| Clare County Library | Dúchas is Dóchas: Amhráin Ghaeilge
an Chláir |
Bán chnoic Éireann Ó |
 Edel Vaughan |
Údar: Donnchadh Rua Mac Con Mara (1715-1810) Tá leaganacha den amhrán seo, eolas faoin údar agus roinnt mhaith aistriúcháin ar fáil ar líne agus i roinnt mhaith leabhair freisin. Samplaí éagsúla anseo thíos. Amhránaí: Edel Vaughan, An Croisín, Bealtaine 2022. Beir beannacht óm chroí go tír na hEireann, Bíonn barra bog slím ar chaoin-chnoic Éireann- Tá gasra líonmhar i dtír na hÉireann, Is fairsing 's is mór iad cruacha na hÉireann, Scaipeann an drúcht ar gheamhar agus féar
ann, Is oscailte fáilteach an áit sin Éire, ar bhán chnoic Éireann Ó. Ó: http://www.aughty.org/pdf/fair_hills_eire.pdf Beir beannacht o´ m’ chroidhe go ti´r na h-Eireann, Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! ’ S chum a mairionn de shi´olrach IR ’s EIBHEAR Ar ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! An a´it u´d ’nar b’ aoibhinn bi´nn-ghuth
e´an Bi´dheann ba´rr bog sli´m ar chaoin-chnoc Eireann Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! ’ S as fearr ’na´ ’n ti´r-si di´th gach sle´ibhe ann, Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Do ’b a´rd a coillte ’s ba dhi´reach, re´ig Ata´ gasnadh li´onmhar a d-tir na h-Eireann Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! ’ S fear-choin ghroidhe na´ claoidhfeach ce´adta Ar ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! M’fha´th-tuirse croidhe ! ’s mo chuimhne sge´al Iad ag Gall-phoic si´os fa´ ghreim, mo le´an ! ’ S a m-bailte da´ roinn fa´ chi´os go daor, Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Is fairsing ’s as mo´r iad Craucha na h-Eireann Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! A g-cuid meala ’gus uachtair ag gluaiseacht na slaoda, Ar ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Rachad-sa ar cuairt, no is luach mo
shaoghal, Sgaipeann an dru´cht ar gheamhar ’s fhe´ar ann, Ar ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! ’ S fa´said abhla cu´bhartha ar ghe´agaibh ann, Ar ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Bi´dheann biolar ’s samhadh ann a n-gleanntaibh ceo´aigh, ’S
na srotha san t-samhradh ag labhairt uim neo´in, As osguilteach, fa´ilteach, an a´it sin Eire, Ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Bi´dheann “ Toradh na Sla´inte” a m-ba´rr na de´ise, A m-ba´n-chnoic Eireann O ! Ba bhinne lion na´ me´araibh ar the´ada bh ceoil,
Seinnim ’s ge´imreadh a laogh, ’s a m-bo´.
Taithniomh na gre´ine orra aosda ’s o´g Take a blessing from my heart to the land of my birth, And the fair Hills of Eire, ! And to all that yet survive of Eibhear’s tribe on earth, On the fair Hills of Eire, O! In that land so delightful
the wild thrush’s lay The soil is rich and soft the air is mild and "bland, Of the fair Hills of Eire, O ! Her barest rock is greener
to me than this rude
land Her woods are tall
and straight, grove
rising
over grove ;
Trees flourish in
her glens below, and
on her heights
above ; O, in
heart and in soul,
I shall ever, ever
love A noble tribe, moreover, are the now hapless Gael, On the fair hills of Eire, O ! A tribe in Battle’s hour unused to shrink or fail On the fair Hills of Eire, ! For this is my
lament in bitterness
outpoured, Broad and tall rise the Cruachs in the golden morning's glow On the fair Hills of Eire, O ! O’er her smooth grass for ever sweet cream and honey flow On the fair Hills of Eire, ! O, I long,
I am
pining, again
to
behold The dew-drops lie bright ’mid the grass and yellow corn On the fair Hills of Eire, O ! The sweet-scented apples blush, redly in the morn On the fair Hills of Eire, ! The
water-cress and
sorrel fill
the vales
below ; A fruitful clime is Eire’s, through valley, meadow, plain, And the fair land of Eire, ! The very “ Bread of Life” is in the yellow grain On the fair Hills of Eire, O ! Far
dearer unto
me than
the tones
music yields, DONOGH MAC CON-MARA, or Mac na Mara, as the name is vulgarly spelled, was surnamed, from the red colour of his hair Donnchadh Ruadh ; for, as many of our readers may be aware, the Irish peasantry have been long accustomed to designate individuals from certain personal marks or peculiarities not unfrequently ludicrous ; a man with crooked legs being, for instance, called “ Cam-chosach,” and one with a nose turned awry, “ Cam- shronach,” while a corpulent person is styled “ Bolg-mho´r.” Donnchadh was a native of Cratloe,in the county of Clare, and connected by blood with the Mac Namaras of that locality. He made his appearance in the county of Waterford, about the year 1738, while on his way homeward from a foreign college, whither he had been sent in early youth to pursue the theological studies the penal laws at that period, as we need scarcely remark, rendering it imperative on a candidate for the Catholic priesthood to forsake his own country, and seek that instruction abroad which he was not suffered to obtain at home. His wild and freak-loving propensities had procured his expulsion from college, after he had spent four years within its walls ; and thus he was compelled to return to his native soil, and locate himself in Waterford. He had not long sojourned in