Visionaries 1916 by Lorcan Mac Mathuna

Songs and music from the pens of the leaders of the 1916 rising and signatories of the proclamation: James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett. "The ultimate musical tribute to 1916 "

SLEEVE NOTES INTRODUCTION
Plunkett, Pearse, Connolly, Mac Diarmada, Ceannt, Clarke,
McDonagh… seven names which blaze in the firmament of Irish
history.

Clarke and Mac Diarmada, working in secret, represented a link with the old revolutionary traditions, but it was the writers with “the gift of fiery speech” who articulated the soul of the nation. Who expressed and nurtured a deep seated sentiment which, despite brutal cultural suppression, flickered in the recesses of the Irish psyche.

“People will say hard things of us now, but we shall be remembered by posterity and blessed by unborn generations” Pearse wrote, as he contemplated his imminent execution. Alone, and reviled by the mob, he was aware of the significance of the moment and his actions and he knew that, in his writings, he had laid out his legacy. -The gift of fiery speech, and the prophet’s eye.

The old Fenian motto for action ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity’ was to bear fruit in a most unexpected way.

It was not the weakened military state of the empire, with its attention and resources diverted by the European conflict, which the 1916 Rising attacked successfully; but the very idea of empire. What had seemed certain no longer seemed unassailable and the colonial edifices of the past no longer seemed so certain. The empire’s days were numbered.


Disenfranchisement was the great legacy of the Great War and it was in this context that the vision offered by the leaders of The Easter Rising achieved such an irresistible momentum. 1918, 1921, none of these could have been possible without 1916; and the legacy of 1916 took shape in the writings of its leaders.

The Rising was led by deep thinkers and artist with integrity and vision whose essays and poetry stand out as some of the best produced by any Irish writer in history. Patrick Pearse’s poetry has a beauty which sees to the heart of rural Ireland, and of nature itself. Joseph Plunkett wrote profoundly of the spirit, employing veils of obscurity whilst paradoxically expressing incredibly clarity of image. Connolly wrote ballads of the downtrodden and the rights of the poor, and Ceannt expressed himself in the music of the hearth.

Within the fulcrum of activity of the rising and its aftermath we get a brilliant if brief view of the passions and ideas which drove the leaders of the rising to take the stand they took. But this was only the culmination of a journey which took in their lifetimes and a cultural memory of generations. Their writings, both at this point and throughout their lives, reveal their vision and dedication to ideas of cultural renewal, and the determination of a New Ireland.

From the cradle Lorcán Mac Mathúna was surrounded by traditional irish music. Sean-Nós singing was the soundscape of his youth, the air he breathed.

Drawing on the deep roots of Sean-Nós he has brought the fundamentals of this ancient tradition into contemporary collaborations and compositions. He is truly a modern singer who sits comfortably with ancient tradition and the avant-garde.

lorcanmacmathuna.com