1 00:05:44,580 --> 00:05:47,572 They were the first people to settle in Ireland. 2 00:05:48,420 --> 00:05:51,014 They had tremendous insight 3 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:53,894 and hidden knowledge of many things. 4 00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:56,733 They had knowledge 5 00:05:57,300 --> 00:05:58,973 of the future. 6 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:03,419 They could speak the language of the birds. 7 00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:08,617 They could see as the birds can see from the sky above. 8 00:06:09,460 --> 00:06:12,532 They could look over the whole land. 9 00:06:14,420 --> 00:06:15,569 Sweeney - 10 00:06:16,340 --> 00:06:21,289 was cursed by St. Rénén because he killed one of his clerics. 11 00:06:23,140 --> 00:06:25,290 From a vision he saw in the sky, 12 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:29,730 he heard the noise of the upcoming battle and fled. 13 00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:37,331 Part of the curse was that he could not endure sharp sounds. 14 00:06:38,660 --> 00:06:42,016 He flew from the scene of battle in a frenzy. 15 00:06:42,260 --> 00:06:45,571 He spent years hopping from tree to tree 16 00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:49,176 for he couldn't set foot on land again. 17 00:06:49,580 --> 00:06:53,653 And, like the birds, he could never again trust humans. 18 00:06:56,860 --> 00:06:58,737 Gloomy this life 19 00:06:59,340 --> 00:07:01,411 to be without a soft bed. 20 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:04,337 Abode of cold frost. 21 00:07:05,380 --> 00:07:07,610 Roughness of wind driven snow. 22 00:07:09,340 --> 00:07:10,933 Cold, icy wind 23 00:07:12,860 --> 00:07:15,500 shadow of a feeble sun 24 00:07:16,420 --> 00:07:18,650 shelter from a single tree 25 00:07:18,940 --> 00:07:21,295 on the summit of a high plateau. 26 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:30,500 Very good. 27 00:09:59,940 --> 00:10:01,339 Good work. 28 00:10:01,540 --> 00:10:04,180 We'll do another bit tomorrow. 29 00:10:04,660 --> 00:10:05,660 NOW: 30 00:10:05,820 --> 00:10:08,494 You were all to learn a song from home. 31 00:10:08,980 --> 00:10:10,653 Who will go first? 32 00:10:11,780 --> 00:10:13,100 Darach? 33 00:10:14,980 --> 00:10:16,175 Joseph. 34 00:10:16,420 --> 00:10:18,934 Come up and sing the song you learned at home, 35 00:10:19,140 --> 00:10:20,175 good man. 36 00:10:20,420 --> 00:10:22,730 I know you're dying to sing for us. 37 00:10:29,940 --> 00:10:31,339 Stir yourself. 38 00:11:55,180 --> 00:11:57,251 Well done. Good boy. 39 00:11:57,460 --> 00:11:59,497 Didn't he sing well? 40 00:11:59,700 --> 00:12:01,498 Now, from now on, 41 00:12:01,740 --> 00:12:05,051 when you're singing, open your mouth. 42 00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:06,489 Like this. 43 00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:08,179 Open wide. 44 00:12:08,420 --> 00:12:09,819 Very good. 45 00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:12,256 And sing out every note clearly. 46 00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:15,738 Imagine you had to get a hen's egg into your mouth, 47 00:12:16,020 --> 00:12:17,419 open it up. 48 00:12:18,260 --> 00:12:20,092 Good man. Now, sit down. 49 00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:57,689 This one won't budge. 50 00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:05,456 Neither will this one. 51 00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:13,529 There are loads of periwinkles. 52 00:14:41,620 --> 00:14:42,940 Good lad. 53 00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:28,572 That's it. 54 00:16:31,180 --> 00:16:33,057 Throw it out quick. 55 00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:39,020 Good lad. 56 00:16:53,860 --> 00:16:55,055 Good man. 57 00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:57,098 Now, haul it in. 58 00:16:58,500 --> 00:16:59,774 Haul it in. 59 00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:04,014 That's it. 60 00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:08,695 Good man yourself - that's it. 61 00:17:12,700 --> 00:17:14,373 Use both hands. 62 00:17:17,020 --> 00:17:18,169 Good man. 63 00:17:18,380 --> 00:17:20,257 Do you have it? 64 00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:24,330 - Need a hand? - Maybe. 