Ahead of their concert at The National Concert Hall, Dublin The Weaving recorded three new live sessions at The People’s Museum of Limerick the first of which ‘P Stands For Paddy’ [Roud 419] is sung by pianist Cáit Ní Riain.
Traditional singing, not unlike yoga, offers an experience in which we can connect with our emotions, our traditions, our code of ethics, our bodies, our breaths, and our relationship with others.
Cáit Ní Riain, The Weaving
“I learnt this song from the singing of the wondrous sean-nós maestro, Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, says Cáit. “His singing has greatly influenced my understanding of what it means to have command of a craft and to use it for the unbridled expression of human emotion. The ease, power, and comfort that he brings to his songs has always penetrated into the core of my being and gives me a source of unending inspiration. His singing reminds me of the heights of expression a human is capable of, and in particular, the capacity that Irish traditional singing holds for the communication and transmutation of difficult emotions.
“‘As I Roved Out’, or ‘P stands for Paddy’, as it is more commonly known has been close to my heart for many years. I love to sing a song where the woman has agency. In this song, the woman is giving a full, clear, and bold expression of which man she wants, which men she dislikes, her power to disregard the opinions of others, and her ability to get what she wants. Not every song has such a strong and positive vocalisation of the desire of the woman and her determination to fulfill that. I feel a tone of true love from the woman in the song and her ability to overcome any obstacle on the path to its fulfilment.
“The beautiful backdrop of nature in this song is a balm to my soul. It roots in me a deeper connection to land, to my indigenous tradition. As I step into the singing of the song, placing myself in the scene of the opening verse, sitting under an old oak tree, I feel the deeply grounding context of the natural world providing a mirror and shelter for us.
Traditional singing, not unlike yoga, offers an experience in which we can connect with our emotions, our traditions, our code of ethics, our bodies, our breaths, and our relationship with others as we express ourselves. I find it to be a very beautiful, grounding, and health-giving practice; I feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have inherited this legacy of Irish traditional singing.”
The Weaving is Méabh Begley on button accordion, Owen Spafford on fiddle and Cáit Ní Riain on piano. The trio bring together the rich musical traditions of Corca Dhuibhne, Co. Tipperary and Northern England and find their musical expression and styling from the Gaeltacht of West Kerry where they first met. Having embarked on a debut tour of Northern England last summer (as The Méabh Begley Trio), they look forward to performing across Britain, Ireland and France in 2023 with the generous support of Culture Ireland.
The Weaving on tour
You’ll find tour dates for The Weaving on the Tradfolk events calendar.
