Suantraí: An Irish Lullaby

Released in 1999, this seminal recording of Irish lullabies features songs in Irish and in English – traditional and newly composed.

About ‘Suantraí: An Irish Lullaby’

Songs from another world for adults and children ranging from ancient Irish chant singing to new songs from one of Ireland’s most admired singers. In this her fourth album she is accompanied by some of the leading names in Irish music including; Máire Breathnach, Helen Davies, Deirdre Brady, Len Graham, Garry Ó Briain, Nollaig Casey, Ronan Browne, Máirtín O’ Connor, Cathal McConnell and Tommy Hayes.

The songs here range from the ancient tradition of Irish chant lullabies handed down through many generations to more recent compositions by irish musicians and poets. The Otherworld peopled by fairies and banshees who protect and threaten us, has been the main source of inspiration in the traditional Irish lullabies included in this collection. In her own compositions Pádraigín draws on this magic and mysterious world for inspiration too. The beautiful songs in this collection continue in that tradition and are sung equally to comfort both adults and children.

Musicians

Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin: vocals
Len Graham: vocals
Garry Ó Briain: guitar, keyboards
Ronan Browne: flute, uilleann pipes, whistles
Helen Davies: harp

Máire Breatnach: fiddle
Deirdre Brady: flute
Máirtín O'Connor: accordion
Nollaig Casey: fiddle, viola
Tommy Hayes: percussion
Cathal McConnell: vocals, flute

Praise for ‘Suantraí: An Irish Lullaby’

This is a gorgeous collection of Irish and English lullabies, many of them shot through with enough banshees, witches and mountainy hags to put manners on the feistiest of juniors. Ní Uallacháin's palette is wide, her vocal cords generous and inviting. Amid mythic characters such as The Children of Lir and Diarmaid and Gráinne, there lurk raggle taggle gypsies, neolithic goddesses and the odd aul lad with a rake of children chomping at his heels.

Apart from filling the void in Irish lullaby collections, An Irish Lullaby stretches and bends the boundaries of that genre so fluidly that its thoughtful arrangements, its elaborate orchestrations are a second skin to the simple and beautiful lyrics. Garry O Briain's mandocello, Helen Davies' harp and Nollaig Casey and Maire Breathnach's violas are balm to the spirit, certain de-stressors for parent and chisler alike.

'Suantraí Sí' is a superb ode to childhood innocence, penned by Paidrigín's brother, Ruaidhrí, while 'The Willow Tree' is Ní Uallacháin's own offering to her children, inspired by a visit to Poulnabrone dolmen.

'Eithne's Lullaby' is a particularly affecting piece; draped in a minimalist garb of Davies' harp and Breathnach's keyboards, fiddle and viola, Ní Uallacháin's contemplative delivery is both lullaby and lament for the author, her sister who died tragically last year. This is as fine a tribute as she could've paid Eithne, a testament to the merits of simplicity, of sentiments expressed with enviable transparency and lucidity.

An Irish Lullaby is a thing of beauty. It insinuates itself right under the skin with all the agility of a toddler long versed in the art of bewitching, and manages to gather a much wider audience within its gabháil en route. Music for children and wannabe's… and anyone with an ear for sublime melodies and soothing chant-songs to boot.

Siobhan Long, Hotpress Magazine