Liam Ó'Maonlaí Sings Sean Nós in Galway

In 1994, we met up with Liam Ó'Maonlaí in Nimmos restaurant in Galway, during the Arts Festival.
Much to our delight, he gave us a Sean Nós rendition of an old Irish tune called Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneallaigh.
Afterwards, over a glass of wine, he told us the story behind the song.
You can find this and other short clips as well as Claddagh Films videos on our dedicated KZbin page: / @claddaghfilms

[@deano50z]

What a beautiful language

[@tlcchaos]

There ain’t no roses on the sailors grave… no lilies on the Ocean wave… the only tribute is the seagulls sweep and the teardrops that the sweetheart weeps…. Bon voyage… TLC x.

[@tinkerscussmusic]

Beautiful. Liam sings this on his album Rian .. but it's good to hear him do it off the cuff so to speak, and then to have a bit of the story afterwards is a delight. What a lovely down to earth man he is .. it makes a difference when people of his calibre are not disappearing up their own backsides. Kudos to you for capturing this moment to share and Kudos to Liam for being such a talented, honest man.

[@DermotTynan]

Thanks. He's a nice guy, very genuine. You can find more of our stuff over on Vimeo (search for Claddagh Films)

[@seamusocearbhaill]

He is actually a bit of a prick from my experience..conceited and arrogant. Was playing music at a festival / competition where we won and opened for the hot house flowers. Went back to the dressing room and he didnt bother his bollix even saying hello. Camhuinéal

[@aoryward]

I grew up not knowing I have Irish heritage until recently (almost 40). My father never knew and my grandfather never knew. No one talked about Ireland. This is beautiful. As someone who grew up in the deserts of Arizona, my first thought is this sounds very Native American. Maybe that's why I've always loved Native American singing as it reminded me of the Irish heritage I have in my DNA.

[@Kloppsserialbottlers]

You have a very common surname here in Ireland, so there is no doubt you have Irish blood. Ward is actually a common surname of the traveller community here in Galway. I have drank many times down the Spanish Arch as a young tear away, where this pub is that Liam is singing in. Good memories. l7.alamy.com/zooms/11f6d922919648f6818161a988ec6d35/spanish-arches-galway-city-ireland-eh8yce.jpg

[@Conordylan97]

I don’t think DNA works that way haha

[@TheCarlocaroline]

For sure. Inherited memory!

[@gameapril]

Be still my heart :) Beautifully sung and felt.

[@yvonnecasey1976]

Love that singing in Irish

[@woodsmissful]

Thanks for posting this - I wish I could hear him in person!

[@himari151]

My first CD album was Hot House Flowers 💐 Liam transcends through the ages, pleasure to hear him sing, this I will take with me xxx go halainn

[@richgouette]

make sure you folks catch the version of him singing this in the 'Highland Sessions'

[@erichferdinand9742]

that's good advice!

[@richgouette]

love Liams music

[@ohrc4901]

Fantastic

[@rocker6883]

Soothing

[@jangraveson8423]

💚

[@adrialee8149]

❤

[@Kikison1000]

Irish and Scottish go hand in hand, we pretty much share a language.

[@leoesharkey1]

Scots Gallic is very like Donegal Irish, but quite different to the other dialects of Irish, Liam is a dub who speaks and sings in the western dialect.

[@cigh7445]

Aye, English

[@outoforbit00]

Highland and Island Gaels, not lowland Scots.

[@eoghanoneill9765]

Guth iontach ag Liam Ó Maonlaí a cheolann an t-amhrán seo go séimh mealltach. Tá véarsa eile ann atá ag mo ghar-iníon i gCois Fharraige.

[@minimonster5895]

is maith liom sean nos!

[@Zombiripuli]

Just turn on the english subtitles to have a laugh! XDXD

[@DermotTynan]

Looks like Google might not recognise the language, eh? :)

[@ultanmolloy]

I have but can't post em for some reason... google SADHBH NÍ BHRUINNEALLAIGH and check out the Chiff and Fipple link for them...

[@MsTapenade]

May I ask someone to explain me the meaning of this song? I cant understand by ear what mr liam's saying! Thank you very much!

[@DermotTynan]

No worries - you're welcome.

[@tlcchaos]

Go mile a maith agat TLC x.

[@dal_riata_music]

Den scoth!!!

[@nbenefiel]

Everything Irish was outlawed by the British. You could be hanged for speaking Irish. The Catholic religion was outlawed. These decrees had to be delivered in Irish because the people did not speak English.

[@broadbandtogod]

What on earth is Dawson's Creek doing here?!

[@hendrysmith6542]

This guys slicker than wd40

[@kevinrawdon8573]

iontach ar fad

[@ludophotography612]

Sounds like hebrew

[@erichferdinand9742]

doesn't

[@erichferdinand9742]

all languages have one thing in common: they're human communication. But hebrew and gaelic - that's more than just one step away.

[@iberius9937]

INDEED. Not surprising as the Celts descend from ancient Israel and Gaelic descends from Hebrew....

[@ricemango7502]

@@iberius9937 they dont and it doesnt? the languages have similarities but they are completely different languages, not even the same language family, irish being indo european and hebrew being afro asiatic

[@iberius9937]

@@ricemango7502 I think there's just a lot more than just separating the whole Indo-European thing from the Semitic. The Irish, and other Western European peoples, have links going back to the twelve tribes of Israel. Remember that the Northern Tribes were exiled and sojourned all over the middle East before pouring into Europe. Steven Collins and Yair Davidy are solid scholars on this topic and explain it all better than I. Many people have established an Indo-Shemitic connection and many have commented on the relation older Welsh has with Semitic languages, and Celtic languages in general (such as sharing similar syntax with Semitic tongues). Even Joseph Ben Yehuda, a Jewish linguist, wrote an interesting and obscure book called "Hebrew is Greek" in the 80s. It is available for free in PDF format on archive.org. Yes, it's an incredible claim to make. But the connections and coincidences in all this are too strong to be ignored. There is always something new to learn, as we are merely scratching the surface.

[@SchismaticProductions]

This is a "waulking song" sung last in the highlands of scotland by women (mostly) while waulking cloth. The ladies would beat newly woven tweed against a table or hard surface while singing in a rhythmic fashion. The practice & nonsensical chorus words are identical to Irish "mouth music" both obvious Gaelic traditions, just to explain further.

[@eoinmccormack1940]

But all of this does make sense? Plus it's a song from Cois Fharraige in Connemara not from Scotland. It's a song from the people who were crewing the boats.

[@patrickpearse9769]

Cian O' Scally Bollocks. This is an Irish Sean Nos, song ,sung in Irish Gaelic. Why must uninformed people make sweeping ,completely inaccurate statements to distort truth?

[@crossman20]

Patrick Pearse : Right on. Song (about 1815) attributed to Labhras Mac An Raoi a boatman from Mace Head, Co Mayo. The woman Sadhb Ni Bhruinneallaigh was from Inishkea, Co. Mayo.

[@maxmarnau7019]

@@patrickpearse9769 wondering why you need to be rude?

[@TheWrensHouse]

Nothing Irish started in Scotland, but everything regards Sean no's or music from Ireland was taken to Scotland. Scotland does not have this heritage. The word Celtic has really helped distorting culture and heritage.