surprising cognate: Irish "rún" meaning secret and Old English "run" meaning "secret". This word survived into the words "rune" and "roun," the latter word being an archaic word for "secret, mystery."
Rún and rune are cognate. Writing was magical or secret. Further Rúnaí in Irish means Secretary but also referred to a scribe, not to be confused with a scríobhneor or writer of stories.
Irishman here. Absolutely love how passionate you are about this and the huge effort you've gone to to understand Irish and how to speak and pronounce it so well.
Would that more young Irish people who learn would do the same. Maybe we'd have less of the phonetically English Gaelscoilis and 'urban' Irish and more of the real stuff
@@_string Is Éireannach mé freisin. Ach is mór an trua go bhfuil an oiread sin Béarla sna tráchtanna. Cinnte ní thógann sé sin ón áilleacht lom san amhránaíocht, áfach.
Nothing like hearing completely live tight harmonies without pitch correction. Just the sound of human voices fitting in like puzzle pieces. Beautiful performance.
@@paddymeboy Maybe not, but then it is still some sort of derivative, and the tradition is changing as it passes through new hands, as tradition is keen to do
@@sunkintree Unfortunately, harmony is the death of music. In order to get harmony like this, you have to reduce the complexity of the ornamentation in the melody and the result is something far simpler, something that sounds a lot more like modern western music, that relies on harmony to make up for the lack of ornamentation in the melody. With that said, there are ways to introduce harmony to a degree that avoid this trap, this is the function of the ison in Byzantine Music. Not to criticize their music, it's leagues better than most western music out there these days, except, perhaps, Corsican music. But, in general, harmony should be avoided like the plague in traditional music.
@@costakeith9048 Maybe you are right, but purists and people who mix tradition with more modern styles can cohabitate I'm not sure I agree harmony ruins melodic ornamentation, though I understand that if you want to preserve it you need to work around it with that in mind. If you try to go full Bach style counterpoint, it's probably not going to work, but that's way on the extreme end of things
From Trinidad in the Caribbean Islands here. My son and I love irish music but mostly the old ones in gaelic. I'm listening to this song with my eyes closed and I didn't even realise tears were running down my face. I shared it with my son and he loves it. This song spoke to me on a level that my heart understands even though the language is not my own. Thank you for sharing. Blessings.
I’m classically trained and I’ve sung many styles of music, but the singing here is the essence of song. I could listen until the fire burns down to the last ember then come back for more tomorrow night
What's interesting to me is that you can hear the influences of this style of singing in old Appalachian folksongs, where a significant number of Irish settled after migrating to the US.
the "Irish" who settled Appalachia were actualy Ulster Scots or colloquially called Scotch Irish. Scottish immigrants to the Plantation of Ulster. There are similar forms of song from Scotland as well so yes, the "Irish' influence is undeniable.
Scottish, but yes they do have similar styles there. Unaccompanied singing styles aren't unique to these cultures of course, there are extremely similar styles in other places like the Middle East also
@@cigh7445 It is often suggested that there was a lot more contact (by sea) between Ireland and North Africa in ancient times than people thought. Film-maker Bob Quinn was convinced of these links and even snuck some North African music into his film Poitín and everyone took it for Irish traditional music (was on a radio in one scene). The kind of drawn out tones in sean nós are not dissimilar to the Muslim call to prayer for example. The fact that the Irish for black man is 'fear gorm' literally "blue man' and there are people in North Africa known as the blue men (from the dye they use coming off on their skin I think) may not be a coincidence either. Just a thought..
I loved this. Listening to this singing I can understand how country singers like Allison Krauss and most Appalachian music brings their Irish heritage with them to America.
This is a confusing comment. Allison Krauss is German with no Irish heritage whatsoever and the Appalachians were settled by the English, Scots, and Scots-Irish. The Scots-Irish, while technically come from Northern Ireland, held lowland Scottish traditions because that is where they came from.
@@adventuresinlaurenland AK’s voice and choice of music which indeed originated in Ireland and perhaps Scotland-not her bloodline is honored here. Haven’t you heard Nigel Kennedy nail Klezmer and Balkan tunes without having a Jewish nor Slavic genetic pedigree? I’m not confused at all.
@Peacelily There is definitely an Irish influence in country music, buck dancing and signing. Also there wasn't one planation in Ireland, there was older ones in Munster.
Woah. So I’ve listened to this twice now, sitting here alone in my bed, eyes closed. The weird thing, I’m from Appalachia Kentucky. And I have tears streaming, but the style, this reminds me of so many old bluegrass gospel songs my family sang while I was growing up. And now I need to go find out why a 16th century Irish song sounds so eerily similar to Appalachian Gospel.
The majority of Appalachian mountain settlers were English, Scots, or Scots-Irish, so a lot of traditional music and culture got blended in that region.
In the US, in the colonial period, many Celtic people were shipped to the east coast of the USA as indentured labor and I believe some possibly as convict labor, I'd have to check the info but I'm pretty sure that was the case. Of course at the time England was dominating and genociding the Celtic peoples and until the American revolution the east coast areas such as Virginia were British territory. English settlers would buy or contract Celtic labor from ship captains with a period agreed upon of whatever number of years of labor of that person. Celtic labor was being shipped to the east coast of the US for the tobacco etc industry and the carribean for the sugar industry. If not enough laborers could be found to fill a ship's hold for the contract the captain had promised, even by trumped-up charges, they'd simply kidnap people. If the laborer died before the end of the contract then their payment at the end wouldn't have to be paid. England was very busily trying to erase Celtic people from the celtic isles and inventing crimes to get rid of them etc. Many Celtic people brought to the east coast of what became the US escaped inland to avoid being worked to death. If they could put enough rows of hills, valleys, thick forests, and territory of native americans between themselves and the person who had "bought" their labor for 7 (or however many) yrs, that person might give up on trying to find them. For some reason the people of Appalachia have almost a complete amnesia about their origins. Hundreds of songs sung in Appalachia are versions of songs from the Celtic isles that go back centuries.
