Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin portrait for portraidi.ie - photographed by Lára Ní Mhaoláin

I am releasing the second track of a new album of songs following the wonderful response to the first track BEANNÚ – released eight weeks ago.

Both songs are a creative response to the ongoing current pandemic. As I was arranging and recording the keen, it was clear to me that it was emerging as a primal expression of collective loss, to give relief and transcendence. I sing it with great respect and gratitude to our ancestors, and in sorrow for all the resounding silences in our collective history that continue to affect an unexpressed grief and suffering.

Invoking the constancy and empathy of the elements and celestial planets at a time of sorrow is a feature of some traditional Irish laments, and which has influenced my work. At its core, CAOINEADH CINE is a traditional keen from the singing of Cití Eoghain Éamoinn Ní Ghallchóir from Gaoth Dobhair c.1950, and is reimagined here as a new composition.

It was recorded and produced recently in Redbox Studios by Dónal O’Connor who also plays instrumental accompaniment on harmonium, fiddle and viola.

You can download an MP3 version for listening on the go at Pádraigín’s website shop.

About Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin

Of County Armagh and Louth parentage, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin was raised in an Irish speaking family of eight. She is a multifaceted traditional artist: a professional singer since 1999 and a researcher, song writer, author and composer.