I was researching information on Aindrias Mac Craith and the Maigue Poets last night, and came across a reference to this song in Tómas Ó Canainn's Traditional Music in Ireland:

"One example of an air first published outside Ireland and absorbed into the Irish tradition . . . is the tune 'Tweedside', first published in the Orpheus Caledonius Collection in 1733. It was taken into the Irish tradition and combined with a text in Irish in praise of the river Lee, . . . the well known 'Abha na Laoi' . . . The tune is now better known as 'Ar Éirinn ní Neosfainn Cé hÍ, . . . with its eighteenth-century text from the Maigue school of poets from Limerick."

I'd be very interested in seeing the lyrics to 'Abha na Laoi', and also any information on the author and/or history of the song.

Buíochas, Áine