Omg I literally just left a similar comment!! I’m from north Georgia and grew up immersed in bluegrass and traditional Appalachian singing and music and you can absolutely hear that many of our musical roots lie here 💖
Listen I’m from Tennessee but I’m over here BALLING 😢. The way your voices demanded space, and when you all breathed in at the same time for air… just pure beauty and art. Thank you for gracing us with this. Really 😭
The harmony is so beautiful, I just started to cry. I’m southeast Asian and hearing this gorgeous song makes me more curious about Irish music, culture, and history! ❤❤❤
I'm not Irish, but my husband's family is and we traveled there from the US a couple of times in the last 9 years to visit some who are still there. And my God, even though I'm not from there and my family didn't largely descend from there, when you visit it seeps into your bones and becomes part of you. I can't really describe it, but the beauty of the land and warmness of the people works its way into your heart and makes it feel like a second home.
I’m born and raised southern tip of Appalachia and grew up immersed in bluegrass and traditional Appalachian music and singing and it is such a beautiful and breathtaking thing to hear our the roots of our singing in this singing style. There are obviously other influences in Appalachian singing but this is most certainly a part of that history especially seeing as how so many Irish people settled in Appalachia and many of those traditions were more closely maintained here due to the isolation of the mountains. Thank you for sharing this 💖
I think it's so cool that you are diving into this style of music. It makes me realize that I absolutely love these sounds and traditional ways. Keep up what you're doing Malinda! From one musician to another, thank you!
as an irish person who isn’t from a Gaeltacht i’m proud to say I could decently understand the lyrics. i’m also failing hl jc irish but this is a step in the right direction ig.
That kind of song just.. feels grounding. Holy, but not of religion, just deep and old and AUGH THIS IS SO NICE. Thank you for sharing this, my soul needed this today.
as an Irish person i just want to say thank you so much much of our cultural heritage as been lost or forgotten to the point where many Irish people like my self who live in Ireland won't ever have heard the term sean nós especially here where i live in the east, mar sin go raibh míle maith agat Malinda agus slán leat
I went to Ireland for a few weeks in 2015 and accidentally ran in to Nell Ní Chróinín in a pub in Kilkenny and got to hear her sing there. It's definitely been a favorite style of mine since then.
Unless you're watching - they look like they're constipated. I've heard of taking yourself seriously but this is ridiculous...and nothing to do with the song.
Yes, the passing note on gamhna leat is particularly nice. I've heard them sing this just the two of them but the addition of Malinda's harmonies make this even more beautiful.
Oh my goodness. I’m not sure what just happened to me, haha. The second you all started singing I absolutely burst into tears. I studied and lived in Ireland a few years ago and I miss it with my entire heart each and every day. This brought me right back there and my grief at leaving washed right over me. Thank you for sharing this with us all. It was a gift.
Wow, these harmonies are so beautiful! And how all of you managed to all the runs together. This is really beautiful! Thank you so much for this great experience! ♥️
I've done a little harmony singing (not like this) and you start with intense listening and end up with a deep feeling of accord with the other singers, a spiritual sensation.
Please please please God I just want this as a downloadable song or one I can stream I would listen to it every day and every night. You all sound amazing!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Im of Irish descent but don’t know very much about my heritage and have always loved singing and been in choir my whole life. As soon as the first harmony started I instantly started crying. Its like something familiar was activated in me and Im in my car sobbing. Thank you for this. I think Im going to do more research on this and find out more about my family tree. Simply beautiful, thank you so much.
Karen I hope you do look into your Irish heritage. Its an ancient culture going back at least 9000 years. Our national museum is chock-a-block with artefacts from the stone age -> bronze age -> iron age -> early medieval -> viking & late medieval periods. When you see places like Newgrange & its Stone Age (Neolithic) passage tombs and rock art, the book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice you'll probably get a better understanding of the breath and depth of the ancient culture you come from. We love to see people of Irish heritage interested in finding out more about where they came from and if at all possible pay a visit too.
Omg, I thought the exact same thing! I don't have a lot of Irish in me, but it feels very much like this activated some ancestral memory in me. And, yes, I'm sobbing.
There's something about the a capella aspect that really touches me. I can't help but imagine my ancestors in Cork singing or listening to this same song sung in much the same way as it is here.
Hello. I'm from Portugal, here in the North we also have cetic inspired music, with bagpipes and men wearing skirts dancing with sticks. Unfortunately we dont have your wonderful singing tradition. at least not in this acapella melodic style. I have been listening and enjoying Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, Britanny, for over 30 years and I am impressed with your song. I really enjoyed the harmony and purity of your voices. Bravo!
I'm so excited by this. I grew up listening to Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folk music. The world has this idea of ethereal harp music and Enya-style stuff as being "Celtic" but at best that stuff is loosely Celtic-inspired. The actual folk music traditions, both in English and in Irish, Welsh, Gaidhlig, etc. Are so much richer that the single dimension that so many people are exposed to. There are even Irish and Gaidhlig language traditions in Nova Scotia and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina (specifically in Y Wladfa). If you're looking at Irish sean nós, I hope you look at Gaidhlig music from Scotland as well, and the eisteddfodau in Wales at the very least. There are currently 6 Celtic languages: Irish Gaelic (Gaelge, Irish), Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig), Manx Gaelic (Gaelg, Manx), Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernewek), and Breton (Brezhoneg). They all have beautiful traditions, but Manx, Cornish, and Breton are closer to the brink of extinction than the other three
@Peacelily respectfully, your comment shows little knowledge on the subject. Irish and Gàidhlig are not mutually intelligible and both diverged from Old Irish (which is not mutually intelligible with modern Irish) over 1,500 years ago. For an introduction to Gàidhlig music I'd recommend Julie Fowlis. For an introduction to Welsh folk music I'd recommend Plethyn. Each of the Insular Celtic traditions has similarities and differences from a variety of sources. Each of those nations has a Catholic heritage, though most of them became predominantly Protestant. That's far from a pivotal factor in the shaping of folk music. As far as Irish music=ethereal, Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile, An Poc Ar Buile, Níl Sé'n Lá, and the entire tradition of Mouth Music would beg to differ. There are certainly plenty of laments and love songs that can be ethereal (the song above is an obvious example, but these other (Protestant) traditions have plenty of that too, just see Breuddwyd Glyndwr performed by Plethyn), but it's so much more than that. Cheers!