65 00:17:24,580 --> 00:17:25,580 Hold on. 66 00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,173 That was good. 67 00:19:07,260 --> 00:19:09,536 Is it getting the better of you? 68 00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:11,578 I can't do it. 69 00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:14,892 Let's see now. 70 00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:21,616 Hold the potato like so... 71 00:19:23,740 --> 00:19:26,300 Place the potato between your thumb 72 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:28,697 and the knife like that. 73 00:19:29,140 --> 00:19:31,097 Hold it with two fingers, either side, 74 00:19:31,340 --> 00:19:32,774 and cut through it nice and easy. 75 00:19:33,460 --> 00:19:35,258 Don't do it too hard 76 00:19:37,100 --> 00:19:38,818 or it'll catch your thumb. 77 00:19:39,500 --> 00:19:40,570 See that? 78 00:19:41,420 --> 00:19:42,535 Good man. 79 00:19:42,740 --> 00:19:44,538 Let's see you try that. 80 00:19:59,220 --> 00:20:00,574 Don't be worried. 81 00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:02,693 It'll come with age, child. 82 00:20:03,140 --> 00:20:05,370 Nice and easy, in your own time. 83 00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:07,695 Mind the fingers. 84 00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:19,095 Good man yourself. 85 00:20:24,220 --> 00:20:25,369 Have you many left? 86 00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:27,898 A few. 87 00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:43,454 Joe! 88 00:21:49,940 --> 00:21:52,329 Hey Joe! Stop your carry-on! 89 00:21:53,340 --> 00:21:54,739 For God's sake! 90 00:24:34,540 --> 00:24:37,578 Isn't your father a fine singer? 91 00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:39,738 Would you sing me a song? 92 00:24:39,980 --> 00:24:41,891 I could record your voice with this device. 93 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:43,175 What do you say? 94 00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:45,657 I only sing at home. 95 00:24:46,460 --> 00:24:48,770 Isn't this your home? 96 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:55,214 Which songs do you like anyway? 97 00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:57,138 I like “An tAmhrén Bréagach.” 98 00:24:57,340 --> 00:24:59,456 And “Amhrén Rinn Mhaoile.” 99 00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:02,497 “Amhrén Rinn Mhaoile”? 100 00:25:02,740 --> 00:25:05,732 That's quite a difficult song for a young lad, isn't it? 101 00:25:06,660 --> 00:25:09,129 Do you know where they come from? 102 00:25:09,380 --> 00:25:10,973 My dad sings them 103 00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:13,052 and Calm an Bhlécaigh. 104 00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:16,771 And where did they get them? 105 00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:19,495 I suppose they go way back 106 00:25:20,140 --> 00:25:22,609 to the poets who wrote them long ago 107 00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:25,418 but we still sing them. 108 00:25:28,060 --> 00:25:30,495 Now, what would you say to that! 109 00:31:47,180 --> 00:31:48,375 Here you are, 110 00:31:48,620 --> 00:31:50,372 you may as well... 111 00:31:53,500 --> 00:31:55,013 Here, finish it! 112 00:32:04,260 --> 00:32:06,729 May as well finish it! 113 00:32:07,020 --> 00:32:08,499 Throw it back, son. 114 00:32:14,980 --> 00:32:18,689 - We haven't another bottle? - No! 115 00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:32,334 We're ready, Joe. 116 00:50:18,820 --> 00:50:21,175 Micheél Thaidhg bought a new boat recently, 117 00:50:21,460 --> 00:50:22,460 a trawler. 118 00:50:24,940 --> 00:50:27,216 He'll do well around these parts. 119 00:50:33,940 --> 00:50:36,454 You might never come back, Joe. 120 00:50:37,180 --> 00:50:40,138 There's nothing left for me here. 121 00:50:41,780 --> 00:50:43,418 I don't know... 122 00:50:43,940 --> 00:50:46,090 I miss this place... 123 00:50:49,500 --> 00:50:52,174 You always had your eye on the horizon. 124 00:52:17,820 --> 00:52:20,653 I am the age of the Old Hag of Beara. 125 00:52:21,580 --> 00:52:23,969 The age of Newgrange. 