Caitríona O’Leary takes Matthew Bannister of the popular Folk on Foot podcast to the Franciscan church where Bishop Waddinge is buried and to St Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy where the area’s most famous carol was collected.
We also meet the retired fisherman Dixie Devereux whose father sang the carols every Christmas for 62 years – and who is now passing on the tradition to his own son. A fascinating story with gorgeous music creating an atmospheric, seasonal experience.
Caitríona O’Leary’ features in the TASTEMAKER section of The Business Post on November 11, 2022. She answers some questions put to her by Ben Haugh.
What was your earliest ambition?
To be Jana of the Jungle.
What’s a scent that you associate with your childhood?
The smell of burnt matches – this brings me right back to camping holidays with my family in Donegal or Kerry. It conjures up the echo of the match being struck, the whoosh of the gas flowing, the touching of the flame to the mantle of the gas lantern, the blue of the burning gas, the rattle of the glass back down around the flame, and the crescendo of whoosh as the light is turned up.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Very much an introvert. Except onstage.
What’s your motto for life?
It’s all only a game! I tend to take things too seriously. Except games.
Kate Bush is an artist like none other – weaving rock, classical and folk music to extraordinary effect. Her lyrics are highly dramatic, drawing on a wide range of literary and cinematic sources, exploring themes of childhood, love, death, war and mythology.
On Friday, November 18, at Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre, Caitríona O’Leary – acclaimed by Crescendo Magazine for ‘her angelic and etheral voice – will perform the very best of Bush’s songs, translated into Irish by Gabriel Rosenstock. She will be joined by Nick Roth (keyboard), Adrian Hart (fiddle), Éamonn Galldubh (flute, whistles, uilleann pipes), David Redmond (double bass) and Matt Jacobson (drums). The show features on-screen projections of the lyrics with images created by Margaret Lonergan.
IMRAM works to put Irish language literature at the heart of our nation’s public life, through an innovative annual festival, supporting writers and publishers, encouraging the sale of books, provoking debate, and engaging Irish speakers and Irish learners across Ireland and the diaspora.
The Irish Times Ticket – Saturday, November 12, 2022
German magazine AUDIO has reviewed Citadel of Song by Anakronos.
In “Citadel of Song”, the medieval ensemble Anakronos breathes new life into ten texts from Boccaccio’s “Decameron” with elements of fusion jazz, prog rock and contemporary classical music. With this revival of 14th century Italian love poetry, the Irish elfin-voiced singer Caitríona O’Leary confirms her status as the world’s leading early music avant-gardist.
The Island of Saints is a new ground-breaking feature length music film by director Eric Fraad inspired by the medieval/jazz fusion ensemble Anakronos’ highly-acclaimed album, The Red Book of Ossory and its backstory.
The Island of Saints oscillates between three types of scenes; music performance scenes of Anakronos performing music from The Red Book of Ossory, scenes dramatising the infamous witch hunt and trial of Dame Alice Kyteler in 1324 and the burning of her servant Petronilla de Meath and hallucinatory music videos that engage with philosophical themes in the songs from The Red Book of Ossory.
Written, Produced & Directed by Eric Fraad Music Director – Caitríona O’Leary Producer – Karina Lundström Executive Producer, Paula Heil Fisher Director of Photography – Martin Mai Costumes Designer – Monica Ennis Edited by Martin Mai Art Direction – David McDermott Hair and Makeup Design – Tee Elliot Recorded by Alex Borwick
Dramatis Personae Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory – Raymond Keane Petronilla de Meath, The Virgin Mary – Megan O’Malley Dame Alice Kyteler – Caitríona O’Leary William Outlaw – Ethan Dillon Artisson – Vitor Bassi Dominican Friar, Assistant to Artisson – Michael Cooney Dominican Friar, Assistant to Artisson – Gavan O’Connor Duffy
Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, Begin Together Arts Fund (Bank of Ireland / Business to Arts), Fingal County Council, Heresy Films.
Reviews for THE RED BOOK OF OSSORY & ANAKRONOS
★★★★★ – Michael Dervan, The Irish Times
“A work of singular genius…This brilliant suite of songs practices its own witchcraft, seducing you straightaway with its beauty.” – ArtMuseLondon
“Absolutely extraordinary… One of the Best Albums I’ve Heard This Year. Musically the gang are firing on all cylinders; thematically it’s fascinating; and historically it is horrifying and illuminating in equal measure… Wonderful music, fascinatingly presented” – Bernard Clarke, RTÉ Lyric fm ‘In the Blue of the Night Show’
Backstory to The Island of Saints
Fourteenth century Ireland was a time of invasions, war, lawlessness, famine and plague. In 1317 Richard de Ledrede – an English Franciscan of the Order of Friars Minor – arrived in Kilkenny, appointed by Pope John XXII in Avignon as the new Bishop of Ossory and immediately set about challenging the secular authorities and making a name for himself as a zealous moraliser and “scourge of heresy”.