@Peacelily I am Welsh, a Welsh speaker and Catholic. There IS such a thing as Welsh folk music. Why would you ever think that there was not? Very strange! With respect, you seem to know nothing about the subject you are talking about especially with regard to Welsh folk music. It has a deep, deep and long history. We are not all about choirs and bands. Our folk music is heavily influenced by our Welsh language which is the most spoken (as a first language) Celtic language in the world today. We may be a small nation but we pack a firey punch (our national symbol is a red dragon) with music, language and culture just like Scotland and Ireland. Listen to Carreg Llafar, Ar Log, Kalan and the countless other Welsh folk groups out there. It’s about time Wales started to get noticed for its massive and amazing musicality instead of being drowned out by the ‘bigger’ Celtic nations which I adore by the way. It’s about time people were more informed about Welsh folk music. There is an excellent video on UA-cam about Welsh folk music and its long history. Here it is: ua-cam.com/video/xoRdSkJLAfw/v-deo.html Also, Wales was a bastion of Catholicism for a long time after the ENGLISH (not Welsh) reformation with many martyrs giving up their lives for their faith. So, as far as Welsh folk music is concerned look it up and you will clearly see. You will be very surprised and much more well informed. 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
NO WAY! Malinda, oh my gosh, seeing you and Séamus and Caoimhe in the same video is unreal. Their versions of Eileanoir na rún are some of my favorite Sean-nós, and to see you sing with them is an incredible melding of worlds. My American Irish heart is so full 💚
My Grandmother was from County Clare and my Great Grandfather was from Donegal! We were never able to go home again! However, I am now in my 70’s and learning Irish Gaelic! We kept being Irish alive through music, dance, violin, mandolin, pipes, flutes and drums! Irish Rebel Music was banned until a few years ago but I knew every word to every song though my parents never spoke of the “ struggles “! My father’s side is Lakota Oglala and we lived on reserve Pine Ridge South Dakota-Medicine Root-Native American people love Irish music especially Sean Nos-Now of course thanks to UA-cam! 👵🏽✌🏾✨☀️✨🇮🇪🇮🇪
Harmony is everything. Not only in music. It's telling that we are touched in our core if harmonic music is sung by human voices. We crave harmony, not only in tone, but in life.
I love Ireland and I love Irish music. This video was perfect!! As I was listening I heard dissonance chords. I absolutely love those kind of chords. When notes on a page mesh so beautifully like that, my spirit swells. It's a magical moment in music for me. Thank you three for teaching me about Sean nós singing.
Malinda, this is SOOOOOO pure & aesthetic ! (So was the last Sean nós video). It's INCREDIBLE you went to Ireland to make and share this! Literally, the harmonies flow as sweetly & smoothly as honey. The sound is emotionally piercing ! I'm so impressed with this! Definitely definitely more of this! Literally, your talent & gift blows me away, especially sharing the experience of sean nós. Keep going - you're freaking amazing 💙💛🌟🌟🌟
2 years later and still one of my favourite youtube videos.. I need to learn a Sean nos song for a gig so this was my first thought.. and after god knows how many times listening and sharing this tonight is the first time i read the lyrics.. couldn't open my eyes before.. so now a whole other layer of emotion to deal with..
Truly magnificent stuff. Well done all. I'm a beginner at Scottish Gaelic, an offshoot and close relative of Irish, and I can hear so many similarities between the two languages.
By tracing back to the middle ages it's found that all western european folk music was quite similar. Songs that style can be found from the Iberian Peninsula to Scotland. Whats not common is the way Irelad has, fortunately for all of us, conserved the old tradition till now. Thanks Ireland ❤
I'm glad you showed the subtitles on the screen. The singing reminded me of hearing the Mass in Latin when I was a child, which isn't surprising since many Irish words are derived from that ancient Roman tongue (such as "fir", which means "men", being a cognate of "virile").
@@rachaeltrujillo9960 You should listen to the Ensemble Organum with regards to early Christian music. It sounds super epic and almost Eastern in the way they use ornamentation. But Sean Nós is definitely more cheerful and lighthearted. :D
Irish is a sister language of Latin, so while we took a lot of words from Latin with the coming of Christianity, it's not the case with fir. In Old Irish it was fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, which itself came from Proto-Indo-European. So it has a cognate in Welsh (gŵr), in Breton as gour, which happens to be the same in Cornish. So it didn't come into the Celtic languages from Latin, but was there in the languages they evolved from. It is the same when you look at Sanskrit (vīra), Lithuanian (výras), and there was even an Old English wer. Virile does come from the Latin, as virya came from vīra in Sanskrit, meaning manly, and by extension, strong, energetic, and heroic. Which in modern Irish is fearúil, meaning manly or virile.
One thing I’ve enjoyed about learning Irish is trying to detect those Latin influences. I had to smile when I learned the Irish word for horse, “capall,” because it reminded me of the French “cheval.” Irish so rarely shares roots with the romance languages!
Wow. What a wonderful sound. Malinda, thank you for this. I suggest you upload just the "singing part" so that people like me can listen to it as part of a playlist.
My family is scotch-irish and this music is so much like the old style accapella bluegrass music I was raised listening too. Love, love, love it! Wonderful job!
Okay, you three got me. That made me cry. I love it, love it, love it. As mentioned on your last Sean Nós video, if you are ever going to perform live in Ireland, let us know and I will buy a ticket. Much appreciation from Ireland 🇮🇪 💚💟🧡
Thank you for doing this! Please do more videos around the Sean Nós! I grew up listening to this style of music, but unfortunately it isn't easy to find people who also connect with Irish music or the Irish language. These videos bring me back so much, and have re-motivated me to learn these songs and preserve the art. Ps, you guys did an amazing job Elanor na Rún :)
yeah, it doesn't resonate with everyone and I dont understand why. It sounds incredibly beautiful to me and has a way of making me stop, listen and just feel deeply even though I can't understand one word ahah.
