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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Philippa Lyr Add: Sean O Duibhir an Gleanna / Sean O'Dwyer (25) Lyr Add: SEÁN Ó DUIBHIR A' GHLEANNA 19 Nov 99


Seán Ó Duibhir a' Ghleanna, Seán Ó Duír a' Ghleanna: published sources of Irish language text and tune include:
"Cuisle an Cheoil" (an Roinn Oideachais, BÁC/Dublin, 1976) (three versions given, background notes in Irish)
Donal O'Sullivan, "Songs of the Irish", Cork: Mercier (includes poetic translation by George Sigerson and literal translation and notes in English)
Mánus Ó Baoill, "Ceolta Gael 2", Cork: Mercier, 1986
"Amhránleabhar Ógra Éireann", BÁC/Dublin: Folens, 1971 (lyrics only)

SEÁN Ó DUIBHIR A' GHLEANNA

Ar m'éirí dom ar maidin,
Grian an tsamhradh a' taitneamh,
Chuala 'n uaill á casadh,
'Gus ceol binn na n-éan:
Broc is míolta gearra,
Creabhair na ngoba fada,
Fuaim ag an macalla,
'Gus lámhach gunnaí tréan.

An sionnach rua ar an gcarraig,
Míle liú ag marcaigh,
Is bean go dubhach sa mbealach
Ag direamh a cuid gé.
Anois tá 'n choill á gearradh,
Triallfaimid thar caladh;
Is a Sheán Uí Dhuibhir an Ghleanna,
Tá tú gan ghéim

Is é sin m'uaigneas fada
scáth mo chluas á ghearradh,
An ghaoth aduaidh dom leathadh.
'Gus bás ins an spéir:
Mo ghadhairín suairc a cheangal
Gan cead híth á aistíocht';
A bhaineadh gruaim den leanbh,
I meán ghil' an lae.

Croí na huaisle ar an gcarraig,
Go ceafach buacach beannach,
A thiocfadh suas ar aiteann ,
Go lá deireadh 'n tsaoil.
'S dá bhfaighinnse suaimhneas tamall
Ó dhaoine uaisle 'n bhaile,
Do thriallfainn féin ar Ghaillimh
Is d'fhágfainn an scléip.

[The first four verses of the English posted by Stewie are poetic translations of these verses, as published in "Cuisle an Cheoil". It is close to the translation by George Sigerson given in "Songs of the Irish". After I typed verses 1-4, I went to the library and found the other verses in "Songs of the Irish":]

Táid fearann ghleanna 'n tsrutha
Gan cheann ná teann ar lochtaibh,
I sráid na gcuach ní molfar
A sláinte ná a saol;
Mo loma luain gan fosga
Ó Chluain go Stuaic na gcólum,
'S an gearrfhia ar bruach an Rosa
Ar fán le n-a ré.

Créad i an ruaig so ar thoraibh,
Buala buan a mbona?
An smóilín binn 's an lonndubh
Gan sár-ghuth ar ghéig;
'S gur mór an tuar chun cogaidh
Cléir go buartha 's pobail,
Da seola 'gcuantaibh loma
I lár ghleanna 'n tslé.

Is é mochreach ar maidin
Nach bhfuair mé bás gan pheaca
Sar a bhfuair mé sgannall
Fá mo chuid féin - 'S a liacht lá breá fada
Thig úla cumhra 'r chrannaibh, Duilliúr ar an dair
Agus drúcht ar an bhféar.

'Nois táim-se ruaighthe óm fhearrann,
I n-uaigneas 'bhfad óm charaid,
Im luí go duairc faoi sgairtibh, 'S i gcuasaibh an é
'S muna bhfagha mé suaineas feasta
Ó dhaoinibh uaisle 'n bhaile,
Tréigfidh mé mo shealbh
Agus fágfad an saol.

From O'Sullivan,"Songs of the Irish":
"In this song the pleasant, carefree life of a country gentleman ...before the hostilities is set in vivid contrast to the desolation and ruin imposed by Cromwell, and the horror and cold inhumanity of the 'settlement' are brought out by a witness and a victim - but rather by illusion and reminiscence than by direct statement. People and clergy forced to seek a refuge in the fastness of the hills; the landowning aristocracy uprooted from the territories that hd been theirs for centuries; the landscape desecrated by the razing of the forests ...; the sad necessity of abandoning home and country to seek service in the armies of France or Austria or Spain.

"...Dr. Sigerson's stressing of the patriotic note in verse 3 of his translation [verses 5+6 together if you're looking at the Mudcat texts], is not justified by the text. There are two other places where he seems to have missed the point. In verse 2 {Mudcat 3+4], the suggestion is that the stag is now the only noble left; and in verse 4 [Mudcat 7+8] the poet compares his own condition to that of inanimate natureP: apples are on the trees, foliage ont he oak, dew on the grass. He alone fails to receive that which is his own."

info from "Cuisle an Cheoil" and "Songs of the Irish":
Seán Ó Duibhir was the son of Diarmaid Ó Duibhir (died 1629), chief of the O'Dwyers of Kilnamanagh, resident of Cloniharp Castle, near Dundrum, Co Tipperary. It is thought that Seán Ó Duibhir served under his uncle, Colonel Éamann Ó Duibhir, who commanded a brigade fighting against the Cromwellian forces in the southeast of Ireland. After the fall of Limerick city in the autumn of 1651, the Irish cause was hopeless and so Colonel Éamann Ó Duibhir surrended under the terms of the Treaty of Cahir, March 1651. He some 4,500 of his officers and men were allowed to join the Spanish army, which was then fighting the French. Colonel Éamann Ó Duibhir was killed while leading his troops against Arras in August 1654.

Another relative of Colonel Éamann Ó Duibhir celebrated in song was 'Éamann an Chnoic' (Éamann Ó Riain, 'Ned of the Hill'), who was related on his mother's side to the Colonel. 'Éamann an Chnoic' was killed sometime shortly after 1702. You'll find three DT entries for Ned of the Hill/Edmond of the Hill, the English translation (only) of Éamonn an Chnoic.


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