Enda's News
Folknet Show in Cleveland Ohio. April 13th
A Dublin Farewell
Hello and Merry Christmas to you all. You may have seen on social media that I attended the procession through Dublin for Shane MacGowan RIP. It was a wonderful send-off and I had an eventful day for me thereafter rambling around Dublin city, meeting friends and family. That night I woke at 2.30am in the morning and wrote the first draft of this, which I thought would just be a poem. Over the next few days It developed into a song, which I ultimately decided to call A Dublin Farewell, inspired by that day, Shane and The Pogues. So I hope you enjoy the tribute which will be out on all streaming services on Christmas Day all going well. Thanks to Anthony Gibney in Audioland, Leixip for fitting me in to record and mix the song.
It's now available to download on Bandcamp here
For Spotify folks you can presave A Dublin Farewell here
https://distrokid.com/
Lyrics
The streets were lined with mourners,
To follow. the coach and horses
Give the big man a send-off
Sing his songs all the verses
Though everyone was stunned
And I surely shed a tear
For A Dublin Farewell
They came from far and from near.
And I overslept
and still I had the fry,
And I almost missed bus
But I didnt did I?
And I ran the streets of Dublin
Like a lover gone astray
Has he gone to Tipprary
so far far away?
But he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes hearts and everywhere.
We couldn't see the band but
We could hear them off the walls,
You barely heard the tune,
But you knew all the words,
And phones were in the air
As the coach moved on,
For the free born man,
The Irish son.
And he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes, hearts and everywhere
And Eddie led us all
As we sang every call,
A Pair of Brown Eyes and Dirty Old Town,
Fairytale of New York, Rainy Night in Soho,
Though we could’ve stayed all day
The Gaurds said we had to go.
And he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes, hearts and everywhere
Inst
Then I tuned an old guitar
For a bar of lemon soap
And Pj played a song from Finnegans Wake
And the tv lads came in
to catch take 2
In Sweny's Pharmacy
And Shane was there too,
Yes he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes, hearts and everywhere
It was all over in minutes
Might as well've been hours
Til I found Kehoe's pub
and had a hot powers,
And it never rained at all
And the music still goes on
With the Artane Band and the Rising Sons.
And he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes, hearts and everywhere
I rambled to St. Annes
To hear carols from the pues,
The revenue choir
Singing their dues,
The whole church sang
With the grand piano,
And In Oh Holy Night
I swear I heard The Pogues.
And he was there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air
In our ears, eyes, hearts and everywhere
Yes he's still there
Somewhere
On the ground or in the air,
In our ears, eyes and hearts and everywhere
In our ears, eyes and hearts and everywhere
Ireland
Well I had a great time in Ireland playing a number of shows and meeting family and friends in late November and December. For Science week I performed with my old pal Stephen James Smith in Wexford and Kilkenny, which were really fun concerts. Then to celebrate 100 years since WB Yeats won the Nobel prize for literature I got to perform in both the Central Library Dublin along with Donncha Crowley and also in the National Library in Dublin, which was an honour and a wonderful experience. Many more good times with friends had too. Slainte to you all.
Rocky Road to Pittsburgh!
This Saturday I'll be performing at the Pittsburgh Irish Fest on the Celtic Spirit stage at 12pm doing my show singing traditional and original Irish folk songs with guitar, bodhrán and live-looping. I'd love to see you at the show!
I'm also debuting a talk I've been working on, looking at Ireland's Geological Heritage which draws on my BSc. degree in Geology from University College Dublin a long time ago. Really enjoying the process. We'll be looking at the main types of rock that exist (I might have a song about that!) and look at a few examples of those from Ireland.
We'll explore how the north of the island and the south of the island were separated by an ocean at one point, how the rocks show us connections between North America and Europe and we'll discuss the Burren and the Giants Causeway. The photo is of me on Croagh Patrick and we'll be chatting about the extraordinary rock that can be found right on the pilgrim trail.