In 1324 Ledrede declared that his diocese was a hotbed of devil worshippers. The central figure in this affair was Dame Alice Kyteler, a wealthy Kilkenny woman. Ledrede accused Kyteler together with members of her family and friends, of a variety of supernatural crimes. The bishop claimed that she was the leader of a group of heretics and witches who sacrificed to the Devil and performed revolting magical rites. Alice herself was said to have a familiar – a demon with whom she regularly had sexual intercourse. She was also accused of poisoning and murdering her four husbands.
With the help of influential relatives Alice escaped to England and vanished from history. Her servant, Petronilla de Meath, was tried, tortured and burned at the stake.
The Kyteler trial was the first witchcraft trial in European history to treat the accused as members of an organised sect of heretics, and the first to accuse a woman of having acquired the power of sorcery through sexual intercourse with a demon. It is also the first occasion in history that a woman was burnt for heresy charges deriving from witchcraft and occult practices.
The Red Book of Ossory
The Red Book of Ossory is an important 14th century medieval manuscript which was compiled in Kilkenny and is housed there in St Canice’s Cathedral. Pre-eminent among the manuscript’s texts are sixty remarkable Latin verses by Bishop Richard de Ledrede. The bishop instructed that these lyrics be sung by the priests, clerks and choristers of St Canice’s “on the important holidays and at celebrations in order that their throats and mouths, consecrated to God, may not be polluted by songs which are lewd, secular, and associated with revelry, and, since they are trained singers, let them provide themselves with suitable tunes according to what these sets of words require”. Accordingly, Anakronos’ founder Caitríona O’Leary has drawn from various medieval music sources (Chansonnier du Roi, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, Codices Chantilly, Modena, Squarcialupi etc.), made speculative reconstructions of many of the bishop’s hymns, and with the members of Anakronos deconstructed those songs with learned disregard for proper chronology.
“This is the second volume of Caitríona O’Leary’s The Wexford Carols; it comes, perhaps, under the heading “folk/Classical”. Expertly produced by Ethan Johns and beautifully recorded by Dom Monks (who is also co-producer), and packaged beautifully, this is in many ways the perfect Christmas listening.
The focus of Strange Wonders is on the rich (yet rarely fully acknowledged) tradition of Irish Christmas music. O’Leary herself gives a brilliant introduction here:”
Strange Wonders, The Wexford Carols Vol. II, is the highly anticipated follow up to the hugely successful album The Wexford Carols. It features another 11 carols from the tradition that focus on the spiritual and mystical aspects of the Christmas story – Gabriel’s visitation to Mary, the humble stable, the meeting of Herod and the Magi, the Fall (of Lucifer and of Adam), the Mystery of God as Man – as well as less familiar aspects of this narrative including carols to the saints whose feast days fall within the 12 days of Christmas (24th December – 6th January). These includes carols for St. Stephen, St. John, St. Sylvester and the Holy Innocents.
For Strange Wonders, The Wexford Carols Vol. II singer/arranger Caitríona O’Leary and producer Ethan Johns have adopted an intimate interpretation of these remarkable and moving carols that marries early music, folk music and classical styles, bringing together an ensemble of luminaries that include Seth Lakeman (voice, viola), Clara Sanabras (voice, baroque guitar), John Smith (voice, guitar), Stile Antico (Choir), Alison Balsom (trumpet), Olov Johannson (nyckelharapa), Simone Collavechi (lute & renaissance guitar), Deirdre O’Leary (bass clarinet), Mel Mercier (percussion), and John Hearne (bassoon).
Strange Wonders, The Wexford Carols Vol. II will be available from November 12th on CD in record shops internationally, on the Heresy website and through most online outlets. The album will be available digitally on multiple platforms including, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, Qobuz, YouTube, etc.
Norman Lebrecht of Slipped Disc and Robert Hugill of Planet Hugill have featured Eric Fraad‘s new short film Love’s Fever on their websites.
“A compelling piece of singer-acting, treat yourself.” Norman Lebrecht – Slipped Disc
“…remarkably prescient” Robert Hugill – Planet Hugill
Based on the song Deh Lassa La Mia Vita from the end of day 7 of Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron.
Music by Lorenzo da Firenze. Featuring Caitríona O’Leary, Edited by Martin Mai, Art Direction by Gareth Jones, Filmed by Tara Slye, Recorded and Mixed by Caitríona O’Leary and Mastered by James Darkin.
Funded by an Arts Council Covid-19 Crisis Response Award.
Ireland Performs, Facebook & Culture Ireland present Caitríona O’Leary in an online programme of unaccompanied songs: Ansacht na nAnsacht (Love of Loves).
On Saturday May 2, 2020, Heresy Records’ recording artist Caitríona O’Leary will perform an online concert of unaccompanied songs for Ireland Performs, an initiative to support presentations by Irish artists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be streamed through Caitríona’s social media channels and will also be carried on Culture Ireland’s Facebook page.
