- [Fiachna] This week on "TradFest: The Dublin Castle Sessions", we have Mundy with Seana Davey, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Emma Langford, and the Mulcahy Family.

[gentle music] "TradFest: The Dublin Castle Sessions" are funded in part by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

[gentle music] ["To You I Bestow"] ♪ Well, you may not see me when you come back ♪ ♪ I could be sharing someone else's pillow ♪ ♪ My love for you is better than diamonds ♪ ♪ To you, everything I bestow ♪ And tomorrow I'll be dancin' on my own ♪ ♪ And I'll need a kiss from my head that's achin' ♪ ♪ And I'll be a hungry dog without a bone ♪ ♪ I hope my place with you's not taken ♪ ♪ Kiss me and tell me it's not broken ♪ ♪ Kiss me and kiss me till I'm dead ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'd give you the stars from the bruised evening sky ♪ ♪ In a crown of jewels for your head now ♪ ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head ♪ One last night in bed for a time ♪ ♪ Two more wishes and both are for thine ♪ ♪ Three guesses, you're the angel's child ♪ ♪ Four hopes that this love's not spoiled ♪ ♪ Oh, kiss me and tell me it's not broken ♪ ♪ Kiss me and kiss me till I'm dead ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'd give you the stars from the bruised evening sky ♪ ♪ In a crown of jewels for your head now ♪ ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head ♪ And if you come back, I'll take you to the garden ♪ ♪ We'll dance to an orchestra on the lawn ♪ ♪ And we rolled in the foggy dew ♪ ♪ And danced with the ghosts upon the dawn ♪ ♪ And on the dawn and on the dawn ♪ ♪ Then you'll kiss me and tell me it's not broken ♪ ♪ Kiss me and kiss me till I'm dead ♪ ♪ Well, I would give you the stars ♪ ♪ From the bruised evening sky ♪ In a crown of jewels for your head now ♪ ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head now ♪ For your head ♪ Oh ♪ Oh ♪ Oh ♪ Oh ♪ Ooh ♪ Ooh ♪ Oh ♪ Oh - I'm thrilled to be here in St. Patrick's Hall here in Dublin Castle.

And joined today by Emma Langford and by Donal Lunny and by Andy Irvine.

It's really a pleasure and a thrill to have the three of you gathered here together today.

So Emma, we come to you first, you're gonna sing us a song.

- All righty.

I am, and this song was actually written, it was written with the objective of being a pub sing song kind of a piece.

So, I visited my Granduncle Eamon in a little corner of Cahersiveen called Kells Bay, and we went to the local, which is The Corner House.

We went to a sing song, and the point of this amazing sing song that used to happen every month was people would bring a local song with them to this pub, and the goal was to sort of preserve the local tradition.

So I got brought along and I didn't have a local song and I felt very out of place and I felt like I was really intruding, but my Granduncle Eamon insisted that I sing something.

So, I played one of my own songs and then I did harmonies on everyone else's songs for the rest of the night, and it was great crack.

The next day, unfortunately, my granduncle had a heart attack in the sea and we lost him that day.

So, I wanted to write something following that that kind of celebrated him, celebrated The Corner House, celebrated Cahersiveen, and a celebration of music, which he was all about.

So I wrote this song in the weeks following, and it's called "The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay", and it's all about that beautiful winding path down to the sea where he lives.

And I'm very privileged, of course, that Donal is gonna join me.

- Great.

- On this song.

So, here we go.

["The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay"] ["The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay" continues] ♪ Oh, the road stretches out before your feet ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ And the golden sunset's like no other they say ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ Where sorrow's met with smiling eyes ♪ ♪ And a great black cloak brushed with stars for a sky ♪ ♪ And the old trees lean in there to whisper a tale ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ There's a song in the heart of the people you'll meet ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ Yes, a joke to be shared and a drink to be drunk ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ And the green Kerry Hills overlooking the sea ♪ ♪ And the fuchsias are blooming so brightly and sweet ♪ ♪ And the ocean could carry our worries away ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ On the winding way down, oh, the winding way down ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ Where the ocean could carry our worries away ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ["The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay" continues] ♪ There's a saint on the hillside ♪ [Emma sings in foreign language] ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ [Emma sings in foreign language] ♪ On the winding down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ And when the bell rings then we'll all head away ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ Where the ocean could carry our worries away ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ And we'll stop for the chat and the auld cupan tae ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ And the golden sunset's like no other, they say ♪ ♪ On the winding way down to Kells Bay ♪ ♪ Yes, the ocean could carry our worries away ♪ ♪ On the winding way down ["The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay" continues] - Beautiful.

- Thank you so much.

- That was gorgeous.

- Lovely little- - What a song.

- It almost feels like a jam session, I miss them so much!

[all laughing] - It's such a beautiful song.

- Thank you.

- It's rooted in the...

It's so deeply rooted in the tradition somehow.

- There's a really strong sense of tradition in there.

My Uncle Eamon was a huge fan of traditional Irish music.

- He's handed you the torch.

