The future is bright for the sean-nós tradition

Ó GHLÚIN go glúin, from generation to generation, the sean-nós singing tradition is passed carefully down in Cork’s Múscraí Gaeltacht: from the 200-year-old songs of Máire Bhuí Ní Laoire, to Bess Cronin, Peaití Thaidhg Pheig Ó Tuama, Máire Ní Cheocháin and Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin to today’s young singers. And to Nell Ní Chróinín, winner this month of sean-nós singing’s most coveted prize, the Corn Uí Riada.

In the rugged terrain where Máire Bhuí’s battle epic, ‘Cath Chéim an Fhia’ and its ilk survive from an era when poems and songs were the social media of their day, the learning of songs rooted in their native place remains as close to the hearts of many young people today as Facebook or Twitter.

At 24, Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh native Nell Ní Chróinín is believed to be the youngest ever winner of Corn Uí Riada, the cup renamed in honour of composer Seán Ó Riada, who made the village of Cúil Aodha his home.