Peadar Ó Riada talks about his dad's creation Mise Éire as it opens the Cork International Choral Festival

As Mise Éire features in the opening concert of the Cork International Choral Festival, Jo Kerrigan talks to Seán Ó Riada’s son Peadar about its creation

ANYONE who was around in the 1960s will remember vividly the impact of Seán Ó Riada’s Mise Éire, the music he composed especially for George Morrison’s film of the same name.

When the score was released on record, sales exploded, but uniquely, not just among the cogniscenti, the first-nighters, but right through the ranks from elderly patriots to university students. Everybody loved it, everybody could hum the tunes, it was heard as often at teenage parties as in select concerts. Those haunting melodies were as familiar – if not more so – than the national anthem.