New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola

Subject: New singer: Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Oct 02 - 01:02 AM

I was listening to the online radio show Folkscene (one of my favorites -- www.folkscene.com) and heard part of a recording of "Casadh an tSugain" by a young woman from the Aran Islands, Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola. Her voice was incredibly pure and sparkling, and the arrangement was simple and beautifully done. Her website says that her album, called AN RAICÍN ÁLAINN, includes some traditional songs and some written by her father. I've emailed Clannadh Records in Dublin to see how I can order it. Has anyone else heard of her?

Aloha,
Mark

(sorry about the missing fadas--I can only do them if I cut and paste!)

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 22 Oct 02 - 01:24 AM

Google doesn't come up with her website, Mark. Got a link for it?

Murray

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Oct 02 - 03:26 AM

Oops...good point. It's not her website, it's the label's: Claddagh Records September 2002 list. Also here's a page about her album from The Scottish and Irish Traditional Celtic Music Store. Now that I'm trying to learn to accompany Irish music on guitar, it looks like I'm going to have to start hanging out at that site!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 22 Oct 02 - 04:10 AM

She's young and new on the scene. I haven't heard her live but saw her on TV recently and have heard a track or two from the CD. She's good alright!

Regards

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 22 Oct 02 - 06:15 AM

Saw her in Derry - in Jan I think

Subject: RE: Lasairfhiona Ní Chonaola
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 05:57 AM

on Irish tv tonight. I don't have a schedule to hand, but I think she's on RTE1 at 7 pm

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: Declan
Date: 12 Nov 02 - 06:34 AM

The program last Thursday was Leargas and it was an interesting documentary. She is from the Aran Islands and among the songs she sang was a set of Gaelic words for the tune Inis Oirr which was originally written as just a melody - we had a thread about that not so long ago. The Gaelic words were her own translation of a poem written by a poet whose name (I think) was Carberry.

A fine singer well worth a listen.

By the way its pronounced (roughly) Losser (rhymes with Tosser,Dosser) - EENA Knee Hun-eela.

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 12 Nov 02 - 08:12 AM

How's about we Anglicize that to "LASER-FIONA", Declan? :-)

Murray

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 12 Nov 02 - 11:23 PM

That's the problem with Irish...the words never sound like they're spelled. If you want to know the pronunciation, you might as well go ghoti.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: artbrooks
Date: 12 Nov 02 - 11:39 PM

Mark, please pass on the ordering information when you get it. BTW, a good place to hang out to listen to (free) music is the Green Linnet site. They have a lot of their (complete) albums available for preview.

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 13 Nov 02 - 05:20 AM

"the problem with Irish...the words never sound like they're spelled" is untrue. To someone who knows Irish, the spelling system is comprehensible, though it is true that we have a few dialects and therefore local pronunciations are often considerably different from the standard spelling. English spelling is very inconsistent, take for instance though & rough & through & bough.

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 13 Nov 02 - 10:38 AM

Of course, "tion" (shun) as a combination of letters represents a consistent sound in a way that "ough" does not. In Irish also you often have to look at two or three letters together to know what sound they signify. But the rules are generally straight-foward enough; for instance s before i or e has an sh sound (sí is like the English word she and seo like the word show), while s before an a,o or u is pronounced like the s in 'sound'. There are also letter combinations which show the derivation of the word rather than the sound.* For instance, "cruinniú na mbad" (gathering of the boats - regatta) - the b isn't heard but the spelling shows that 'na bad',of the boats, comes from the word 'bad', boat. Once again, this is not as difficult as it seems for the letter combinations are limited and consistant and governed by rules or grammar.

*Oh, the fh of Lasairfhiona is silent, but written to show that fhiona derives from fiona.

Subject: RE: New singer: Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Nov 02 - 10:20 AM

Lasarfhiona means Flame-of-wine, by the way.

TG4 had a programme about this kid, and her father was on it too. Nice voice, nice kid.