I had the pleasure of chatting with Tir Enda member Kevin Green recently for his podcast The Tides that Tie, regarding my upcoming shows at the Irish Feile on Beaver Island. You can listen to my chat with him over at their website, which also has interviews with many other acts coming to this years festival. https://www.biihg.com/podcast-the-tides-that-tie/
It seems there's a mystery as to which Island on lough Gill is the Lake Isle of Innisfree. I like the look of this one from Dooney Rock and as it rained softly I thought it might be a moment for a verse of that very poem.
Greetings from sunny Dublin, Ireland! I hope you are all well. I did a lot of recording, mixing and mastering work recently to get a new album recorded. As a Tír Enda member and Live stream watcher you already heard early versions of some of these songs.
The name comes from the fact that I wrote a piece called The Mystery based around an interesting chord progression. Then I stumbled upon perhaps the first poem ever written not only in Ireland, but in Europe and it is also called The Mystery. It links in with the Milesian invasion of Ireland, with this poem recited by Amergin as a way to stop the storms created by the Fairies or The Tuatha De Danann. This translation is by our first president, Douglas Hyde (Dubhghlas De Híde) and it's the opening piece on the album. You should be able to listen to it below!
The Mystery
I am the wind which breathes upon the sea,
I am the wave of the ocean,
I am the murmur of the billows,
I am the ox of the seven combats,
I am the vulture upon the rocks,
I am the beam of the sun,
I am the fairest of plants,
I am a wild boar in valour,
I am a salmon in the water,
I am a lake in the plain,
I am a word of science,
I am the point of the lance of battle,
I am the God who created in the head the fire.
Who is it who throws light into the meeting on the mountain?
Who announces the ages of the moon?
Who teaches the place where couches the sun?
(If not I)
So the album begins and ends with a Mystery. You'll be hearing more about this in future most definitely. For now let me know what you think of the album cover. It's a picture of a dry stone wall from Inishbofin Island on the west coast and I feel it evokes the Mystery well.
Click play below the lyrics to hear!
I've been working on this for a few weeks now and keep meaning to share a video (I made several). I'll share those some other day. Today is the first mix of The Céide Fields and tír Enda members get to hear it first! The Cédie Fileds is a place in North Mayo where i went with my folks when i was young. There are stone 5500 year old stone walls buried beneath the peat bog that grew over them. The story of how they found them is intriguing but todays song ponders who the builders were and how they were farming on the coast 5500 years ago and just marveling at their accomplishments, building the walls "rock upon rock".
Deep Beneath the Ceide Fields Enda Reilly June 2026
The truth is buried where eyes can’t see
But they could feel it
Yes they could feel it
And they were searchin interacting and believing
To achieve it
To achieve it
Deep Beneath x3
Deep beneath us in the underworld
Consumed by nature
By the Tuatha De Danann
A time capsule, an encasement
A preservation, an embracement
Deep Beneath x3
Deep Beneath x2
The Céide Fields
Rock Rock upon Rock
Rock upon Rock to build these walls we got
Rock Rock upon Rock
Rock upon Rock to build these walls we got
And now we wonder who they were
Those ancients
our relations?
Can we uncover who we truly are
As a nation
A nation?
Deep Beneath x3
Deep Beneath x2
The Céide Fields
Rock Rock upon Rock
Rock upon Rock to build these walls we got
Rock Rock upon Rock
Rock upon Rock to build these walls we got
The truth is buried where eyes can’t see
I can feel it
I can feel it!
And still we’re searchin interacting and believing
To achieve it
To achieve it
Deep Beneath x3
Deep Beneath x2
The Céide Fields
Deep Beneath x2
The Céide Fields
We had a great time at Motor City Irish Fest! I played a number of sets including 2 talks about Irish songs and songwriting. I also bought a wonderful electric guitar from CBD guitars, one of the vendors. So I felt it would be great to play the guitar at the festival. Here's A Wounded Bird from the Dunleavy Tent and a few snaps I took.
I hope to see you at one of these festivals this year!
In this Tír Enda “About the Song” video, I take a closer look at an Irish song I first learned in school — one of those songs that’s often treated as a children’s song, even though it carries a surprisingly tragic ending.
The real hero of the song is Feilim’s little boat: a brave wee vessel that has battled the oceans, brought in the catch, and done its work faithfully — only to meet a sad fate in the end.
It’s also trickier to sing than it might first appear, which is often the way with these old school songs. They stay with you for years, and then one day you realise there’s far more going on in them than you understood as a child.
Here I’m trying it out with the bodhrán which seems to be working nicely.
Thanks, as always, for being part of Tír Enda and for giving these songs a warm place to land. there's an mp3 for those who might like to add it to their USB stick.
There's a song only version of it too that you might see on Youtube.
Translation of Báidín Fheilimí
Feilimí's little boat went to Gola,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it,
Feilimí's little boat went to Gola,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it.
Chorus
A tiny little boat, a lively little boat,
A buoyant little boat, Feilimí's little boat,
A straight little boat, a willing little boat,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it.
Feilimí's little boat went to Tory,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it,
Feilimí's little boat went to Tory,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it.
Chorus
Feilimí's little boat crashed on Tory,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it,
Feilimí's little boat crashed on Tory,
Feilimí's little boat and Feilimí in it.
Chorus
Feilimí's little boat crashed on Tory,
Fish on board and Feilimí in it,
Feilimí's little boat crashed on Tory,
Fish on board and Feilimí in it.
Enjoy!
I've been working on this song a long time and I think it's nearly there. Here's an explanation of what it's about and a first listen for you. The lyrics and a few pictures of the island are below to give you a feel for it. Thanks for listening and let me know your thoughts! Have you got a special place you think of in the hustle and bustle of modern life?
Lyrics
I dreamt in the night I went to Inishbofin.
Took a plane, then a bus, then a boat to the island.
Through Connemara, Clifden and Cleggan.
Over rough seas to a piece of heaven.
To a bay with a beach like the Mediterranean,
And the Stags at the cliffs with dark waves thundering,
Two Island swans in a lake in the middle
And a white cow standing proud on a hill.
Past the hay-fields to the seaweed shore,
spend the day fishin’, reelin’ wrasse galore,
Out to Cromwell's fort by the boats in the bay.
Then back for a session with the lads at the Days,
Down the purple valley and out to the sea,
The 12 Bens of Galway smiling at me.
There’s ten ton boulders flung by the Atlantic
Where sheep eat greedily a green grass carpet
On a black peat bog a declaration
I love you In white stone writing
Waking to the sound of the cock as he crows
a walk around the island
On the wee windy roads
Through the Summer Meadow the delicious air
I really caught a taste of heaven there
Down the purple valley and out to the Sea,
The 12 Bens of Galway smiling at me.
Skies turn redder as the day is ending
Can I stay in this dream? Keep pretending
Its my memory I'm taking it with me
As I drive the streets of Detroit City.
Waking to the sound of the cock as he crows.
A Walk round the island,
On the wee windy roads
through the summer meadow,
the delicious air
I really caught a taste of Heaven there
Down the purple Valley out to the sea.
The 12 Bens of Galway smiling at me.
Waking to the sound of the cock as he crows.
A walk round the island,
On the wee windy roads
through the summer meadow,
the delicious air
I really caught a taste of Heaven there
Down the purple valley out to the sea.
The 12 Bens of Galway smiling at me.
Down the purple valley and out to the sea.
The 12 Bens of Galway are still waiting for me.
