Éiníní - Odharnait and Sorcha Kelleher

ÉINÍNÍ is a beautiful lullaby from An Rinn (Ring), the small Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking district) near Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland. It is also an enchanting celebration of those little birds whose presence and singing lightens every heart...

Éiníní, a chroí 'stigh, codlaígí fén droighneach,
Ní baol díbh aon díth 'nocht, an cat buí ná a hál.
Ní baol ná an síofra cois leasa na luí dhó,
Ná an dobharchú thá cíocrach thíos ar an dtráigh.

Curfá / chorus

Codlaígí, éiníní, smóilíní, céirsíní,
Codlaígí éiníní sa chlaí 'muigh go sámh,
Codlaígí éiníní, smóilíní, druidíní,
Codlaígí dá bhrí sin, codlaígí go lá.

Éiníní a chroí stigh, codlaígí fén droighneach,
Ní baol daoibh na daoine thá 'na gcodladh go sámh.
Ní baol ná aon draoireacht agus mise bhur gcoimhdeacht.
Codlaígí dá bhrí sin, codlaígí go sámh.

Curfá / chorus

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Little Birdeens

Dear little birdeens of my heart, go to sleep in the thorn tree,
Nor loss nor danger to you tonight the yellow cat nor her kittens,
Nor danger from the water sprite who lurks by the fairy fort,
Nor from the voracious otter on the strand below.

Chorus

Sleep, little birdeens, little thrushes, little blackbirds,
Sleep little birdeens in the hedge outside in peace,
Sleep, little birdeens, little thrushes, little blackbirds,
So sleep, sleep until it is day.

Dear little birdeens of my heart, go to sleep in the thorn tree,
No danger to you the people who are sleeping softly.
Nor any danger from evil spells while I am beside you.
So sleep, sleep until it is day.

Chorus


This enchanting celebration of birds and of little children is sung by Odharnait and Sorcha Kelleher, the daughters of famed local singer Ann Mulqueen on their CD 'Briseann an Dúchas': www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/briseann.htm

Irish proverb: "Briseann an dúchas trí shúilibh an chait" (its nature breaks out through the eyes of the cat).

The music is played by Garry OBrien on mandolin, guitar and keyboard.
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My late mother (1909 - 2003), from Ballinagree, County Cork, used the ending een (Irish Gaelic suffix ...ín = small, little) to express her warm affection for people, animals, birds and things: boyeen, girleen, handeen, calfeen, birdeen and so on. For 'éiníní' she would have said 'birdeens', a word she used almost daily to the end of her life. She kept budg-eens' until she had to go into care. She wept when they died:

www.ballinagree.freeservers.com/nualai.html

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lullabies
• Ireland
• Odharnait and Sorcha Kelleher
• Éiníní
• An Rinn
• Ring County Waterford
• Briseann an Dúchas
• folksongs
• Gaeilge
• Gaelic
• suantraí

[muisire]

Thank you, 'childoflove', for putting into words what I have long felt about this extraordinary and tender lullaby but could not describe.

The translation was a labour of love that helped me get to the heart of the words - I am not a native speaker. I learned Irish at school in Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s and went back to it in the 1970s. I have found it to be good for everything but especially for the heart...

[muisire]

It is indeed an extraordinary lullaby, one that remains almost completely unknown outside the small Irish-speaking district of Ring in County Waterford.

The Irish words are wholly exquisite and my translation was a struggle to put into English the thoughts and feelings inspired by the lovely Gaelic words

[Londubh1]

D'éist mé le seo, tá sé go h-álainn, Níor chuala mé é ariamh cheana. Go raibh maith agaibh.

[childoflove]

Thank you so much for posting this and going through the struggle of translating it for all of us. This song feels like a warm embrace -- from a mother, childhood friends, a beloved land...

[miriamnz]

Beautiful song, but Homer Simpson's the strangest "birdeen" I've ever seen. Again, hauntingly beautiful simplicity - thanks for the upload (I'll sleep well tonight with this lullaby in mind).