In the Home of my Ancestors
Following the birth of my daughter Caithlin in 1995 I began researching my family history. I discovered that in 1854 my paternal great great grandfather Michael O'Loghlen left County Clare, Ireland to sail to Port Adelaide, South Australia after the potato famine of the 1840s. Eleven years later my maternal great grandfather John Henry Cahill made the same voyage. This album is an attempt by one Australian to understand their homes, history and hopes whilst in the land of my Ancestors.
Gavin O'Loghlen
Hear the CD
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Tracks featured :
An Bhoireann - (The Burren.)
- a slow and beautiful Irish Gaelic vocal piece with rich harmonies and huge keyboard sounds
This was the region in County Clare, Ireland where my paternal great great grandfather Michael O'Loghlen lived. He was born in 1811 near Corofin on the edge of the Burren. It is an incredibly hard and desolate area, a sprawling area of bare limestone rock, parts of which remind me of the face of the moon. Yet in the harshness, there is a beauty that transcends whatever man has done to subdue it. The language spoken in the region is Gaelic.
Flease de speartha liath (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
brat baisti ró fhuar (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
susa chré bhocht tanaí fós - fós tháinig siad - ag treabh
is le toil bua.
D'eitrigh carraig crua (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
i bhfoscadh faoi chlocha (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
chuir an chre scainte fós - fós thainig siad - le hór
is duil sa tiarnas.
Caught 'tween the heaven and the sea
you must dance to the piper and the tune.
On, on you watch as each holds sway
and they dance on the sad face of the moon
Caoineadh na bpaisti (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
fuil is dúnmharú (cuir - bainfear mas cuirfear)
do chuir sibh na hocrai fós - fós thainig siad - le claiomh
is caointe cráite.
Caught 'tween the heaven and the sea
you must dance to the piper and the tune.
On, on you watch as each holds sway
and they dance on the sad face of the moon
English Translation
A garland of grey skies (sow - they will reap all they sow)
a mantle of too cold rain (sow - they will reap all they sow)
a blanket of poor thin soil still - still they came ploughing
with the will to win.
Furrowed the hard rock (sow - they will reap all they sow)
sheltered under stones (sow - they will reap all they sow)
planted the scanty soil still - still they came - with gold
and the will to rule.
The crying of the children (sow - they will reap all they sow)
the blood and the murder (sow - they will reap all they sow)
you buried the hungry still - still they came - with swords
and desolate crying.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Electric guitars, drums, percussion, Prophet and Arp keyboards, whistles, vocals
Angelee Theodoros : Lead vocals Jacqui Yeo : Vocals Anne Dormer : Fretless bass
Music and words written by Gavin O'Loghlen Gaelic translations by Cáit Wallace
In the Mists of Lough Derg
- a gentle instrumental with whistles and keyboards
This is an area of great beauty where my maternal great grandfather John Henry Cahill lived. He was born in 1848 in the now extinct hamlet of Knockatunna, six miles west of Lough Derg in County Clare. On our first morning camping on the shores of Lough Derg, we were surrounded by a mist so thick that all one could hear was the lapping of water and the beating of one's heart. The mist lasted all day.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Electric guitars, bass, keyboards, whistle
Music written by Gavin O'Loghlen
Carraig an Chaistil - (The Rock of Cashel)
- majestic Gaelic vocals, soaring lead guitar, whistle and pipe organ finale
The Rock of Cashel is a prominent feature in County Tipperary. It has been a pagan ceremonial site, a Roman fort, the throne of Brian Boru ( Ireland's only united king - and local Clare boy made good ), a cathedral and now a ruin. And as each passing generation has claimed domination over all, only the Rock has survived. It struck me as a grand and majestic site, towering above the petty aspirations of man.
Ar nós aisling d'eirigh siad is thuit ag rince 'sna lasracha
ag canadh don báisteach canadh draoithe, sean cluichí
claiomh na nGall go hárd léan géar na bpáisti
Brian Ború chun troda is báis crón an rí ní raibh i ndán
Ar nós aisling d'eirigh siad is thuit mánaigh ar maidin
ag freagairt an ghlaoi 'sioladh creidimh na Roimhe
mainistir dóite sios scris chróin le cinn cruinn
aisling is clocha briste ach, nach agamsa atá an sceal.
