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Sean Nós Singing
Sean nós, literally “old style”, singing is part of an
unbroken tradition with ancient roots. A number
of theories have been shared concerning the various
influences that have shaped this particular form of
singing. Singing in Irish, and unaccompanied, this form
of singing is a vestige perhaps of a more ancient tradition
of the reachtaire or file. In Bardic times, it was through
the poet with his memory of Irish regal genaeology,
that an Irish King was supported in his claims to power.
Poetry was sung or chanted often to the accompaniment
of a cruit an early forerunner of the harp.
Today, the tradition of amhránaíocht ar an sean nós
continues as handed down from generation to generation.
Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, one of the late great sean nós singers
was once described by the writer Máirtín Ó Cadhain as
singing such songs :
“effortlessly, one after another, in a manner which strongly
reminds one of Gitano singing in the caves of Granada. In
fact his splendid figure and face is the southern Spanish
type. There is a strong tradition that survivors of the
Armada remained along the Conamara coast.”
Similarities have been noted between the classical singing
of the Spanish and Islamic world and the nasal tones of
a Connemara sean nós singer. The extended notes have
been seen to echo the muezzin call to prayer. It cannot
be denied that Ireland’s west coast bears evidence of
much contact with Northern Africa and of course Islamic
Spain. Go no further than the Spanish Arch in Galway.
As an island nation, Ireland’s rich boating traditions
have shaped our culture in ways unimaginable. It could
be that, before the definitions of nation states, our own
sense of self was as ever fluid as the waters that surround
our coast. In the dark hair and sallow skin of many
Connemara locals you can see echoes of the Spanish, the
Moors. It is, perhaps, not so wild a claim to see in us the
influence of berbers of North Africa. The berber people
are known to have used body paint to colour their skin
blue. Today a black man in the Irish language is called
fear gorm ( on far gurm) and gorm means “blue”!
“The Irish goatskin drum, the bodhrán, rescued by ‘O
Riada from obscurity in Kerry to become the rhythm
section of many Irish Traditional groups – bears
striking similarities to the Moroccan bendir. We
cannot ignore the debt that our music owes to Islamic
culture: the violin’s origins in the Middle East – the
guitar’s connection with the úd of Northern Africa.
It is a possibility that Europe received its first
inclination towards definite pitch notation from
Arabic scholars. The peoples of Connemara down to
Western Kerry developed an unparalleled tradition
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of seamanship overcoming apparant social disadvantages
of the their physical environment.”
Bob Quinn, "The Atlantean Irish"
To learn more of the provocative investigations of
Irelands Cultural heritage, look no further than
Connemara-based film maker and writer Bob Quinn,
and his documentary and book published by O'Briens
Press.
Sean Nós Singing of Connemara
Peadar ‘O Ceannabháín and daughter Saileóg Ní
Cheannabháin are two well regarded culture bearers
of the sean-nós or “old style” singing tradition in Ireland
today. This traditional and unaccompanied form of Irish
song focuses on a story and the lyrical words used to
convey it.
The songs of this tradition are by reputation entirely in
Irish although occasionally a song may include a chorus
in the English language ( macaronic songs).
Peadar O Ceannabháín was born in West Connemara, in
the Carna parish, a place that has come to notice for its
great number of fine sean-nos singers.
These include Sorcha Ni Ghuairim and Sean ac Dhonncha,
two of the first practitioners ever recorded. Another
famous son of Carna is Seosamh O hEanú (Joe Heaney),
who was a major inspiration for ‘O Ceannabhain.
Through his meticulous rendering of the traditional
songs he learned as a child and
continues to inhabit –
Peadar brings
life to the
world
of