That was.... Beautiful doesn't even describe that properly. Eleanor na Rún is one of my favourite Irish folk songs and this performance was absolutely stunning. Standing ovation and a couple teary eyes for this beautiful video ❤️
From Spain,hearing this and watching a candle light with the winter blowing outside..seems to me i am all the past lovers and all their wishes and the time apart that makes love so bittersweet...many ,many,many thanks.Ole
Way to go, Malinda! Traveling to Ireland and learning from some amazing people! This is too awesome! I bet you were so excited and uplifted to go to Ireland and hang out with them and learn from them. This is like your dream come true!
Music does unite. I'm from Poland, lived in Ireland many years ago, fell in love with the music. In the old slavic music we sing many such stories in harmonics, it reminds me of the elderly ladies singing and the girls in the fields wearing meadow flower wreaths, the slavic singing is not 'floral' as the sean nos but certainly hauntingly beautiful, I'm fascinated by it, there's so much story and emotion, it's impossible not to get completely immersed in it, this is gold your voices are angelic ❤
Utterly soul-shattering... And reading the other comments here, it so happens that I grew up in Appalachian Virginia, and I agree there's some mysterious connection between this and "old timey" gospel music from the hills...
After hearing this a long while ago i have come back to it so often since. It is completely grounding and i think the most beautiful thing i've ever heard.
I have been SO down lately, and this music y'all made (only through my crappy phone speaker) gave me the most AMAZING shivers all through my insides and outsides. I am a jaded old musician and times like this only happen once in a blue moon for me. Deep deep gratitude to the three of you for stirring a fire in my belly and bringing the best of tears to my eye. May you be blessed with these feelings when you are in your hours of need.
Wish they taught us Irish by listening to songs like this. Instead we'd have poems that I would never understand but I actually recognised a bunch of words in that.
I have been in love with Ireland, its music, and culture for literally as long as I can remember. Every time I listen to music like this I just feel at home. Which is funny since I have never been there even though I desperately want to go.
That song was absolutely beautiful; it brought tears to my eyes. I don't know how else to describe it other than it has the an almost prefect geometry to the sounds. So lovely!
Ahhh this song touches a chord! Even without headphones ;-) thank you for keeping the flame alive. This is likely the most beautiful harmony of voices I’ve heard in all the trails I’ve walked.
The harmonies are unbelievably tight. There's a moment at 6:25, on the elongated vowel of "smaoineamh" where it's just the two women singing, but it sounds like a third note can be heard, the fifth on top of the triad that they're singing, I think. That type of harmonic resonance between two voices is just one of the most special things humans can do together
That was fantastically beautiful! It made me cried, I am not Irish but I think it just makes something vibrate inside of us, with a solemn feeling. Thank you for your videos and wonderful singing every time.
surprising cognate: Irish "rún" meaning secret and Old English "run" meaning "secret". This word survived into the words "rune" and "roun," the latter word being an archaic word for "secret, mystery."
I never knew 'rún' was cognate with rune. Thought it was just a lovely coincidence!
Are you talking about the Norse run?
Rún and rune are cognate. Writing was magical or secret. Further Rúnaí in Irish means Secretary but also referred to a scribe, not to be confused with a scríobhneor or writer of stories.
I love making connections in language. Good thinking
@@daraorourke5798 Old Germanic : ( Old English, Old Norman and etc) alphabets Runic writing or Runs also means " Secret"
When the Irish sing a love song like this, time stands still.
Time stands … STILL. O my Deity. Are you single… available and or am I too old for you
@@marekvollach7831 Sorry, I am happily married! But thanks!
Amen
❤this true 🎉
Irishman here. Absolutely love how passionate you are about this and the huge effort you've gone to to understand Irish and how to speak and pronounce it so well.
also an irishman here, i agree with everything you just said
Irish beluga
Would that more young Irish people who learn would do the same. Maybe we'd have less of the phonetically English Gaelscoilis and 'urban' Irish and more of the real stuff
@@_string Is Éireannach mé freisin. Ach is mór an trua go bhfuil an oiread sin Béarla sna tráchtanna. Cinnte ní thógann sé sin ón áilleacht lom san amhránaíocht, áfach.
@@mjw12345 what are you talking about
Nothing like hearing completely live tight harmonies without pitch correction. Just the sound of human voices fitting in like puzzle pieces. Beautiful performance.
Sean-nos should not include harmonies - in fact if there are harmonies, it isn't sean-nos.
@@paddymeboy Maybe not, but then it is still some sort of derivative, and the tradition is changing as it passes through new hands, as tradition is keen to do
@@sunkintree Unfortunately, harmony is the death of music. In order to get harmony like this, you have to reduce the complexity of the ornamentation in the melody and the result is something far simpler, something that sounds a lot more like modern western music, that relies on harmony to make up for the lack of ornamentation in the melody. With that said, there are ways to introduce harmony to a degree that avoid this trap, this is the function of the ison in Byzantine Music.
Not to criticize their music, it's leagues better than most western music out there these days, except, perhaps, Corsican music. But, in general, harmony should be avoided like the plague in traditional music.
@@costakeith9048 Maybe you are right, but purists and people who mix tradition with more modern styles can cohabitate
I'm not sure I agree harmony ruins melodic ornamentation, though I understand that if you want to preserve it you need to work around it with that in mind. If you try to go full Bach style counterpoint, it's probably not going to work, but that's way on the extreme end of things
From Trinidad in the Caribbean Islands here. My son and I love irish music but mostly the old ones in gaelic. I'm listening to this song with my eyes closed and I didn't even realise tears were running down my face. I shared it with my son and he loves it. This song spoke to me on a level that my heart understands even though the language is not my own. Thank you for sharing. Blessings.
❤
the same thing happened to me...
Did you know that if you and your family did a DNA Test you will have over 20% Irish Blood?
I’m classically trained and I’ve sung many styles of music, but the singing here is the essence of song. I could listen until the fire burns down to the last ember then come back for more tomorrow night
What's interesting to me is that you can hear the influences of this style of singing in old Appalachian folksongs, where a significant number of Irish settled after migrating to the US.
the "Irish" who settled Appalachia were actualy Ulster Scots or colloquially called Scotch Irish.
