Songs are great for learning a language and I love to sing Christy Moore and Dubliners songs around the house, but who are the gaeltacht singers with really large recorded collections of songs that can be sung unaccompanied (i.e. sean nós and ballads)?

I found a few singers with one album but what I'm looking for is singers like Joe Heaney, with almost six hours of audio (half singing in Irish, half explaining in English) plus transcript and translations here:

https://www.joeheaney.org/en/category/a ... -ngaeilge/

Plus a double CD all in Irish, and another three CDs half in Irish. That's what I need.

Are there any other gaeltacht singers with a catalogue like this?

I found one CD of Darach Ó Catháin and one of Caitlín Maude at:

https://siopa.gael-linn.ie/sites/gael-l ... c/sean-nos

I've little hope for Caitlín. She sadly died young and that one CD is only partly songs (rest is poetry).

Darach looks like he should have a lot of songs recorded but I only found that one Gael Linn CD, and it's only 35 minutes long. Youtube has four songs by him.

Darach, Caitlín, and Joe are all natives of Connacht, which is the dialect I'm trying to learn (but do mention singers from other regions, so this thread can help other learners in the future).

There's a lot of videos on the TG4 Trad channel on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgfCO6 ... 4TQ/videos

But I don't know the dialects or "purity" of their Irish, and there's neither transcript nor translation.

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Pages I made:
(These are unfortunately offline for the near future, but they'll be back!)

• Teaching Young Kids Irish (It's just my notes, a work in progress.)
• CD transcript and translations for the book Learning Irish

Sorry I can't help at all. I have absolutely no knowledge (and frankly, insufficient interest) in this subject.

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ЯГОН ТОҶИК НЕСТ ИНҶО???

In Donegal, there are people like Gearóidín Bhreatnach, Lillis Ó Laoire, Noeleen Ní Cholla, Máire Ní Choilm, Jimmy Dinny Ó Gallchóir, Caitlín Ní Dhomhnaill, Éamonn Mac Ruairí...

See here:
https://www.cic.ie/en/music/non-digital ... ulster/P10

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Great! I hadn't seen that. And they've sections for the other Gaeltacht regions too.

Recommendations for specific CDs still welcome though. CDs are hit and miss. Some are more than an hour, all in Irish, with the words and maybe even a translation. Then others are 35 minutes long, half in English or instrumental, and no notes at all.

I rang the CNAG shop on Harcourt st. and they suggested the Seoltaí Seidte double CD with a booklet of the words + English translations. But it's a compilation with seven singers, and I might end up buying CDs by the few Connacht singers so then it'd just be duplicates. The singers are:

Connemara: Joe Heaney (7 songs), Sean 'ac Dhonncha (7 songs), Diarmuid O Flatharta (1 song)

Kerry: Sean de hOra (1 song)

Not sure: Aine Ni Ghallchobhair (3 songs), Aodh O Duibheannaigh (2 songs), Maire Ni Dhonnchadha (2 songs)

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Pages I made:
(These are unfortunately offline for the near future, but they'll be back!)

• Teaching Young Kids Irish (It's just my notes, a work in progress.)
• CD transcript and translations for the book Learning Irish

Really?? The same one who is at NUIG?

I had no idea he was a singer!!

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ЯГОН ТОҶИК НЕСТ ИНҶО???

Funnily enough it was comments by yourself, and a few others here, that made me go searching for these songs.

There's consensus here that to learn "real" Irish, the ideal is to listen to first-language speakers from Gaeltacht families. And I think it was Bríd herself that lamented that the Irish of the current Gaeltacht speakers is less rich than the previous generation's. Which makes sense, given the situation.

So what options exist for learning to speak Irish by listening to the previous generation? (Not a rhetorical question, I'm interested in anyone's answer to this.) An advantage of songs is that, unlike TV programs or educational materials, it's normal to learn songs by heart, imitate the speaker, and listen to them over and over.

Since 99% of people can't get sufficient regular interaction with Gaeltacht native speakers, I'm thinking now that any serious learner should consider learning old Gaeltacht songs.

This is how to develop a good pronunciation and a feel for the language (to know when something sounds right or wrong). Correcting these things later is pure struggle. So drilling into my head a hundred songs by a Gaeltacht speaker born a hundred years ago, should put me on the right path :-) That's my theory. Maybe in two year's time I'll be able to say if it worked.

For anyone wanting to listen to some Joe Heaney, here're some songs you might already know:

https://www.joeheaney.org/en/cailleach-an-airgid/
https://www.joeheaney.org/en/an-bhfaca- ... heamaisin/
https://www.joeheaney.org/en/bean-phaidin/
https://www.joeheaney.org/en/connla-2/
https://www.joeheaney.org/en/oro-se-do-bheatha-abhaile/
https://www.joeheaney.org/en/peigin-leitir-moir/

And his explanations of the songs often include interesting descriptions of Ireland's history, like this:

https://www.joeheaney.org/en/an-raibh-t ... -gcarraig/

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Pages I made:
(These are unfortunately offline for the near future, but they'll be back!)

• Teaching Young Kids Irish (It's just my notes, a work in progress.)
• CD transcript and translations for the book Learning Irish

By all means! Certainly a worthy effort. Maybe I will try at some point.

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ЯГОН ТОҶИК НЕСТ ИНҶО???

I agree totally. That's a large part of how I learned as well.

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WARNING: Intermediate speaker - await further opinions, corrections and adjustments before acting on my advice.
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I too like to listen to songs for pronunciation, and translating their lyrics to learn new words. Heck, I actually pften start learning new languages to understand the songs, as was with Irish for me. ;-)

For Ulster Irish I’d recommend (though not typical sean-nós) Albert Fry’s singing, which I find very clear (there are a few songs on Youtube, eg. Síos an Sliabh, A Shéamuis Mhic Mhurchaidh, Cumha an Fhile).

I’d like to know more Munster singers, I’ve listened to Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Eilís Ní Shúilleabháin – and the last one also has IMO pretty clear pronunciation. And I’ve found online a few songs performed by Cór Fear na nDéise (but understanding choir singing is much harder than solo singers).

This wouldn't be a single singer, but this cd of Corn Uí Riada winners from 1972-2007 is probably good for hearing some good Irish. I didn't get it for that reason but from hearing it and reading the singer biographies in the jacket, I think most or all of them are Gaeltacht speakers, and at least the ones back in the 70s would have learned Irish at a time when it was very robust, vs. modern Gaeltacht speakers who might not speak it like the old days.

https://www.amazon.com/Riada-Buaiteoiri ... B01K8LZ9MO