Irish Tradition : Skara Brae - Ardai Cuain

[KiboL4]

Is it not the finest album with traditional Irish music?

[fucheduck]

so where is this Skara Brae, ireland or scotland?

[UISTMAN59]

@fucheduck Skara Brae is an archaeological site in the Orkney Islands in Scotland

[fucheduck]

@UISTMAN59 thanks, I thought it was a village.

those photos are striking, the farmland in America(Oklahoma where I'm from) only looks like that after a long rain.(and we hardly ever get that!)

[UISTMAN59]

@fucheduck We get plenty of long periods of rain - unfortunately we can't export it to you :-(

[UISTSUNSET4]

Some really nice pictures of traditional, or traditional style homes from Celtic country! However, I have to tell you that the singer is certainly NOT the late Micheal O Domhnaill, though he did do a version of that song, in the early 80's, with Kevin Burke...

[UISTMAN59]

@UISTSUNSET4 Much as I dislike disagreeing with one who has such a great channel name I can tell you that this is definitely by Skara Brae, from the album "Skara Brae " and I have never read anywhere that Daithi Sproule did the lead vocals on any of the tracks. If , as you say , he did a version with Kevin Burke could you please supply more details, as I would love to hear that. :-)

[UISTSUNSET4]

@UISTMAN59 Of course it's 'Skara Brae' - I should have realised! However it is actually Daithi Sproule who did the vocals on this one. His voice is quite different, and not as powerful as Micheal's. Though the CD is amazing - I tend to watch the 2005 concert from Dhun na nGall (Donegal) more - for the visuals, the chat, and the more mature sound. When I mentioned another version - I was of course referring to the album 'Portland' - a wonderful and truly original production! - Buiochas!

[UISTMAN59]

@UISTSUNSET4 Thanks for that. I'll channge the notes a bit. Did you see my post of "Irish Tradition : Kevin Burke & Micheal Ui Domhnaill"?

[LindsayCurran]

Ravishingly lovely job you've done here - picture after picture - Uist - the other islands - Ireland: Derryadda, Ballyhean, Castlebar, County Mayo - the finer points differences inIrish vs Scottish roof thatching - the immortal Michael Ui Domhnaill singing the Gaelige -*****

[UISTMAN59]

Thanks again for your kind notes Lindsay - you are fairly going through my posts (thanks for that too!) :-)

[Finbarheerlen]

Hi Iain,

Aj, must have made the wrong remark... ;-). Last summer I've spend my first holiday in Scotland, on Lewis and it was beautiful, but still, from my first visit to Ireland, it felt like coming home, so I'm afraid my dream is living in Ireland and coming to Scotland for my holidays....

[Finbarheerlen]

These houses look all so great, it's my dream to move over to Ireland one day and live in such a cottage.

Thanks for showing!

[UISTMAN59]

You're welcome but you could do better and move over to the Scottish Islands and live in such a cottage :-) As I stated in the notes, up to 1:54 the photos are from Scotland :-) Best regards Iain ..

[maamvalley]

Lovely photographs...my husband was a roof thatcher in Connemara in the 80's...thank you for posting this!

[UISTMAN59]

Thank you for taking time to comment. My younger brother thatched roofs when he had just left school - some thirty years ago. I never tried it myself!

[Tena46]

Beautiful Video..T

[UISTMAN59]

Thank you for taking time to comment.

[jazz1foru]

2:20 looks like a painting,very nice.God Bless

[UISTMAN59]

It does but its a real place. It is at Derryadda, Ballyhean, Castlebar, County Mayo. See conorscottage dot com

[mactcampbell]

Very nice voice and song. I agree about the guitar, it should have been more intimate. The dwellings/cottages look so nice, quaint, and full of character, compared to the average dwelling in North America.

[fiachraconn]

The photos are fab. Have to agree with the other comment im afraid. I loved the song but i dont think the guitar did it any justice. The playing seemed a bit modern for the song.

[UISTMAN59]

I tend to agree, although it was 'modern' in the seventies. I think that it is a bit dated now, and I would hope that accompaniment nowadays would be a bit more mellow. I had hoped that the version on 'Portland' would be better but it's much the same.

[UISTMAN59]

Thanks for your comment Maureen. It is unusual, and perhaps a bit intrusive, but I still like it.

[mactcampbell]

I'm curious about how the thatched roofs stand up to high winds. I live in Cape Breton and the wind howls here almost non stop.

[UISTMAN59]

In Scotland, rushes are secured by netting weighed down by stones, you can see the stones in the photos but not the netting.

In Ireland I think the roof is held together by spars pinned down by scallops. The thatcher works upwards covering each spar with the next bundle of thatch. I don't know if they use netting.

[maureenderry]

Thank you...A very unusual arrangement. The guitar accompaniment is interesting and clever but I find it unsympathetic to the song. Maybe I am just used to singing it my way. I do love the Gaelic.