Scottish immigrants to the Plantation of Ulster. There are similar forms of song from Scotland as well so yes, the "Irish' influence is undeniable.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the similarities.
Scottish, but yes they do have similar styles there.
Unaccompanied singing styles aren't unique to these cultures of course, there are extremely similar styles in other places like the Middle East also
I thought the same thing with gospel or bluegrass songs
@@cigh7445 It is often suggested that there was a lot more contact (by sea) between Ireland and North Africa in ancient times than people thought. Film-maker Bob Quinn was convinced of these links and even snuck some North African music into his film Poitín and everyone took it for Irish traditional music (was on a radio in one scene). The kind of drawn out tones in sean nós are not dissimilar to the Muslim call to prayer for example. The fact that the Irish for black man is 'fear gorm' literally "blue man' and there are people in North Africa known as the blue men (from the dye they use coming off on their skin I think) may not be a coincidence either. Just a thought..
This music is directly connected to the strings of the soul.
I loved this. Listening to this singing I can understand how country singers like Allison Krauss and most Appalachian music brings their Irish heritage with them to America.
She is a gift to us all
This is a confusing comment. Allison Krauss is German with no Irish heritage whatsoever and the Appalachians were settled by the English, Scots, and Scots-Irish. The Scots-Irish, while technically come from Northern Ireland, held lowland Scottish traditions because that is where they came from.
Yes yes! Allison sings so beautifully and hauntingly in that pure Blue Grass, like Emilou Harris…. Listening to this brought me peace and divinity.
@@adventuresinlaurenland AK’s voice and choice of music which indeed originated in Ireland and perhaps Scotland-not her bloodline is honored here. Haven’t you heard Nigel Kennedy nail Klezmer and Balkan tunes without having a Jewish nor Slavic genetic pedigree? I’m not confused at all.
@Peacelily There is definitely an Irish influence in country music, buck dancing and signing. Also there wasn't one planation in Ireland, there was older ones in Munster.
This needs to be recorded and put on an album. This is top tier harmony. Beautiful.
Woah. So I’ve listened to this twice now, sitting here alone in my bed, eyes closed. The weird thing, I’m from Appalachia Kentucky. And I have tears streaming, but the style, this reminds me of so many old bluegrass gospel songs my family sang while I was growing up. And now I need to go find out why a 16th century Irish song sounds so eerily similar to Appalachian Gospel.
The majority of Appalachian mountain settlers were English, Scots, or Scots-Irish, so a lot of traditional music and culture got blended in that region.
Exactly my reaction! There are so many common threads through music if we only listen.
In the US, in the colonial period, many Celtic people were shipped to the east coast of the USA as indentured labor and I believe some possibly as convict labor, I'd have to check the info but I'm pretty sure that was the case. Of course at the time England was dominating and genociding the Celtic peoples and until the American revolution the east coast areas such as Virginia were British territory. English settlers would buy or contract Celtic labor from ship captains with a period agreed upon of whatever number of years of labor of that person. Celtic labor was being shipped to the east coast of the US for the tobacco etc industry and the carribean for the sugar industry. If not enough laborers could be found to fill a ship's hold for the contract the captain had promised, even by trumped-up charges, they'd simply kidnap people. If the laborer died before the end of the contract then their payment at the end wouldn't have to be paid. England was very busily trying to erase Celtic people from the celtic isles and inventing crimes to get rid of them etc. Many Celtic people brought to the east coast of what became the US escaped inland to avoid being worked to death. If they could put enough rows of hills, valleys, thick forests, and territory of native americans between themselves and the person who had "bought" their labor for 7 (or however many) yrs, that person might give up on trying to find them. For some reason the people of Appalachia have almost a complete amnesia about their origins. Hundreds of songs sung in Appalachia are versions of songs from the Celtic isles that go back centuries.
Omg I literally just left a similar comment!! I’m from north Georgia and grew up immersed in bluegrass and traditional Appalachian singing and music and you can absolutely hear that many of our musical roots lie here 💖
Irish sean nos is the craddle of all American country music. Chorus and fiddles and online dancing without using arms
Can't ever go wrong with some awesome Irish music. This is definitely a video I will be watching a lot.
@@mjw12345 ???
Listen I’m from Tennessee but I’m over here BALLING 😢. The way your voices demanded space, and when you all breathed in at the same time for air… just pure beauty and art. Thank you for gracing us with this. Really 😭
Tennessee gal here too I swear this is the moment where magic and passion became perfection
The harmony is so beautiful, I just started to cry. I’m southeast Asian and hearing this gorgeous song makes me more curious about Irish music, culture, and history! ❤❤❤
I'm crying watching this because it sounds like home. God I miss Ireland so much
As another far from my homeland, Sverige, allow me to share your pain
I'm not Irish, but my husband's family is and we traveled there from the US a couple of times in the last 9 years to visit some who are still there. And my God, even though I'm not from there and my family didn't largely descend from there, when you visit it seeps into your bones and becomes part of you. I can't really describe it, but the beauty of the land and warmness of the people works its way into your heart and makes it feel like a second home.
❤
I’m born and raised southern tip of Appalachia and grew up immersed in bluegrass and traditional Appalachian music and singing and it is such a beautiful and breathtaking thing to hear our the roots of our singing in this singing style. There are obviously other influences in Appalachian singing but this is most certainly a part of that history especially seeing as how so many Irish people settled in Appalachia and many of those traditions were more closely maintained here due to the isolation of the mountains. Thank you for sharing this 💖
I think it's so cool that you are diving into this style of music. It makes me realize that I absolutely love these sounds and traditional ways. Keep up what you're doing Malinda! From one musician to another, thank you!
Traditions must be preserved, one's of the heart and home anyway. ♥️
Horrific ads now at YT - truly revolting. This must be one of the most horrific ad-filth uploads ever.
as an irish person who isn’t from a Gaeltacht i’m proud to say I could decently understand the lyrics. i’m also failing hl jc irish but this is a step in the right direction ig.
Go néirí an t-ádh leat ...you'll knock em dead!
