Dónal Ó Ceallaigh – Irish Songs / Amhráin Ghaeilge

Dónal Ó Ceallaigh was born in the Gaelic speaking part of west Donegal, Ireland. At the age of eight or maybe nine, he had an experience which would have a profound influence on his life.

He woke up one morning to the magical sound of the incredible fiddle playing of the legendary Irish fiddle player John Doherty, who dropped in for breakfast. He was a travelling musician and would play one or two tunes in exchange for some breakfast. Upon hearing this fiddle music Dónal jumped out of bed faster than he ever did before, for he knew it was music of an incredibly high caliber, tunes which were complicated but really melodic and he knew this music had been sprinkled with magic, as if it were touched by the hand of the fairy folk themselves.
From that moment on he had developed a great love for Irish traditional music. He was drawn into the magic. This was the “call to adventure” if you like.

“Scríobh mé na hamhráin seo i mo theanga dhuchais (an dara teanga is ársa in Iarthar na hEorpa) le taispeáint do dhaoine i dtíortha taobh amuaigh d’Éirinn go bhfuil teanga na hÉireann beo beathach agus deas le héisteacht le. Agus léi taispeáint do dhaoine in Éirinn, gur mhaith leo ár dteanga a fheiceáil san uaigh, go bhfuil sí beo agus go mbéidh fhad agus a bhéidh anáil ionainn.”

“I wrote these songs in the Gaelic language (the second oldest language in Western Europe) to show people living outside of Ireland how nice this language can sound when sung and that it is a living language as well as to show a certain percentage of Irish people, who wished this language would disappear from the curriculum in schools in Ireland, that it is alive and always will be as long as we can breathe.”

 Liosta Traiceanna / Tracklisting:

1. Lilt Box
2. Droch Aimsir (Awful Weather)
3. Bossa Gaelach (Celtic Bossa)
4. Tradventure
5. Daoiní Santach
6. Tír Chonaill (Tyr Conal)
7. Bank a diddly do
8. Gaoth na nGael (Celtic Wind)
9. Bogadaí
10. Cash Came More
11. Cardiologist
12. Rathaidh do dhiaidh
13. Idirlíon
14. The Daughters of Badb