this county before he became acquainted with one William Moran, a kindred spirit, celebrated in bardic lore among the peasantry of his native county. Moran kept a classical hedge academy at Knockbee, in the parish of Sliabh Cua, [4] a village within an hour’s walk of the birth-place of the writer of this sketch ; and here, he and his friend laboured conjointly for the enlightenment and edification of the young students who attended their school, and taught them the various languages which Donnchadh Ruadh learned abroad, and Moran acquired at home. How long the alliance lasted between the erudite pair we have no certain means of ascert- aining ; but, according to the tradition of the peasantry, it held good until the bards, “ in an evil-starred hour,” as the Orientals phrase it, or, as we would say, in a moment of luckless frolic, happened, in one of their poetical effusions, to “ damn to immortal fame” a certain fair and frail young damsel of the neighbourhood, who, enraged at being thus publicly satirised, set the hedge “ academy” in flames ; so that a dissolution of partnership between the “ fratres fraterrimi” was the immediate and melancholy result. The next locality chosen
by Mac-Con-Mara appears to have been the barony of Imokilly, an
extensive district in the immediate vicinity of
Youghal, in the county of Cork, where he commenced business “ on
his own account ;” but his stay here must have been
very brief, for we find him shortly afterwards located in
the barony of Middlethird,
in the county of Water- ford. The hedge-school occupation
not prospering here, he soon departed for Newfoundland. “Do leig se´ ga´ir o´s-a´rd ’s be´iceach, “ He lifted up his voice ; he raised a howl and yell Among other eloquent passages in it, we find the following allusions to his partnership with Moran, his location at the Barony, and his removal to Middlethird: “A n-deirim, do thabharfainn
man mhalairt le buidheachas Air a bheith san m-baile,
no´ a g-calath-phort e´igin
; No´ a Luimneach for Sionainn na g-caol m-barc, “ All I have penned I would joyously give away, Or in Limerick, on the tall-barked
Shannon agen, A series of unpropitious circumstances, however, once again drove him from home, and sent him anew to tempt the ocean in search of Newfoundland. Here, on this occasion, he arrived safely, and spent some time at St. John’s, where his old freakish propensities broke out afresh, though they do not appear to have involved him in any unpleasant affair with the natives or others. Having one evening met at a public-house a party of English sailors, whom he well knew how to “ fool to the top of their bent,” he sang the following song, extempore, to the great amusement of the Irish present, and indeed to that of the English, though the latter understood but one part of it, while the former chuckled in comprehending the entire:
Agus me´ go de´anacha m-Baile Shea´ghain ; I met a gang of English blades, Agus iad da´ d-traochadh ag neart a na´mhaid : I boozed and drank both late and early, With those courageous “ Men-of-War ;” ’ S gur bhinne liom Sagsanaigh ag ruith ar e´igin ’S gan do Ghaoidhil ann acht fi´os bheaga´n I spent my fortune by being freakish, Drinking, raking, and playing cards Gidh na´ raibh airgiod agam, ’na´ gre´ithre, Na´ rad san t-saogal, achd ni´dh gan a´ird Then I turned a jolly tradesman, By work and labour I lived abroad ; ’S bi´och ar m’fallaing-si gur mo´r an bhre´ag sin, Is beag de’n t-saothar do thuit le m’ la´im. Newfoundland is a fine plantation, It shall be my station until I die, Mo chra´dh ! go m’fhearr liom a bheith a n-Eire Ag di´ol ga´irte´iri´ghe, ’na´ ag dul fa´’n g-coill : Here you may find a virtuous lady, A smiling fair one to please your eye, An paca staigionnadh is measa tre´ithe, Go m-beireadh me´ ar a bheith as radharc ! I’ll join in fellowship with “ Jack-of-all-Trades,” The last of August could I but see ; Ata´ fhios ag Coisdhealbhadh ’s as maghaisdir ba´id e´, Gur b’olc an la´imh me´ ar muir ’na´ air ti´r ; If fortune smiles then, I’ll be her darling, But, if she scorns my company De´anfad “ Bainisti´dhe an Toill ana´irde,” ’S as fada o´n a´it-si do bheidheadh me´ ’ri´s. Come drink a health, boys, to Royal George, Our chief commander, na´r o´rdaigh Cri´osd ;’ s bi´odh bhu´r n-athchuingi´dhe chum Muire Mha´thair, E fe´in ’s a gha´rdaighe do leagadh si´os We’ll fear no Cannon, nor “ War’s Alarms,” While noble George will be our guide, A Chri´ost go bh-feiceadheadh me´ an bhru´id da´ cha´rnadh. Ag an Mac so ar fa´n uainn thall san bh-Frainc MAC
CON-MARA made
three voyages
across the
Atlantic ;
and it
was in
the city
of Hamburgh,
where he
conducted a
school, that
he wrote
the “ Ba´n-chnoic
Eireann O !” As evidence that our poet was skilled in the Latin tongue, we need only call the attention of our readers to the following elegy which he composed in the year 1800, at the advanced age of ninety, on the death of a brother bard named Tadhg (Gaodhlach) Ua Su´illeabha´in |
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| Ó Sídh
Cheol leis an Athair Pádraig Breathnach:
Ó ‘Songs of The Irish’ le
Dónal Ó Sullivan:
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