My Songs

The images of Art Deco radios contain mp3 tracks of songs I have composed over the past few years. Click on the radio icons to listen to the tracks. The historical and political context behind each song is explained. I am currently doing my first solo album so these tracks are mostly first takes.

The links to the songs on youtube are taken mostly from two albums I recorded as Henry Marten's Ghost.

My music on youtube

Two Pennies (Lalor)

Grace (O' Meara)

Rinty Monaghan (Lalor)

The Galway Shawl (Trad)

Kathleen's Choice (Lalor)

Only our rivers run free (McConnell)

The Wild Rover (Trad)

Tom Williams (Steele)

Step it out Mary (McCarthy)

The Irish Rover (Trad)

Raglan Road (Kavanagh)

Spancil Hill (Considine)

Follow me up to Carlow (McCall)

Polkas

Star of the County Down C/W the Monaghan Jig

Back home in Derry (B Sands)

The Belfast Linen Industry was a huge employer at the turn of the 1900s in Belfast Northern Ireland. Conditions were grim for the women and children who worked there. Many died from disease and the inhuman working conditions. James Connolly had called for strikes whilst leader of the Trade Unions in Belfast. The song 1911 Walkout is about one such strike.

The Flooding of Tryweryn Valley in Wales was a catalyst for the Free Wales Army. The inhumanity shown to the Tiny Welsh village of Capel Celyn is documented on the BBC archive. I wrote the song Cofia Dryweryn after seeing footage of the village being drowned. A gross act of inhumanity that should never be forgotten.

The Exiled was written recently and it concerns that dark period of the Northern Ireland troubles, internment. The British government in an attempt to crush the IRA locked up without trial thousands of men and boys. Many people left during these times to escape the on-going street violence and the flawed policy of internment opened the floodgates to IRA recruitment in Belfast and Derry. The new Northern Ireland peace process has brought many aged exiles home.

During the Irish Famine in the 1800s a merchant ship called the Jeannie Johnston carried famine victims to Canada. I wrote this song when I read a story about a boy born on the eve of the first sailing.

Two Pennies is a song about Thomas Millar a man who worked and sailed on the Titanic. Belfast lost many in the tragedy that happened on the 14th of April 1912. This song is based on the true story of a widower with two sons trying to escape the sectarianism and poverty of Belfast Northern Ireland. This version played on BBC radio Wales features Lowri Evans (See Links Page) and is played with kind permission of BBC/Wales.

TO BUY CDs

To buy a CD you can go to CD Baby or various download sites including ITunes. You can also buy them direct for £10 each which includes postage or two for £18 including postage. Paypal can be used paying paddypip1@aol.com. Or contact blackhorseprod@aol.com for details