened to it again…fair play to you..its a belter and a great tribute to your Mother
Hey Christy/all,
Just a quick comment on Liam Clancy …. his version of Aghadoe on You Tube … I think it’s almost spiritual !
Best regards,
Phil.
And then there’s those really exposed ones that any kind of intro would spoil.
Well below the valley
“two of them buried beneath the tree
two of them buried beneath the wall,
two of them where the angels lie
at the Well below the Valley O
The Catholic Church, beneath its domes of Compassion Charity and Total Control forbade the burial of unbaptised infants within its “sacred” walls….grief stricken parents had to create their own burial sites… beneath the tree, in the wall, down in the Valley “where the angels lie”
and stiill they keep on ringing the bell …I can hear one ringing as I type these few words…every peal reminds me of their ugly devious callous cruelty…the Bells of The Angelus are calling us to remember
Hello Christy,
I loved what you said about
I was doing my PHD without realising it…..
Learning by doing
Its the only only way
Here’s to lots of future lessons,
The harp was not a problem yesterday because the computers wouldn’t work. We’re trying again today.
I was thinking about what you said about the slippery intros and outros. When you get them right they’re instantly recognisable. The whole song is there before you’ve even started. Ordinary man, Musgrave, North and South of the river………
Rebecca
I love a good intro….I love a good outro
http://www.carthyonline.wordpress.com is the destination today, Christy, whenever there’s chance.
Happy 80th birthday to maestro, Martin Carthy.
Have a good day in Taktkin world…
Dave
Dear Christy,
What will we do with our bunkers now that isolation is no longer the only order on the menu.
I still have left in my bunker
5 unused candles
4 tins of pilchards
3 puzzle books
2 gas masks and
a bottle of poitin ,
for the next nuclear war.
I got to thinking about the albums that carried me through the last 15 months and came up with this list, in no particular order…..
David keenan , beginners guide to bravery
The Bobby Sands album, Mcfarlane & o’neill
Grit, Martyn Bennett
Cheaply bought, expensively sold Declan Welsh
Burning Times
Listen
Traveller
Bonny Green Tree, john Reilly
The river holds its breath, Colm mac con Iomaire
The Box Set ( the best album in my collection).
So thanks to music the last 15 months has been immensely easier for me ,than so many others far less lucky ,in our ravaged world.
The bunker now seems so ‘last year’.
Regards
Rory
Dear Rory,
may your bunker lie idle for the forseeable,thank you for all your input here, the handfull of regular correspondents provide me with a daily journal,
if I may Thank You all in this note to Rory…..
A new album coming along gradually, having had so much time to focus has made for a very different process this time round….
I’m really enjoying the process. I think its the first “new” album since “Lily” in 2016.
Hi Christy/ all
Great poetry news via http://www.druid.ie
Over the next few weeks, there’ll be releases of youtube films/ readings of works by 20th century Irish poets. Linked to Coole Park events… clever innovation, going online – hopefully, in person for 2022… full details of poems/readers on the above website. Tommy Tiernan guested last night – next instalment available.from 26/5/21.
Good luck with intros/ outros and all in between. Next week sounds like fun – getting companeros back together.
Dave
There are not enough hours in the day Dave
Thanks very much Christy, I really appreciate the encouragement 😀. I did a few workshops recently with the wonderful John Spillane and he gave me the confidence to start sharing some of my songs. He mentioned you were always very encouraging to him when he started off and I can see why ! Got 3 heroes in terms of music .. Liam Clancy, John Prine and Christy Moore 😀. You’ve brought us all more joy than you can imagine over the years.
Take care Phil.
John Spillane is doing great work with his Song Workshops….I am encountering numerous songs that have flowed from his tutoring….John is an inspiring man …just like Liam Clancy and John Prine who have gone on before us…Liam Clancy certainly inspired me…
I met John Prine briefly three times…the memory of his gentle way and soft demeanour still linger…there is a unique quality to John’s writing and singing, something I’ve never heard elsewhere, something I cannot define..
when I was 17 I went to a Fleadh Ceoil in Bunclody County Wexford..on the Sunday Afternoon I came across a street session..Liam Clancy standing amidst a crowd of listeners..he was singing “The Streams Of Bunclody” eyes closed, head back in the Summer Sunshine..I was transfixed and captured by that moment…that was 60 years ago and I’m reliving that moment as I write these few words
Hey there Christy,
Watched a documentary on Scannal recently about the Rossport5 …. David v Goliath, respect for those Mayo folk ! Felt compelled to write a song about it …lyrics below .. song sitting on Soundcloud. Keep safe
The Battle of Ballinaboy
Five warriors in a land thought free
To protect their homes and families
Those Mayo clan a peaceful folk
Attacked by greed, pig in a poke
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Fifty miles to sea, let the dollars roar
Turn on that tap, let our value soar
The natives from this mayo shore
Left undefended, they said NO MORE
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The state it robbed the family land
Memories of time under old command
The state put heads upon the block
And disengaged the safety lock
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The state to all its citizens owe
A Duty of care to oppression we say No
But this state did side and this state did fail
Those 5 good men were sent to jail
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Compelling guardians of this state
To hurt and beat without abate
It tasted vile, a bitter pill
to make it worse they paid the guardians bill
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
The Rossport5, stood up for right
They tried to talk, they were met with fight
A time of hurt a time of wrong
State showed no mercy but Mayo she stood strong.
The battle of Ballinaboy, A nation did trust destroy
Best Regards,
Phil
Hey There Phil,
Thats a good song you got there
very distinctive style too..
thanks for sharing..
keep it going …
Hello Christy and All,
Hope the strumming and picking is doing its thing today.
Playing the harp makes me feel calmer. Apart from today, I’ve got a harp lesson this morning. I hope those damn fingers of mine behave themselves.
Better go and do some tuning.
Rebecca
I’m attempting to round up a herd of intros and outros….I am in need of a good sheep dog here… sometimes I track down a possible intro… by the time I’ve pressed the red button the feckin thing has slipped the net….
next week I have my second bout of recording….the team are assembling to converge at The Black Lagoon…..its gradually coming together but still a long way to go….I have 5 or 6 basic tracks down, another 5,6 or 7 in the queue waiting to be seen and heard …sometimes another prospect will emerge out of nowhere….like happened 36 years ago on the “Ride On “album…I had no intention whatsoever of recording “Lisdoonvarna”
Happy Harping….hope you can subdue the beast
Hi Christy
Nowhere close with ‘The Bold Rake’… any more gems from the ‘kitchen sessions’? Just past a year since the start of the lockdown sessions you did with Andy – Jeez, they’re good. I have regular drop ins/ watch a whole broadcast. Great that they’re so easily accessed.
I just looked up the words of ‘The Bold Rake’ and was led to a site I’ve not seen before. http://www.countysongs.ie looks like a great resource for lyrics. No idea about the authenticity of whether or not a certain song originated in a specific place – that’s all part of the mystery and magic of ‘the tradition’, I guess.
All the best
Dave
“when the money was spent it was then she began to condole
and I said my sweet fair maid ’tis better to part and go home”
I’m being recalled to a Fleadh Ceol way back in 1962 ish….I had no guitar case…I had binder twine for a strap….I had maybe 5 songs The Bold Rake, Mary from Dungloe, Rosin The Bow,Enniskillen dragoon, Curragh of Kildare….I was becoming noticed as “the fella that sweats”…..
I was transfixed by songs,porter,ale and the craic…I was doing my PHD without realising it…..
“with my sun burnt thumb stuck up in air
I got manys the lift from here to there”
cars buses vans and trains
in the punishin heat the snow and the rain”…..(Galway Joe Dolan))