The music of St Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick’s Day takes place every year on the 17th of March. It began as a religious festival to honour Saint Patrick (Ireland’s patron saint), but over time has come to take on more of a cultural significance than a religious one. The day is full of traditional music, parades, and, of course, a bit of drink and a lot of fun!

So who actually was Saint Patrick? What we know is that he was sent to Ireland when he was about 16. Here he learned about Christianity and converted many locals to Christianity. Legend says he used a three leaf clover (not four!) to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish people - this clover, or shamrock, is now one of the many symbols of Ireland.Saint Patrick’s Day in Ireland is a national holiday filled with music and parades and “craic agus ceol” (fun and music in the Irish language). While the parades often use instruments more suited to large spaces (brass bands, drums, etc), you can find many performances of old Irish songs using more traditional instruments in the pubs around town. Traditional instruments can include the bodhrán, fiddle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, and of course harp (another one of our many symbols!).Irish music is a folk music that originated as an oral tradition with the arrival of the Celts almost 2000 years ago - it was a music passed on from generation to generation by listening and learning by ear. It was only in 1762 that the tunes were finally written down by various “music collectors” (these were often blind harpists) who travelled around Ireland and transcribed the songs for future generations, so that they would not be lost.

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The Gloaming - Boy In The Gap/The Lobster (live at the NCH)

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Nowadays, many contemporary Irish musicians use traditional Irish elements in their music. The folk revival in the 70s, with artists such as the Dubliners, Luke Kelly, and Planxty, made this style of music popular again, and even more famous artists such as Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, and the Pogues took a great deal of inspiration from it. Often Irish artists will give a nod to their musical background through covering an old folk song - have a listen to Hozier’s quietly powerful cover of “My Lagan Love” below.

Hozier - My Lagan Love (Other Voices Series 19)

Modern Irish folk songs are “rebel” songs, politicised and incendiary against the colonisation that took place in Ireland for hundreds of years. They remain popular with the Irish diaspora around the world. In fact, Saint Patrick’s Day around the world has become almost a bigger event than back home - you’ve probably seen images of the Chicago river dyed green to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, but in recent years, even the pyramids of Egypt have been lit up green to celebrate Ireland’s national day!

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