English Translation
And like a dream - they rose and fell - dancing in the flames
chanting to the rain Druid songs and pagan games.
Viking sword held high bitter anguish of the children
Brian Boru to fight and die the crown of the King was not to be.
And like a dream - they rose and fell - monks in the morning
answering the call sowing the faith of Rome - to all.
Monasteries burnt down crowns destroyed by Roundheads
broken dreams and broken stones - but what a story I have.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic 12 string and electric guitars, drums, military snare, bass, percussion, bodhrans, keyboards, low and tin whistles, vocals
Angelee Theodoros : Lead vocals
Music and words written by Gavin O'Loghlen Gaelic translations by Cáit Wallace
Clogháns
- a bit of bagpipe reggae with guitars and fiddle
This a fun instrumental piece that has an amusing side story. Clogháns are beehive shape dry stone huts found on the bottom of Dingle Peninsular in County Kerry. Apparently, some scholar discovered these overgrown huts and believed he had stumbled upon the lost ancient medieval city of Glenfahan - the greatest concentration of Clogháns found in Europe. The imagination ran wild, monks praying in isolation in their little huts, peace, tranquility and devotion. Unfortunately, it was later revealed they had been built in the 1920's and used for storing cooling milk, and later for housing pigs.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic and electric guitars, bodhran, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, highland pipes
Stephanie Graeber : Violin
Music written by Gavin O'Loghlen
The Two Donkeys of Sliabh na hEalbha
- a silly song with accordion, fiddle and guitars
We camped on Sliabh na hEalbha, a mountain of frightening desolation on the Burren on County Clare. The next morning we went for a walk. On the way we were approached by two very scruffy, unkempt donkeys, who relieved us of all our biscuits, apples and snack bars. They really appeared to be the kings of the mountain.
When she was only seventeen my mother was a beauty queen
sought fame and fortune , so she ran away.
But somewhere west in County Clare she stopped to rest and then and there
she met a young man and just had to stay.
Da asail i mbun an tsleibhe
Da asail i mbun an lae
Ar Sliabh Elbha inniu
and we're here to stay.
So some months later I was born into this barn we called a home
the birth was easy, but the times were hard.
As I grew older, we grew poor with farming rocks and little more
two pigs, two donkeys and an old grey mare.
Da asail i mbun an tsleibhe
Da asail i mbun an lae
Ar Sliabh Elbha inniu
and we're here to stay.
So Da' he has an idea to solve our being poor
we'll chase the stock to Elva's top and offer a reward
and when the press come streaming in for rustler's tales amd more
they'll pay, and they'll pay and they'll pay......
So Da' he called a meetin', the neighbours came in force
the vote was taken and arrangements made.
Take all the cows and horses, the pigs and goats and sheep
but leave the donkeys 'cause they're too damn cheap.
* * * * *
The months went by and no- one came, the neighbours all held Da' to blame
the stock had vanished and the banks foreclosed.
The donkeys on the other hand had forged a very happy band
of well fed animals with equity.
Two donkeys joined the union, the E.E.C. and more
creamed every subsidy that they could find.
Two donkeys rule the mountain, two donkeys saved the day
they bought Slieve Elva and they're here to stay
here to stay
here to stay - okay!
English Translation
Two donkeys rule the mountain
Two donkeys save the day
on Sliabh Elbha today
Gavin O'Loghlen :Acoustic guitars, drums, bass, percussion, whistle, keyboards, lead vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin
Harry Theodoros: Accordion, vocals Angelee Theodoros : Vocals
Anne Dormer : Vocals Jacqui Yeo : Vocals
Malachy O'Reilly : Voice
Music & words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
Gallorus Oratory
- from pagan rhythms, to Gregorian chants to frenetic tin whistle playing all in one song
Gallorus Oratory is a beautifully preserved early Christian church found on Dingle Peninsular in County Kerry. It was probably built in the tenth century, and is constructed entirely of unmortered dry stone with a hole for a window and an open doorway. The site was probably a pagan ceremonial site before the church was built, and is now fenced off from a car park. It seemed to be a metaphor for the music of the area - the tin whistle. One could imagine the tuneless blowing of air through shells and pipes in pagan rituals, then the subduing of that enthusiasm with the imposition of Gregorian chants and tightly controlled religious music, until finally the passion and fervour unleashes itself in the frenetic folk music of the people.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic and electric guitars, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, whistle, vocals
Anne Dormer : Vocals
Music & words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
Ballinskelligs Bay
- a singalong song with high energy guitars, fiddle and Northumbrian, Uilleann, Highland and Scottish small pipes
Ballinskelligs Bay is on the Ring of Kerry. As we passed through, we were impressed by the beauty of the beach - pure white sand, clear water and clean fresh air. And in the middle of the beach sat a cow. Some form of Irish adjistment? The characters of Paddy O'Loghlen and Percy Doyle are my grandfather and great uncle from each side of my family. They never met.
