Shamrocks & Shillelaghs …

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Ray d'Entremont , Bio and Archives--August 20, 2026

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This playlist features a baker’s dozen. As my son pointed out, most Western music is created with the same handful of instruments. Traditional Celtic music is different: bagpipes, accordions, chanters, whistles, bodhráns (pronounced BOW-rawns), dulcimers and Irish harps, along with fiddles, basses, mandolins, banjos, guitars and the occasional flute. Just as early heavy metal often paired heavy music with lighter lyrics--Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly and Vanilla Fudge--Irish music frequently does the opposite: light, lively music carrying heavy lyrics.

Years ago, I wondered why so many Irish songs had such dark subject matter, even when sung with precision, joy and enthusiasm. It seems obvious now. Much of this music was created after the island was overrun first by the Anglo-Normans and dominated by the English. It sprang from the tragedy of resistance against impossible odds: cruelty, mass death, land confiscation, cultural suppression and exile. A classic clash of civilizations!

All societies tell stories and adopt symbols that give meaning to their existence. Even under subjugation, those stories stubbornly persist, acquiring new meanings through embellishment and romantic projection. They can fire discontent, fuelled by nostalgia and longing for a peaceful, idealized past that may never have existed.

Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go--Jim McCann of the Dubliners:

This song expresses a wish to return to the pastoral--a nostalgic desire for a simpler, more natural existence associated with the countryside, away from cities, industry, complexity and political turmoil. It idealizes rural life as more peaceful, authentic and wholesome than the present. The melody is beautiful, and Jim McCann delivers it with just the right measure of longing and pain. The sparse instrumentation perfectly suits this idealized rustic existence—the classical idyll.

Cooley’s Reel/Drowsy Maggie—Shamrock:

The Celts are famous for their jigs and reels, and this performance by Shamrock--surprisingly, from Mexico City--eventually erupts into a lively toe-tapper. As if preparing us for the dance, multi-instrumentalist Valentina Rascón, who also plays whistle and flute and occasionally sings, gives a master class on that distinctively Celtic instrument, the bodhrán. If you know nothing about this drum, watch her and you will soon understand how it produces such a variety of rhythmic sounds. Shamrock is a testament to the universal appeal of Celtic music.

The Night Paddy Murphy Died--Fiddler’s Green:

What--Irish accents? It is hard to believe this is a German group. The song is actually Newfoundland-born, celebrating the tradition of holding wakes in the old Irish style. Before death became a lucrative business, Newfoundland wakes mixed sorrow with celebration for three days and two nights, especially in communities with Irish roots. This gave friends and relatives time to reach isolated outports and helped ensure that the........

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