That kind of song just.. feels grounding. Holy, but not of religion, just deep and old and AUGH THIS IS SO NICE. Thank you for sharing this, my soul needed this today.
as an Irish person i just want to say thank you so much much of our cultural heritage as been lost or forgotten to the point where many Irish people like my self who live in Ireland won't ever have heard the term sean nós especially here where i live in the east, mar sin go raibh míle maith agat Malinda agus slán leat
My mother was Irish. This brought tears... I've been a musician for over 50 years, and I still marvel at the power in music.
I went to Ireland for a few weeks in 2015 and accidentally ran in to Nell Ní Chróinín in a pub in Kilkenny and got to hear her sing there. It's definitely been a favorite style of mine since then.
This is so stunningly beautiful
Unless you're watching - they look like they're constipated. I've heard of taking yourself seriously but this is ridiculous...and nothing to do with the song.
3 people with perfect pitch and no ego= exquisite intonation and beautiful artistry! So lovely. Thank you
When it became 3-part harmony, I got chills from head to toe! SO beautiful! Thank you for sharing this unique and heart wrenching style of music!
Beautiful language, very sonorous singing. Soothing music
sonorous - perfect word in this case
My heart was immediately struck when you started singing... but at 9:52, it was neatly, cleanly cracked open. Absolutely gorgeous.
Yes, the passing note on gamhna leat is particularly nice. I've heard them sing this just the two of them but the addition of Malinda's harmonies make this even more beautiful.
I just love finding little gems like this. The pure tones of everyone when they sing is so calming and serene.
Oh my goodness. I’m not sure what just happened to me, haha. The second you all started singing I absolutely burst into tears. I studied and lived in Ireland a few years ago and I miss it with my entire heart each and every day. This brought me right back there and my grief at leaving washed right over me. Thank you for sharing this with us all. It was a gift.
This singing has a way of getting deep down into my soul.. plucking the strings my heart, coaxing tears from my eyes. Bless you all.
Wow, these harmonies are so beautiful! And how all of you managed to all the runs together. This is really beautiful! Thank you so much for this great experience! ♥️
I've done a little harmony singing (not like this) and you start with intense listening and end up with a deep feeling of accord with the other singers, a spiritual sensation.
Please please please God I just want this as a downloadable song or one I can stream I would listen to it every day and every night. You all sound amazing!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Omg I just made it to the end of the video and realized there IS a download omg bless 😭
Extra update, joined her patreon but I don’t think the download is available yet, so I’ll just have to keep playing the video on loop until then cx
Im of Irish descent but don’t know very much about my heritage and have always loved singing and been in choir my whole life. As soon as the first harmony started I instantly started crying. Its like something familiar was activated in me and Im in my car sobbing. Thank you for this. I think Im going to do more research on this and find out more about my family tree. Simply beautiful, thank you so much.
Karen I hope you do look into your Irish heritage. Its an ancient culture going back at least 9000 years. Our national museum is chock-a-block with artefacts from the stone age -> bronze age -> iron age -> early medieval -> viking & late medieval periods. When you see places like Newgrange & its Stone Age (Neolithic) passage tombs and rock art, the book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice you'll probably get a better understanding of the breath and depth of the ancient culture you come from. We love to see people of Irish heritage interested in finding out more about where they came from and if at all possible pay a visit too.
Omg, I thought the exact same thing! I don't have a lot of Irish in me, but it feels very much like this activated some ancestral memory in me. And, yes, I'm sobbing.
There's something about the a capella aspect that really touches me. I can't help but imagine my ancestors in Cork singing or listening to this same song sung in much the same way as it is here.
Hello. I'm from Portugal, here in the North we also have cetic inspired music, with bagpipes and men wearing skirts dancing with sticks. Unfortunately we dont have your wonderful singing tradition. at least not in this acapella melodic style. I have been listening and enjoying Celtic music from Ireland, Scotland, Britanny, for over 30 years and I am impressed with your song. I really enjoyed the harmony and purity of your voices. Bravo!
Irish is actually q Celtic related to Celtiberian that was spoken Spain and Portugal while welsh is related to Brittany
I'm so excited by this. I grew up listening to Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folk music. The world has this idea of ethereal harp music and Enya-style stuff as being "Celtic" but at best that stuff is loosely Celtic-inspired. The actual folk music traditions, both in English and in Irish, Welsh, Gaidhlig, etc. Are so much richer that the single dimension that so many people are exposed to. There are even Irish and Gaidhlig language traditions in Nova Scotia and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina (specifically in Y Wladfa).
If you're looking at Irish sean nós, I hope you look at Gaidhlig music from Scotland as well, and the eisteddfodau in Wales at the very least.
There are currently 6 Celtic languages: Irish Gaelic (Gaelge, Irish), Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig), Manx Gaelic (Gaelg, Manx), Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernewek), and Breton (Brezhoneg). They all have beautiful traditions, but Manx, Cornish, and Breton are closer to the brink of extinction than the other three
Chris, great posting. You can never, nor should you ever, try to please your critics.
@Peacelily respectfully, your comment shows little knowledge on the subject. Irish and Gàidhlig are not mutually intelligible and both diverged from Old Irish (which is not mutually intelligible with modern Irish) over 1,500 years ago. For an introduction to Gàidhlig music I'd recommend Julie Fowlis.
For an introduction to Welsh folk music I'd recommend Plethyn.
Each of the Insular Celtic traditions has similarities and differences from a variety of sources. Each of those nations has a Catholic heritage, though most of them became predominantly Protestant. That's far from a pivotal factor in the shaping of folk music.
As far as Irish music=ethereal, Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile, An Poc Ar Buile, Níl Sé'n Lá, and the entire tradition of Mouth Music would beg to differ. There are certainly plenty of laments and love songs that can be ethereal (the song above is an obvious example, but these other (Protestant) traditions have plenty of that too, just see Breuddwyd Glyndwr performed by Plethyn), but it's so much more than that.
Cheers!
