Beidh Aonach Amárach

There's a Fair Tomorrow
This is a traditional Irish song arranged by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ciaran Tourish, Dermot Byrne, Ciaran Curran, Mark K more...

This is a traditional Irish song arranged by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ciaran Tourish, Dermot Byrne, Ciaran Curran, Mark Kelly and Dáithí Sproule. It appears on Altan’s seventh studio album Another Sky, released in February 2000.

From joeheaney.org:

This song, familiar to schoolchildren and Irish language-learners around the country, would likely have been dismissed as a ‘school song’ by the people in Joe’s community. Even so, it represents a venerable type of song which Seán Ó Tuama termed the débat grá or ‘love debate.’ The subject matter of the song which, as here, takes the form of an argument between a girl and her mother about matters of the heart, has its roots in the troubadour and trouvère traditions of 12th-century France.

The translation here is the one Joe himself developed for his students, a fairly literal rendering that has the added benefit of being singable. He was fond of using this song as a sing-along in his classes, and he often placed it, as he does here, at the end of the evening. Compare the rendition here with the full-speed-ahead version on another recording, when he performs it in a medley with ‘An bhFaca Tú mo Shéamaisín?’

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Irish

English

Chorus (after each verse):
Oh mammy, won't you let me go to the fair
Oh dearest love, don't plead with me
Oh mammy, won't you let me go to the fair
Oh dearest love, don't plead with me

There's a fair tomorrow in County Clare
There's a fair tomorrow in County Clare
There's a fair tomorrow in County Clare
Why should I care, I won't be there

I've a little daughter and she's very young
I've a little daughter and she's very young
I've a little daughter and she's very young
And she's in love with a cobbling man

You're not ten or eleven years old
You're not ten or eleven years old
You're not ten or eleven years old
When you reach thirteen you'll be more mature

I'd rather have my cobbling man
I'd rather have my cobbling man
I'd rather have my cobbling man
Than an army officer with his gold bands

There is many a maid who married young
There is many a maid who married young
There is many a maid who married young
And lived in peace with her cobbling man

Can you provide a better translation?

Chords

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