126 00:52:24,900 --> 00:52:26,971 The age of the Great Deer. 127 00:52:28,700 --> 00:52:33,331 I have two thousand years of that stinking sow that was Ireland 128 00:52:34,100 --> 00:52:36,057 resonating in my ears 129 00:52:36,860 --> 00:52:38,294 in my mouth 130 00:52:38,700 --> 00:52:40,213 in my eyes 131 00:52:40,700 --> 00:52:42,338 in my head 132 00:52:42,620 --> 00:52:43,620 in my dreams. 133 00:52:46,380 --> 00:52:50,613 These horses, each with the hammer and sickle on their flanks, 134 00:52:51,180 --> 00:52:53,330 they were the horses of the Emir of Bokhara, 135 00:52:53,580 --> 00:52:55,571 they were the Golden Horde, 136 00:52:55,780 --> 00:52:57,691 Genghis Khan's cavalry. 137 00:52:58,380 --> 00:53:01,657 They were also the slender brown horses 138 00:53:01,900 --> 00:53:03,698 in my father's and grandfathers stories. 139 00:53:04,780 --> 00:53:06,851 And who truly knows that they were not? 140 01:02:12,700 --> 01:02:15,419 Do you feel homesick here, Joe? 141 01:02:15,620 --> 01:02:17,179 Sometimes. 142 01:02:17,380 --> 01:02:18,609 Sometimes not. 143 01:02:19,620 --> 01:02:21,497 Why do you feel homesick? 144 01:02:21,740 --> 01:02:25,370 It's hard, leaving your native land and forgetting it. 145 01:02:25,860 --> 01:02:27,737 Have you forgotten it? 146 01:02:28,100 --> 01:02:30,455 That's not what I mean, but forgetting the fun 147 01:02:30,620 --> 01:02:32,531 and the people and the songs 148 01:02:32,740 --> 01:02:37,257 the music and the festivities, the races, things like that. 149 01:02:40,940 --> 01:02:43,614 I'm only here a little under three years. 150 01:02:44,300 --> 01:02:48,214 But I was at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966. 151 01:02:56,020 --> 01:02:58,773 But I must say now, and back then too, 152 01:02:59,420 --> 01:03:03,778 that the Clancy Brothers gave me great help in getting those things. 153 01:03:04,060 --> 01:03:06,176 - When you started here? - Yes, when I first started. 154 01:04:05,820 --> 01:04:08,653 Well, we didn't know where he was. 155 01:04:09,860 --> 01:04:12,693 No, the first we'd heard about him, 156 01:04:12,940 --> 01:04:15,295 I was at a Clancy Brothers' concert 157 01:04:15,500 --> 01:04:17,855 and I used to hear Joe talking about the Clancy Brothers 158 01:04:18,140 --> 01:04:21,770 so, I made it a point to meet one of them, which I did, 159 01:04:22,060 --> 01:04:23,892 and asked if he knew Joe and he said, 160 01:04:24,140 --> 01:04:28,179 “Oh yes, very much so, actually he's over in New York, we just left him 161 01:04:28,420 --> 01:04:31,412 to come over here and we're going back there.” 162 01:04:31,580 --> 01:04:33,491 So, I said, “Will you tell him his wife's dead 163 01:04:33,700 --> 01:04:35,418 and to contact his children,” 164 01:04:35,620 --> 01:04:37,531 which he didn't do. 165 01:14:03,460 --> 01:14:06,896 You know that it's never too late, Joe, to go back. 166 01:14:09,060 --> 01:14:11,370 They might be happy to see you. 167 01:14:12,540 --> 01:14:14,975 I know that, I know that... 168 01:14:16,100 --> 01:14:20,253 But I think that too much water has passed under the bridge. 169 01:14:24,420 --> 01:14:26,491 I went to England last year 170 01:14:26,740 --> 01:14:28,458 and met my father. 171 01:14:29,260 --> 01:14:33,493 I was going to write to tell you but I changed my mind. 172 01:14:35,180 --> 01:14:37,979 I hadn't seen him since I was five years old, 173 01:14:38,220 --> 01:14:39,619 you know that. 174 01:14:40,780 --> 01:14:43,659 Myself and my grandmother went over to search for him 175 01:14:43,900 --> 01:14:45,732 and we finally found him. 176 01:14:46,020 --> 01:14:47,533 He was in London. 177 01:14:48,580 --> 01:14:50,890 He plays music himself from time to time. 178 01:14:52,780 --> 01:14:56,091 Do you know what he said to me when we found him? 179 01:14:56,340 --> 01:14:57,614 He said: 180 01:14:57,820 --> 01:14:59,538 “I always knew 181 01:14:59,740 --> 01:15:01,572 that you'd find me.” 182 01:15:09,100 --> 01:15:10,693 Do you know 183 01:15:11,740 --> 01:15:13,890 in all the old stories 184 01:15:15,660 --> 01:15:19,369 why it is that the warrior always kills the beast? 185 01:15:21,220 --> 01:15:22,335 I don't know. 186 01:15:22,580 --> 01:15:26,414 Because it is the warrior who tells the story. 187 01:15:28,380 --> 01:15:30,212 How do you mean? 188 01:15:30,460 --> 01:15:32,531 Sometimes I don't know 189 01:15:33,460 --> 01:15:35,497 if I'm the warrior 190 01:15:36,900 --> 01:15:38,493 or the beast. 191 01:15:55,780 --> 01:15:58,374 There were fish in the rivers of Ireland. 