Ansacht na nAnsacht (Love of Loves) – Ireland Performs Saturday May 2, 2020 at 12.30pm (Ireland/UK) WATCH LIVE at that time
Ireland Performs was launched on April 3, 2020, attracting over 120,000 viewers from around the world during its first week. Funded by Facebook Ireland and Culture Ireland, a division of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Ireland Performs has hosted artists including Mick Flannery, John Spillane and Sharon Shannon.
Caitríona’s performance of Ansacht na nAnsacht (Love of Loves) was conceived to celebrate the glory of unaccompanied song – a genre in which she is a recognized master.
“This music is a special genre of vocal art called sean nós…in this type of singing O’Leary is a master” – General Anzeiger (Bonn, Germany).
The repertoire for this concert is organized around themes of love and nature featuring songs from the 13th – 20th centuries including medieval songs, sean nós songs and folksongs from Ireland, Scotland and America.
Lori Lander Murphy‘s piece on the irishphiladelphia.com website highlights Caitríona O’Leary‘s latest release Both Sides Now (Ón Dá Thaobh) – an Irish language version of the song Both Sides by Joni Mitchell.
In it, Caitríona O’Leary says of Joni Mitchell:
“She’s such an amazing songwriter. Her music just bowls me over, it really does. I can’t sit through all of the album ‘Blue’ without just being an emotional mess, reduced to tears every time. It’s so unique, actually, she has a voice all her own – her singing voice, but also a poetic voice. She just touches on subjects and brings everything to life, she brings a whole story to life in just a few words. I think she is absolutely remarkable, so it was a total joy for me to immerse myself in her music and her songs…”
“I think it is possible to just understand yourself and your environment better through a variety of languages…And so I’m also singing songs that are newly translated/transcreated into Irish, or another language, and where that language then takes the song that it wouldn’t have gone before. So, for instance, I wouldn’t sing Both Sides Now the same way in English as I sing it in Irish. It would bring out something different, different musical passions and different musical results.”
Both Sides Now (Ón Dá Thaobh) marks Heresy Records’ first recording released exclusively for digital streaming and download services. The song is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer and numerous other digital service providers.
On Friday 24th January 2020, Heresy Records will release a digital single version of Joni Mitchell’s iconic song, Both Sides Now, in an Irish language translation sung by Caitríona O’Leary. She is accompanied on the recording by guitarist Dick Farrelly.
Both Sides Now (Ón Dá Thaobh) was translated into Irish by the renowned Dublin-based poet Gabriel Rosenstock. The song was first performed by Caitríona O’Leary and Dick Farrelly in May 2016 in a production – starring O’Leary – entitled Sweet Fire: The Joni Mitchell Project as part of IMRAM Féile Litríochta Gaeilge (IMRAM Irish Language Literature Festival) and the International Dublin Literature Festival. Sweet Fire later toured throughout Ireland.
Both Sides Now is one of the best-known songs by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. First recorded by Judy Collins, it appeared on the U.S. singles chart during the autumn of 1968. The next year it was included on Mitchell’s album Clouds (which was named after a lyric from the song). It has since been recorded by dozens of artists including Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Gang of Youths, and Herbie Hancock. Mitchell herself re-recorded the song, with an orchestral arrangement, on her 2000 album Both Sides Now.
Mitchell is said to have written Both Sides Now in March 1967, inspired by a passage in Henderson the Rain King, a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow. The following quote by Mitchell describes her inspiration for writing the song.
“I was reading Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King is also up in a plane. He’s on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did.”
Both Sides Now (Ón Dá Thaobh) marks Heresy Records’ first recording released exclusively for digital streaming and download services. The song will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer and numerous other digital service providers.
Colleen Taylor‘s article The best Irish Christmas albums to listen to this holiday season in IrishCentral recommends Caitríona O’Leary‘s The Wexford Carols.
“This is an album that any Irish-American, any Irish person, and any lover of Irish history or music needs in their collection.”
“The Wexford Carols preserves Christmas tradition in Ireland, recreating the choruses sung in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, at midnight mass out in the fields. What could be more important at Christmas than an audible reminder of how music links us with the people, the stories, and the histories of centuries past?”
Holiday Special Offer! Two Great Festive Bundles & The Wexford Carols CD
Five years ago Heresy Records released the Billboard #1 hit The Wexford Carols. To celebrate this anniversary, we are offering discounts on The Wexford Carols CD and a bundle including The Wexford Carols and two special edition holiday vinyl 7” singles from The Dublin Drag Orchestra.
“With her sophisticated style and unique delivery of Folk, Traditional and Early Music songs, Caitriona O’Leary is no ordinary chanteuse. Her most recent recording The Wexford Carols is a seasonal mix, and a collaborative work with guests: Grammy nominee Roseanne Cash, Welsh singer Rhiannon Giddens and Tom Jones.
The twelve carols, all centuries old, narrate the biblical Christian story, lyrics interwoven intricately with orchestral, sometimes folksy musical arrangement. Produced by Joe Henry and Heresy Records, The Wexford Carols should be all-year-round recommended listening.”
