Film: Unbroken Song

An Offaly County Council Commemorative Project

Our ways may have changed, but our songs are still with us, alive in memory and voice, passed down through generations.

Its amazing how fresh this music, and these stories, still feel today  – given that they are the same songs used 100 years ago at the beginning of our State when daily life was very different (my grandfather’s time).

For generations, emigration has been a part of our story, and over that time the Irish landscape took on an almost sacred place in memories of those that left.

The land became more than just scenery, it was the memory of home — of identity – of belonging. And when people couldn’t physically go back, which was the case 100 years ago, they could still turn their minds to the fields of home.

And in much the same way, the people of the stories became part of our folklore.

Their lives, their loves, their losses —were passed down through song until the person at the heart of that story became something more than themselves. A character. A legend. A story that belonged to everyone – they became part of our folklore.

This goes someway to explaining the reasoning behind my paintings, some featured here through the storytelling.

In this short film we celebrate all this wonderful heritage of storytelling and song – ever mindful of the many changes to place and peoples names over the years, in order to tell a better tale to that parish audience.  And in many cases totally new words would be put to an existing melody.