192 01:15:58,620 --> 01:16:01,180 There were animals in her hollows. 193 01:16:01,420 --> 01:16:06,335 Wild, shy, monstrous creatures roamed her plains and forests. 194 01:16:07,060 --> 01:16:11,019 Creatures that one could see through and walk through. 195 01:16:12,380 --> 01:16:17,056 We lived in ease and saw new animals grow 196 01:16:20,140 --> 01:16:25,135 the bear, the badger, the boar, the deer and the wolf. 197 01:16:28,940 --> 01:16:32,456 Then, sudden as a rising wind, between night and morning, 198 01:16:32,700 --> 01:16:34,452 there came a sickness 199 01:16:37,620 --> 01:16:41,693 and on the seventh day, all of the race of Parthalon were dead, 200 01:16:41,940 --> 01:16:44,295 all except one single man. 201 01:16:51,860 --> 01:16:55,296 "I am that man,” his companion affirmed." 202 01:16:57,140 --> 01:17:00,053 Tuan shaded his brow with his hand 203 01:17:00,860 --> 01:17:04,137 and he remembered back through incredible ages 204 01:17:04,340 --> 01:17:06,536 to the beginning of the world 205 01:17:06,740 --> 01:17:09,254 and to the beginning of time in Ireland. 206 01:18:48,620 --> 01:18:50,179 Listen, Méire. 207 01:18:51,820 --> 01:18:55,814 I've a list of songs I haven't yet recorded anywhere 208 01:18:56,620 --> 01:19:00,295 and I believe it would be good to record them. 209 01:19:08,060 --> 01:19:14,375 Look, Méire, I have to find some way out of this country. 210 01:19:15,900 --> 01:19:20,337 I don't want to die amongst strangers. 211 01:19:21,340 --> 01:19:26,096 There are fine people here, but they are not my own people. 212 01:19:26,780 --> 01:19:31,138 If there was some way I could... 213 01:19:33,300 --> 01:19:37,294 Maybe you could ask around and see... 214 01:19:40,620 --> 01:19:45,456 Look, Méire, I'd better go now. 215 01:19:45,740 --> 01:19:49,290 There are people here waiting to use the phone. 216 01:19:49,900 --> 01:19:52,210 We'll talk about it again. Goodbye. 217 01:24:47,660 --> 01:24:49,890 I haven't seen you here before. 218 01:24:50,340 --> 01:24:52,616 How long have you been here? 219 01:24:53,740 --> 01:24:55,139 Seven years. 220 01:24:56,700 --> 01:24:58,099 That's a long time. 221 01:24:59,420 --> 01:25:01,536 I would wait twice as long for a poem. 222 01:25:02,900 --> 01:25:05,335 Have you caught good poems? 223 01:25:07,580 --> 01:25:09,173 The poems I am fit for. 224 01:25:11,380 --> 01:25:13,530 No person can get more than that 225 01:25:14,660 --> 01:25:21,259 for a man's readiness is his limit. 226 01:25:25,140 --> 01:25:28,576 It was foretold by a man of knowledge 227 01:25:28,820 --> 01:25:33,769 that I should receive All Knowledge by the bank of this river. 228 01:25:35,860 --> 01:25:37,453 And then? 229 01:25:38,300 --> 01:25:39,813 And then, 230 01:25:41,020 --> 01:25:43,170 I would have All Knowledge. 231 01:25:43,380 --> 01:25:45,690 And after that? 232 01:25:46,740 --> 01:25:49,414 What should there be after that? 233 01:25:50,300 --> 01:25:51,813 I mean, 234 01:25:52,060 --> 01:25:54,859 what would you do with All Knowledge? 235 01:25:56,540 --> 01:25:58,053 A question 236 01:25:58,300 --> 01:25:59,734 of great weight. 237 01:26:01,220 --> 01:26:06,772 I could answer it if I had All Knowledge, but not until then. 238 01:26:09,100 --> 01:26:11,455 What would you do, young man? 239 01:26:11,860 --> 01:26:14,659 I would make a poem. 240 01:26:29,860 --> 01:26:31,658 I was born at night. 241 01:26:32,460 --> 01:26:35,134 That's why I was always so shy, they said. 242 01:26:38,940 --> 01:26:41,500 My mother told me stories. 243 01:26:41,700 --> 01:26:43,691 My father taught me to sing. 244 01:26:44,820 --> 01:26:46,891 And when I had grown 245 01:26:47,180 --> 01:26:50,377 and had listened to the world's song, 246 01:26:50,620 --> 01:26:54,614 I felt that there could be no greater happiness 247 01:26:54,860 --> 01:26:56,692 than to return to that song. 248 01:26:57,940 --> 01:27:01,490 In song dwelled the most precious 249 01:27:01,740 --> 01:27:04,858 and the most incomprehensible dreams of mankind. 250 01:27:06,300 --> 01:27:10,339 The mountains stretched into the heavens in those days. 251 01:27:11,540 --> 01:27:16,330 The songbirds of the air listened in wonder to this song, 252 01:27:16,780 --> 01:27:19,249 the most beautiful song in life. 253 01:28:36,060 --> 01:28:39,769 Birds don't sing songs of glory. 254 01:28:40,060 --> 01:28:44,816 Ice wrapped wings That's my story