When the frothel of the Guinness had diminished in the glass
and the trauma of the morning was a faint remembrance
Patrick John O'Loghlen and Michael MacGuinn had settled down to talk
about their disappointment.
Said Paddy O'Loghlen to Micky MacGuinn "I've bin doin' some tinking"
Well their cow had come in last at the Lisdoonvarna fair
and big money had been won but it wasn't theirs.
"Walking bag of bones" said the judges report
how to own the fatted calf this would take some more thought.
Said Paddy O'Loghlen to Micky MacGuinn "We'll be doin' some walkin' "
So they took themselves to the long main street and they pondered as they wandered along
when right before their eyes shone the neon sign "Percy Doyle - Your Man for Land".
He could offer them agistment if they paid up front and the cow went on the truck today
he had two hundred acres of virgin soil lots of water and clean fresh air.
Done !
* * * *
Well twelve months soon passed and the fair was near
and the cow would need to be returned
they had high expectations of their coming prize wads of punts and more to burn.
So they got themselves a truck from their neighbour Dan
and they set off on a Thursday morn
they were following the map Percy Doyle had said would lead them to the Promised Land.
So they passed Ennis, Limerick and Castlemaine, Feaklecally and then Derreen
and there was the cow thin and gaunt and down
on two hundred acres of white beach sand!
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, electric guitar, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, highland pipes, small pipes, whistle, lead vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Jacqui Yeo : Vocals
Jack Brennan : Northumbrian pipes, uillean pipes
Malachy O'Reilly : Voice Music & words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
And the Donkeys inherit the Earth
- joyous reel for guitars, fiddle and bagpipes
Gavin O'Loghlen :Acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, electric guitar, drums, bass, percussion, bodhran, keyboards, highland bagpipes
Stephanie Graeber : Violin
Music written by Gavin O'Loghlen
The Famine Suite :
The potato famine of the 1840's was the single most important factor in the modern shape of Ireland and indeed of Australia. From 1845 until 1851, potatoes, the staple diet of the agricultural classes in Western Ireland, were savaged. Both my great great grandfathers were affected and it led to their emigration to Australia.
(i) Absentee Landlords 1840
- gentle vocals with guitars, accordion and string quartet
In Ireland at the time there were two distinct classes - the labourers, or Cotters as they called themselves, and the landlords. The latter lived in large houses in either Dublin or England, while the Cotters lived in hovels of one and two rooms dotted over the estates. Michael O'Loghlen and John Henry Cahill were both Cotters.
A cry in the night, welcome to a cruel world the Angel of Death on a crowded road
and the baby lies, a lifeless form in a dank and dirty room
a mother crying, sad, forlorn
twelve haunted eyes look on rent is due and the moneys gone
welcome to the Cotter's same sad song.
And I've seen these same scenes in a thousand households
and I've heard this same sound like a thousand screams
touched those same cold dead hands....
...... in my dreams
When fate dealt the cards, it was from a crooked deck
the Angel of Wealth held a loaded hand
from a window high in Dublin's best chat the happy gloating guests
a rotten borough's win has lined the nest
new social rounds to please the wife the chase, the bottle and the pipe
welcome to the Landlord's way of life.
And the social divide's like a yawning chasm
and the same cards are dealt to the same extremes
yet the truth will prevail......
...... in your dreams.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, highland pipes, lead vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Suzannah Graeber : Violin
Angelee Theodoros : Cello Jacqui Yeo : Vocals Malachy O'Reilly : Voice
Harry Theodoros : Accordion
Music and words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
(ii) Blight 1845
- vocals with guitars, whistle, accordion and string quartet
In 1845 the first instance of "Phytophthera infestans" was detected. Within two years it had totally destroyed all potato crops in western Ireland. The characters of Catherine Keane and Michael James O'Loghlen are my great grandparents.
