Three comments
Query….
Is track #16 what I think it might be ?
Kenny said: “Is track #16 what I think it might be ?”
Yes; many of the tracks are western (American?) Christmas carols/songs translated into Gaeilge.
A re-post from elsewhere
I recommend this CD of carols/songs in Irish by Róisín Elsafty and Ronan Browne. There are 15 vocal tracks (by the exotically-named, with an Egyptian father and Connemara mother, and beautifully-voiced Róisín) and five instrumental tracks (by the piper Ronan Browne).
Some of the carols already had Irish versions; otherwise they have been translated by Róisín’s mother, Treasa Ní Cheannabháin. One wouldn’t have thunk it possible but Jingle Bells (Cloigíní – Little Bells) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph na Sróine Deirge - Rudolph with the Red Nose) sound fresh and neat in Róisín’s lovely-accented dialect with bell-clear Connemara Irish. And there is a cute original track in the form of a letter to Santa Claus from a kid who signs off, at the end of the song, as Joeín Sheáin Ó Fátharta (composed, according to the sleeve notes, by rural activist Pádraic an Táilliúra Ó Conghaile – Patrick son of the Tailor Connolly). The following is a translation of a few of the verses though it gives no idea of the rhythm or rhyme of the original:
Santa Claus, listen up
I’m not asking for much
A car, or maybe a train, for myself
And a big book-een for Cóilín
Nice dolls for Cáit and Tess
And a little teddy for Noeleen
He’s so small, he couldn’t give a damn
And so he doesn’t ask for a whole lot.
We just cleaned the chimney
’Twas full of soot
It’ll be easy for you to get through
But keep an eye out for Louis
He’s not bad or anything of the sort
But he’s always barking
He hangs out at the edge of the hearth
That’s basically where he lives.
…
(Sleepily)
I don’t have much else to say
My eyes are closing
There’ll be carrots on the roof
For Rudolph and his friends
There’ll be coffee and a bit of meat
Left on a plate for you
So goodbye for now, Santa Claus
From:
Joeín Sheáin Ó Fátharta.
Highly recommended for a fresh take on otherwise dreaded Christmas music (and I have no relationship with anyone involved).