- He has, he has, and I'm, you know, privileged to be carrying it onwards, so.

- Yeah, amazing, amazing.

- Great.

- Donal, that was gorgeous playing with- - Thank you.

- Emma there as well.

- Pleasure.

- Donal, you're gonna do a song for us?

- I am, yeah.

I don't have many of them.

[all laughing] - [Fiachna] Tell us a little bit about it before you jump into it.

- Okay, well, it's one that I learned somewhere between a quarter and a half century ago.

- Right, right.

- In a previous century, from the singing of a brilliant singer.

His name was Sean 'ac Dhonncha.

- [Fiachna] Ah.

- So it's a song from Connemara, out along the coast of Connemara.

The woman who is supposedly singing the song, she's after a fellow by the name of Paidin.

- Ah.

- Who doesn't have much choice in the matter.

[laughs] And the fact that he has a girlfriend already is quite irrelevant.

- Is irrelevant.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- [Fiachna] There's some physical threats in the song.

- There are, yeah.

- There's bodily harm being threatened.

- That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But you know, as with a lot, you know, I mean, I think it was probably used as a lullaby as well.

- [Fiachna] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Back in the good old hardy days.

- [Fiachna] "Bean Phaidin".

- "Bean Phaidin" is the name of it, yeah, that's it.

["Bean Phaidin"] [Donal singing in foreign language] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] [Donal singing in foreign language continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] ["Bean Phaidin" continues] - Beautiful.

While I have you both here, and the bouzouki and Irish traditional music, it'd be wrong not to ask you to just to talk to me a bit about that and how it came in to Irish traditional music.

- I'd be pretty certain having been there at the time that Johnny Moynihan was the first person to play the bouzouki, the Greek bouzouki in Ireland.

As Seamus Ennis used to say, "I may be wrong, but I very much doubt it."

[all laughing] I went to Greece to buy a bouzouki, and I liked it well enough, but I didn't like it all that much.

And when Donal appeared in my life and played it, I remember he was sitting there in the house I was living in, he was sitting there, playing it, and I thought, he's never seen this before.

I'm listening to the sounds he's getting out of it, so I said, "Take it away, take it, it's yours."

- Right, is that right?

- Andy gave it to me on the spot.

- [Fiachna] No way.

- Well, it was after I'd been playing it for three hours, and I think he wanted to see the back of me.

[all laughing] But you changed my life, Andy.

- Ah.

- What'll you sing for us, Andy?

- Well, this is a song, it's the first song I ever wrote, called "The West Coast of Clare".

You know, I was in a band called Sweeney's Men back over 50 years ago now.

And I'd made up my mind to leave them 'cause I wanted to go out and see the rest of the world.

And the last gig I played with Sweeney's Men I think was down in Quilty in County Clare.

So, I wrote the first verse there, and I finished it somewhere on the road.

But I always remember there was a middle aged woman in the pub in Quilty.

After the gig, we went to the bar, and she kept saying, she kept taking out a cigarette, saying, "Would you have a light for me cigarette?"

And I'd give her a light 'cause I had a lighter or something those days.

And she said, "Oh," she said, "Thank you for the hot connection," every time, you know?

And I thought, get me outta here.

[all laughing] - That's great.

["The West Coast of Clare"] ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ♪ Sorrow and sadness ♪ Bitterness, grief ♪ Memories I have of you ♪ Won't leave me in peace ♪ My mind was running back ♪ To the west coast of Clare ♪ Thinking of you ♪ And the times we had there ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ♪ I walked to Spanish Point ♪ I knew I'd find you there ♪ I stood on the white strand ♪ And you were everywhere ♪ Vivid memories fade ♪ But the mood still remains ♪ I wish I could go back ♪ And be with you again ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ♪ In Milltown, there's a pub ♪ It's there that I sat down ♪ I see you everywhere ♪ Your face is all around ♪ The search for times past ♪ Contains such sweet pain ♪ I'll banish lonesome thoughts ♪ ♪ But they'll return again ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ♪ I walk along the shore ♪ The rain in my face ♪ My mind is numb with grief ♪ Of you there is no trace ♪ I'll think of this again ♪ When in far off lands I roam ♪ Walking with you ♪ By this cold Atlantic fog ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] ♪ Sorrow and sadness ♪ Bitterness, grief ♪ Memories I have of you ♪ Won't leave me in peace ♪ My mind was running back ♪ To the west coast of Clare ♪ Thinking of you ♪ And the times we had there ["The West Coast of Clare" continues] - My goodness.

That was beautiful.

Beautiful.

What a pleasure and privilege to hear you both singing that for us in this here room today.

Gorgeous.

Thanks, Andy.

[chuckles] And really, really, what a pleasure.

What a pleasure.

- Oh, it's been lovely.

- It's been really special.

- And to see you, Donal, and Andy and Emma.

A beautiful time had sitting among you and tiptoeing along behind you, and I just wanna thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- Cheers.

- Brilliant.

[lively upbeat music] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] [lively upbeat music continues] - [Fiachna] "TradFest: The Dublin Castle Sessions" are funded in part by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

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