Carna singer Colm brought to life in new publication
Singer and storyteller Colm Ó Caodháin (1893-1975) from Glinsce in Carna is the subject of a new publication from Cork University Press, edited by Ríonach uí Ógáin.
The book Colm Ó Caodháin: An Irish Singer and His World, which includes an accompanying CD, puts the spotlight on a man who was renowned locally for his wealth of song, music and stories. With this book, Colm is being introduced to a wider audience.
Despite his talent, Colm’s working life revolved around fishing, farming and crafting, like that of any smallholder in Conamara at the time.
Although he sang less as he grew older, Colm’s songs came to prominence in the 1940s when the Irish Folklore Commission sent collector and musician Séamus Ennis to Conamara to undertake fieldwork. The meeting between the two men resulted in a lasting friendship and in the recording of hundreds of Colm’s songs and stories. They spent a great deal of time in each other’s company and the book captures their mutual regard for each other, as well as their shared sense of humour.
It includes some of their own material in addition to items documented by others over the years. There are also 33 audio-recordings of Colm’s songs, stories and music, made by the Irish Folklore Commission and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Colm’s first language was Irish and most of the material collected from him is in Irish. But he also sang songs in English, and some of them, including The Rocks of Bawn, have been included on this CD.
According to Ríonach, Colm’s “warm personality, enthusiasm for life and sense of fun” shine through in the recordings and in the text. His rich Conamara Irish that was documented by the various collectors of his songs and stories is transcribed faithfully, with English translations of the songs and stories being provided by the editor.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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