@Peacelily I am Welsh, a Welsh speaker and Catholic. There IS such a thing as Welsh folk music. Why would you ever think that there was not? Very strange! With respect, you seem to know nothing about the subject you are talking about especially with regard to Welsh folk music. It has a deep, deep and long history. We are not all about choirs and bands. Our folk music is heavily influenced by our Welsh language which is the most spoken (as a first language) Celtic language in the world today. We may be a small nation but we pack a firey punch (our national symbol is a red dragon) with music, language and culture just like Scotland and Ireland. Listen to Carreg Llafar, Ar Log, Kalan and the countless other Welsh folk groups out there. It’s about time Wales started to get noticed for its massive and amazing musicality instead of being drowned out by the ‘bigger’ Celtic nations which I adore by the way. It’s about time people were more informed about Welsh folk music. There is an excellent video on UA-cam about Welsh folk music and its long history. Here it is: ua-cam.com/video/xoRdSkJLAfw/v-deo.html Also, Wales was a bastion of Catholicism for a long time after the ENGLISH (not Welsh) reformation with many martyrs giving up their lives for their faith. So, as far as Welsh folk music is concerned look it up and you will clearly see. You will be very surprised and much more well informed. 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
NO WAY! Malinda, oh my gosh, seeing you and Séamus and Caoimhe in the same video is unreal. Their versions of Eileanoir na rún are some of my favorite Sean-nós, and to see you sing with them is an incredible melding of worlds. My American Irish heart is so full 💚
My Grandmother was from County Clare and my Great Grandfather was from Donegal!
We were never able to go home again! However, I am now in my 70’s and learning Irish Gaelic! We kept being Irish alive through music, dance, violin, mandolin, pipes, flutes and drums! Irish Rebel Music was banned until a few years ago but I knew every word to every song though my parents never spoke of the “ struggles “! My father’s side is Lakota Oglala and we lived on reserve Pine Ridge South Dakota-Medicine Root-Native American people love Irish music especially Sean Nos-Now of course thanks to UA-cam! 👵🏽✌🏾✨☀️✨🇮🇪🇮🇪
Hello kathy,how are you doing today.
Grá mór Kathy
Yes! I love Irish music, so ethereal, I'm so glad for these videos enlightening the world to beautiful music
I learned Irish while I studied there. Beautiful language, culture, and country. Séan nos is so gorgeous!
Harmony is everything. Not only in music. It's telling that we are touched in our core if harmonic music is sung by human voices. We crave harmony, not only in tone, but in life.
Heritage should not be forgotten. Keep the greatness up.
I love Ireland and I love Irish music. This video was perfect!!
As I was listening I heard dissonance chords. I absolutely love those kind of chords. When notes on a page mesh so beautifully like that, my spirit swells. It's a magical moment in music for me. Thank you three for teaching me about Sean nós singing.
Something so beautiful, it makes you cry.
Malinda, this is SOOOOOO pure & aesthetic ! (So was the last Sean nós video). It's INCREDIBLE you went to Ireland to make and share this! Literally, the harmonies flow as sweetly & smoothly as honey. The sound is emotionally piercing ! I'm so impressed with this! Definitely definitely more of this! Literally, your talent & gift blows me away, especially sharing the experience of sean nós. Keep going - you're freaking amazing 💙💛🌟🌟🌟
I never knew that there were irish songs that were THIS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. Thank you for sharing. Greetings from a pianist in Norway
Jeg besøkte Norge bare én gang, men jeg elsket det. Det er så nydelig. Takk Norge!.
Tusen Takk. Jeg er Iresk og elsker ogsa denne musikken.
The only thing I love more than beautiful Irish ornamentation is vocal harmony. This was amazing! Thanks Malinda
sean nos is absolutely gorgeous, the raw emotion and beauty that stems from it is insane.
I love Irish old songs. This is almost a very spiritual experience. Very Beautifully done.
2 years later and still one of my favourite youtube videos.. I need to learn a Sean nos song for a gig so this was my first thought.. and after god knows how many times listening and sharing this tonight is the first time i read the lyrics.. couldn't open my eyes before.. so now a whole other layer of emotion to deal with..
This gave me goosebumps! So lovely and really cool to hear the story behind the song
literally the harmony in this video is through the roof how are u so talented
Truly magnificent stuff. Well done all. I'm a beginner at Scottish Gaelic, an offshoot and close relative of Irish, and I can hear so many similarities between the two languages.
Agus an bhfuil tú ag déanamh go maith léi?
By tracing back to the middle ages it's found that all western european folk music was quite similar.
Songs that style can be found from the Iberian Peninsula to Scotland.
Whats not common is the way Irelad has, fortunately for all of us, conserved the old tradition till now.
Thanks Ireland ❤
I'm glad you showed the subtitles on the screen. The singing reminded me of hearing the Mass in Latin when I was a child, which isn't surprising since many Irish words are derived from that ancient Roman tongue (such as "fir", which means "men", being a cognate of "virile").
Reminded me of Gregorian chanting too but more ornamental and soaring. Like praying. Love it!
@@rachaeltrujillo9960
You should listen to the Ensemble Organum with regards to early Christian music. It sounds super epic and almost Eastern in the way they use ornamentation. But Sean Nós is definitely more cheerful and lighthearted. :D
Irish is a sister language of Latin, so while we took a lot of words from Latin with the coming of Christianity, it's not the case with fir. In Old Irish it was fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, which itself came from Proto-Indo-European. So it has a cognate in Welsh (gŵr), in Breton as gour, which happens to be the same in Cornish. So it didn't come into the Celtic languages from Latin, but was there in the languages they evolved from. It is the same when you look at Sanskrit (vīra), Lithuanian (výras), and there was even an Old English wer.
Virile does come from the Latin, as virya came from vīra in Sanskrit, meaning manly, and by extension, strong, energetic, and heroic. Which in modern Irish is fearúil, meaning manly or virile.
@@LambentIchor Historical linguistics is fascinating, and you clearly know your stuff!
One thing I’ve enjoyed about learning Irish is trying to detect those Latin influences. I had to smile when I learned the Irish word for horse, “capall,” because it reminded me of the French “cheval.” Irish so rarely shares roots with the romance languages!
Wow. What a wonderful sound. Malinda, thank you for this.
I suggest you upload just the "singing part" so that people like me can listen to it as part of a playlist.