And in 1841 they thought the war had just been won
they had carved a field once claimed by sheets of rock
And in 1842 they both had come to claim their dues
with a harvest of fresh praties for the pot.
Hearts on fire
brave young lives
Catherine Keane and Michael James
the future is bright.
And in 1844 they both had need to fear no more
they had found a little cottage by a stream
And in 1845 they planted every inch in sight
for the new life soon to join them and their dream.
Warm wet days
harvest raised
blight and canker in the fields
a future destroyed.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic guitars, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, low and tin whistle, lead vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Suzannah Graeber : Violin
Angelee Theodoros : Cello, lead vocals
Harry Theodoros : Accordion Jacqui Yeo : Vocals
Music & words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
(iii) Winter 1847
- vocal with piano, whistle and string quartet
The winter of 1847 was the coldest and wettest in the 19th century. It followed the total destruction of the potato harvest. One million Cotters died. An eyewitness account claims that the west coast of Ireland consisted of "huts of shivering wretches starving to death". The most commonly heard cry from children was "Ochras" - hungry.
Raining on the rooftops, beating at the door
huddled in the peat haze, frozen fingers thaw
autumns slipping away, winters waiting for our fall.
Harvest lies in tatters, pratie fields in ruins
empty children's bellies singing hungry tunes
and its slipping away feels like hope has left us all.
Ucrach
Hungry
Raining on the rooftops, famine at the door, hollow eyed, forboding, never ending
shivering in shadows, bodies wrapped in rags, starving in the silence, no salvation.
Death waits at the doorstep, whispers through the walls
calls his children to him, unrelenting
stolen under darkness, buried under stone
its time to cut the cord, to leave our farms, our homes.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic and electric guitars, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, whistle, lead vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Suzannah Graeber : Violin
Angelee Theodoros : Cello, lead vocals
Jacqui Yeo : Vocals Malachy O'Reilly : Voice
Music and words written by Gavin O'Loghlen & Anne Dormer
(iv) Eviction 1849
- slow lament for bagpipes, accordion and string quartet
After four years of crop devastation the country was in ruins. The landlords used the famine as an excuse to clear the estates. One million Cotters emigrated to America, England and Australia.
Gavin O'Loghlen : Keyboards, highland pipes
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Suzannah Graeber : Violin Angelee Theodoros : Cello
Harry Theodoros : Accordion Anne Dormer : Fretless bass
Music written by Gavin O'Loghlen
(v) Cork 1854
- The Voyage
- haunting vocals with low whistle, Northumbrian pipes, lead guitar and string quartet
The Voyage - In 1854 my great great grandfather Michael O'Loghlen, his wife Ellen and three children under the age of 7, set sail in the "Joseph Rowan" for Port Adelaide, South Australia. It was a place in which he had no relatives or friends. The colony was 18 years old. My other great grandfather John Henry Cahill repeated the same journey eleven years later . He was 17.
Like ghosts at dawn we stood on the quay
the mists in the the mountains, the surge of the sea and the sun lost behind the clouds.
Gone were the gleans, the rinee, the reels
the mist in the mornings, the Cotters, the creels and the sun lost behind the clouds.
Six months we sailed through tempest and gales
with stars unfamiliar we drifted away from the land lost behind the clouds.
And in the clear light of morning
there we saw
Terra Australis
our future is born.
* * * * * *
In this land of the vast horizon
searing sun and the smell of sweat
following the plough shear
ever on and on and on and on ...............
From the land of a thousand fathers
through the seas of a million dreams
towards our children's children
we move on and on and on and on .........
Gavin O'Loghlen : Acoustic and electric guitars, drums, bass, percussion, keyboards, whistles, vocals
Stephanie Graeber : Violin Suzannah Graeber : Violin
Angelee Theodoros : Cello, lead vocals
Jacqui Yeo : Vocals Harry Theodoros : Vocals Anne Dormer : Vocals
Anthony Wilson : Didjeridu Jack Brennan : Northumbrian pipes
Music and words written by Gavin O'Loghlen
Illustrations by
Anne Dormer
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In the Home of my Ancestors
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