Amárach Lá ‘le Pádraic
St. Patrick's Day is TomorrowThis sean-nós song appears on the LP Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Gael Linn, 1971). Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Joe Éinniú; English, Joe Heaney) was an Irish traditional sean nós singer from County Galway, Ireland. He spent most of his adult life abroad, living in England, Scotland and New York city, in the course of which he recorded hundreds of songs. Ó hÉanaí was born Carna, a remote village in Connemara, County Galway, along the west coast of Ireland. Most of his repertoire (estimated to exceed 500 songs) was learned while growing up in Carna. In 1949, he went to London where he worked on building sites and became involved in the folk-music scene. He recorded for the Topic and Gael-linn labels.
In the video is a nice rendition by sean-nós singer Eilís Ní Chonghaile from the Ráth Cairn Gaeltacht. Translation thanks to Cartlann Sheosamh Ó hÉanaí.
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English
Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day,
the first day of the session.
It’s a hard, cold day
colder than fate.
The testimonies are against me,
and a lot of them proven;
and the commander of the authorities
has said that I am to hang.
Dear brother,
take home my hat,
my stockings, my shoes,
and my brown coloured coat.
Tell my mother,
who’s been in bed for a season,
that I shall wear the narrow hempen rope
in place of a necktie.
My hurley and ball
are next to my bed;
and I would hit a stroke
as high as the moon.
My swift little stallion
is on the hill at home;
but my name will be in the papers
in Clonmel tomorrow.
Isn’t it a pity that I’m not a fisherman
on the banks of Baile an tSléibhe,
or in a lovely, feathery swan
on Lough Erne.
My name is James Murphy,
the best man in Ireland
the man who won’t be seen
in this gathering until Judgement Day.