This so pure, so organic, so gorgeous
Please, more like this 💛💛💛
My soul resonates with this so hard
When I feel even a little bit down, this gives me hope. ❤
Such a haunting tune declaring a love so deep, it brings me to tears. Exceptional singers, bring on more!
Absolutely first rate captioning in Irish, English and Irish accented words done correctly!
Goosebumps...
Hauntingly beautiful...
I gotta admit, Ireland is a long lost love of mine, and hearing my ancestorial tongue and songs sung instills a profound sense of peace. Thank you.
9:53 I love that unexpected harmony! Spicy!
My family is scotch-irish and this music is so much like the old style accapella bluegrass music I was raised listening too. Love, love, love it! Wonderful job!
This is not Ulster Scots its Irish but I know what u mean
I love this style of singing, and now I want to learn it. I could listen to this all day. So ethereal and hauntingly beautiful.
Oh my goodness. I love how the three of you harmonized!
Okay, you three got me. That made me cry. I love it, love it, love it.
As mentioned on your last Sean Nós video, if you are ever going to perform live in Ireland, let us know and I will buy a ticket.
Much appreciation from Ireland 🇮🇪
💚💟🧡
Thank you for doing this! Please do more videos around the Sean Nós! I grew up listening to this style of music, but unfortunately it isn't easy to find people who also connect with Irish music or the Irish language. These videos bring me back so much, and have re-motivated me to learn these songs and preserve the art. Ps, you guys did an amazing job Elanor na Rún :)
yeah, it doesn't resonate with everyone and I dont understand why. It sounds incredibly beautiful to me and has a way of making me stop, listen and just feel deeply even though I can't understand one word ahah.
That was.... Beautiful doesn't even describe that properly. Eleanor na Rún is one of my favourite Irish folk songs and this performance was absolutely stunning.
Standing ovation and a couple teary eyes for this beautiful video ❤️
I am on the 4th time coming back to this in the last 24 hours! I love how the 3 of you blend!
Literally breathtaking. Thank you for sharing this. Sad to say, that traditional art of singing like this, does not exist in Germany.
From Spain,hearing this and watching a candle light with the winter blowing outside..seems to me i am all the past lovers and all their wishes and the time apart that makes love so bittersweet...many ,many,many thanks.Ole
That has to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.
This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard
Heavenly beautiful music sung right out of the hearts. Ireland you are loved and blessed!
God bless old Eireann and the rare old times, now gone, I miss them so.
Oh maith sibh!🥺♥️ Bhí sé sin go hálainn! Three of my favorite singers blending to mind blowing effect!✨
Weeping with gratitude. Don't let the old songs die.
Way to go, Malinda! Traveling to Ireland and learning from some amazing people! This is too awesome! I bet you were so excited and uplifted to go to Ireland and hang out with them and learn from them. This is like your dream come true!
Music does unite. I'm from Poland, lived in Ireland many years ago, fell in love with the music. In the old slavic music we sing many such stories in harmonics, it reminds me of the elderly ladies singing and the girls in the fields wearing meadow flower wreaths, the slavic singing is not 'floral' as the sean nos but certainly hauntingly beautiful, I'm fascinated by it, there's so much story and emotion, it's impossible not to get completely immersed in it, this is gold your voices are angelic ❤
Unbelievably beautiful. All of you sound amazing, but that dude’s voice though.
Visiting Ireland is one of the things on my bucket list to do in my lifetime, so I'm honestly just a smidgen jealous! Erin go bragh!
You will be welcome here in Ireland 🇮🇪
Utterly soul-shattering...
And reading the other comments here, it so happens that I grew up in Appalachian Virginia, and I agree there's some mysterious connection between this and "old timey" gospel music from the hills...
It reminds me of the movie Songcatcher!
After hearing this a long while ago i have come back to it so often since. It is completely grounding and i think the most beautiful thing i've ever heard.
this is beautiful. Chills. Great stuff, thank you.
I have been SO down lately, and this music y'all made (only through my crappy phone speaker) gave me the most AMAZING shivers all through my insides and outsides. I am a jaded old musician and times like this only happen once in a blue moon for me. Deep deep gratitude to the three of you for stirring a fire in my belly and bringing the best of tears to my eye. May you be blessed with these feelings when you are in your hours of need.
Take heart Timothy listen to more music and walk in nature, close to your creator. Blessings 🙏🌼
Nice comment, all the best you.
I can't listen to this without tears welling up in my eyes, oh Lord, wow...😭💖
Wish they taught us Irish by listening to songs like this. Instead we'd have poems that I would never understand but I actually recognised a bunch of words in that.
i literally clciked so fast on this video omg i love u so much thank u for keeping sane on my dark days and every other day i need u
I fricken love the accent of the Irish! To me, compared to other accents, it's the smoothest-sounding accent.
This is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.
Just found this. All the hairs stood up on my arms - stunningly beautiful.
This is one of the best and most uplifting experiences I've ever had on youtube - I think it was really worthwhile you going to Ireland! (thank you)
I have been in love with Ireland, its music, and culture for literally as long as I can remember. Every time I listen to music like this I just feel at home. Which is funny since I have never been there even though I desperately want to go.
That song was absolutely beautiful; it brought tears to my eyes. I don't know how else to describe it other than it has the an almost prefect geometry to the sounds. So lovely!
I'm kinda speechless... This was just incredible! 🥲 thank you so much for sharing!!!
Ahhh this song touches a chord! Even without headphones ;-) thank you for keeping the flame alive. This is likely the most beautiful harmony of voices I’ve heard in all the trails I’ve walked.
This is pure vibration! The perfect match of your voices atomizes every cm2 of my skin... Magical 💖
The harmonies are unbelievably tight. There's a moment at 6:25, on the elongated vowel of "smaoineamh" where it's just the two women singing, but it sounds like a third note can be heard, the fifth on top of the triad that they're singing, I think. That type of harmonic resonance between two voices is just one of the most special things humans can do together
That was fantastically beautiful! It made me cried, I am not Irish but I think it just makes something vibrate inside of us, with a solemn feeling.
Thank you for your videos and wonderful singing every time.