Rocky Road to Dublin – A journey through the Emerald Isle’s geologic past with Enda Reilly. Enda shares insights and unravels the mysteries of Ireland’s Rocks – Enda Reilly - Cultural Hedge School Stage at 3pm
Dublin Busker went from busking on Grafton Street to performing at top US music festivals
I had two interviews last Friday before and during the Milwaukee Irish Fest, one with the Irishstar.com (which is partnered with Dublinlive.ie) and one with Ward Irish Music Archives both of which I enjoyed, but found challenging too, delving into the why's and what's of the past.
Two photos arose, one brand new and one from my busking days in 2006 which are fun to look at. That photo by Daragh Owens is in front of HMV on Grafton street which was always a favoured spot for The Mongrels, Peter, Griffo and myself. On one occasion Glen Hansard asked us would we mind stopping busking for an hour so they could film a scene from a movie they were making. Little did we know that was the Once movie he was making! The second photo is from the The Milwaukee Festival by Kenzie Trezise. It was amazing as usual and I enjoyed playing to a wonderful crowd from the Celtic Roots Stage and having the craic as gaeilge with Karen, Ray and an lucht oireachtais in the Ghaeltacht tent with two performances there.
It been a fun and challenging adventure which continues! Read the full interview with Fionnuala Boyle here
Peace in Ukraine - Síocháin san Úcráin
Living now in the USA, far from Europe and the war in Ukraine I haven't been keeping up with the horrors of the War. I'm almost numb to it at this stage. So when Gabriel Rosenstock sent me this lyric in Irish recently I kinda shied away from it. But as so often happens I then found myself guitar in hand mulling over the words to see what chords and melody would come and the music and demo and then video all happened rather fast in the end. The translation to English is also by Gabriel to give you a flavour of the feeling of the Irish lyrics if you don't speak Irish.
With our history and as technically a neutral country it's only right that Ireland continues to call for peace. Thanks for watching.
Go raibh maith agat le iris Nós as ucht an scéala a chuir san Iris
The Sullivans We Stick Together at Buffalo Naval Park
Major repairs are still needed on the ship so if anyone would like to donate to that visit www.savethesullivans.org
The lyrics of the song tell the story
The Sullivans (We Stick Together)
by Enda Reilly 2022
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
At Pearl Harbour
We lost a friend
‘twas only right
We must avenge
As Brothers 5
We did unite
The Japanese
We had to fight
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
We enlisted in the Navy
Five proud Irish brothers
The rules were to split us up
But we said
We stick together
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
We sailed aboard
the Juneau
At Guadalcanal
took a torpedo
With a Broken Keel
But we fixed her neat
Stayed afloat
Forced to retreat
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
To the New Hebrides
We made our way
But the Japanese
Were waiting
The I-26
Sunk us quick
at Torpedo
Junction
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Now we are gone
But remembered
By our dear father and mother
And the crew of
DD 537
USS The Sullivans!
We Stick Together boys
The Sullivans
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Red, Frank, Albert, George and Madison
The Sullivans
We Stick Together boys
Brothers til the end
Thanks to all at Buffalo Naval Park for facilitating this video.
The song is on Spotify, apple etc.
Enda Visits The Irish Nationality Room - Part One
If you're travellin through Pittsburgh do stop by the Irish Nationality Room there. It's a wonderful space with carvings of stone and wood that gives a real feel of Irishness. I stopped by for a visit and sang a few songs and the first, Bíodh Áilleacht Ann - Let There Be Beauty is now viewable. |
Aggallamh le Ráidió Fáilte Béal Feirste - Irish Language interview
Aggallamh a rinne mé le déanaí le Neil Ó Brian as Raidió Fáilte Béal Feirste maidir le mo chuid ceoil agus féilte a bheidh mé ag seinnt orthu i mbliana ach go háirithe pobal na Gaeltachta i Milwaukee Irish Fest
Michigan Irish Music Festival
Michigan Irish Music Festival is a wonderful Irish Festival on Lake Michigan. Really looking forward to it again this year. Hopefully see you there. Enda