This project was brought to life By Martin Butler - The same artist who brought together 23 musicians to create the Rud Eile album 10 years ago, A critically acclaimed album which did not receive the type of public support it deserved, as it was an independent project and without the support of a record company or large distributior , it's become a hidden gem of Irish music, if you don't have it ; it is as radio personality John Fitzgeralds words "a must have in any Irish music collection " Martin teamed up with renowned musician , composer , singer and songwriter John Owens to bring to life the story of remarkable Irishman in song poetry and music. Martin and Johm have compiled a team of who's who of Irish music and culture featuring two Grammy nominees , a Grammy winner six all Ireland winners and award-winning playwrights writers and actors. This is truly a remarkable undertaking, after two years of of work and research this album which is been recorded in three countries features 24 tracks and 54 artists in total has been completed. I ; Jason Downes had the good fortune to be part of this unique and have compiled some information which I hope you find interesting..... Like many stories we have started this one at the end. Here we will delve into some of the tracks in detail. Track 1 takes a verse from “Of my Poems,” from MacDonagh's last book of poems Lyrical Poems” (1913). This was the last full book of poetry published during his life. Mac Donagh’s work was not always accessible and therefore had limited success. In 1902 Yeats advising MacDonagh to not publish Through the Ivory Gate until he had found his voice in poetry and to study the Gaelic rhythm of the art, this was similar to the advice Yeats gave John Millington Synge. The capricious MacDonagh went ahead and published it anyway, although he was grateful that Yeats did allow him to dedicate to him. In this work MacDonagh explains his life and seeks to justify his works as a poet as he sometimes felt misunderstood by both reviewers and the public’s interpretation of his works. The second part is taken from James Stephens ’introduction to the political works of Thomas MacDonagh" his good friend’s execution still being fresh in Stephens mind. Tracks 2 , 3, 4 & 5. In these tracks Martin and John set out to create a thematic rather than a chronological account of Thomas Mac Donagh’s life. Martin choose poems that tell who he was as a poet and man while still capturing his wide variety of interests and influences from nature, country life, music, Irish legends, mythology, Gaelic culture and of course, love and heartache. Track 2 "Knocknacree" tells of his love for his native land especially parts of the country that still speak Gaelic and haven't been unsoiled by British rule , and also of the magic and peace he found in the woods near his hometown . The music of Sí Bheag Sí Mhór adding to the mood . the performances on track 3 shows us John Owens guitar work beautifully conjuring images of the Lark flying and gliding over the land. David Bowman creates a whimsical and skillful rendition of The Bank of Turf reel following "Mayday " it will perhaps conjure an image for you of the young Thomas playing in the woods with his siblings. Track 5 The Parting/ The Banshee. Glenn ‘Scotty’ Scott captured something truly beautiful with his unique arrangement of “The Banshee.” Normally played as a very lively reel it is reimagined here as a beautiful air by the skillful playing of Amy Basse on the fiddle and Scotty on Cittern. Martin’s performance on ‘The Parting,” capturing the young MacDonagh’s uncertainty at leaving Rockwell College. It’s placement on the album could also invoke the now rare visits to Cloughjordan after his mother’s death. Track 6 Aililiu Na Gamhna/ The Lilting Banshee. This song brought to life here with Liam Harts Connemara Gaelic. This is an ancient Gaelic song that MacDonagh enjoyed singing at social gatherings and house parties. That house party image is recreated here by John and Martin and while producing this track they told the musicians involved to relax, play loose like they would if they were at a party. Liam’s lilting was a happy accident during the recording session as he was just lilting along to the music in his headphones before a take. Track 7 "The Rose Tree" A short Poem influenced by the Romance writers like Keats and Wordsworth, here actor Warren O'Reilly represents the voice of Patrick Pearse. Track 8 In an Island. In this interlude written by Martin, he and Rob’s guitar playing capture a type of darkness and dreamlike uncertainty to invoke the difficult times in MacDonagh’s life, from his broken love affair with Mary Maguire and his mother’s death in 1908 the same year his play “When the Dawn is Come,” was put on by the Abbey theatre. The performance was uninspired and the reception mediocre. This was both a creative and tumultuous time in his life. In 1910 he went to Paris for a while to write poetry, study and find himself. Track 9 : "I heard a music sweet today," Martin's longtime friend and renowned fiddle player Tommy McCarthy composed this beautiful pieces of music "Babóg" which I believe has both an Irish and Eastern music influence. One of Ireland's hottest new stars Aoife Scott ( Frances Blacks daughter ) does a lovely version of the poem telling it like a walk through the woods culminating in a "dream of snow " with piper Tommy Keane's drones making us imagine the cold approaching winter weather and Martins tin whistle as the wind in the woods. Track 10 The Sentimentalist. John Owens and Frank Giasulo’s playing of John’s composition gives a hopeful nod to against the backdrop of melancholic lines. Track 11 ,Stanza from Envoi , In 1904 MacDonagh first introduced us to the character of the wandering gypsy "John John" he had planned a play on the character which sadly has only been discovers as an outline and not a full work . Martins Rud Eile band mate Jerry Murphy played a fantastic version of "the sweeps " it helps us to imagine the wanderlust in John John and his desire to take to the road again . Track 12 John John/ The Woman of the House/ The Longford Tinker. On many of the poems on the album, the reader represents somebody in MacDonagh's life we have Ciaran as George Russell, Thomas as Francis Ledwidge, Warren as Patrick Pearse. On this poem however, singer Aoife Clancy, a former Gaiety actress, uses her acting skills delightfully to bring the protagonist in this poem to life. She captures MacDonagh’s rural voice of the Tipperary countryside. The tunes after are thematic choices and session favorites, The Woman of the House and The Longford Tinker. It appears John John had found his way back to the road as characterized by the music. Track 13 Growing Nationalism/ Planxty Brabazon/ Post Scriptum 1913 While teaching at Saint Enda's TMD became the public face of the school because of his vibrant and outgoing personality compared to the aloof quiet and shy demeanor of head schoolmaster and close friend Patrick Pearse . He begins to rub shoulders with many important people in the literary and theatre circles of Dublin. There were many famous visitors to St Enda's all welcomed by the ebullient Tipperary man. Visitors included suffragette and writer Mrs. Dryhurst, Writers W.B Years, Major John McBride, Maude Gonne and Douglas Hyde to name a few ( 5 faculty members were executed after the Rising. Both Pearse brothers, Con Colbert, Mac Donagh and occasional lecturer Joseph Plunkett) The music points to a change in MacDonagh’s social status yet he's becoming more nationalistic as seen in PS 1913 , written after the horrendous riots that killed labor protestors during the Dublin Industrial lock out of 1913, while workers tried to change through unionism their appalling working conditions, employers reacted barbarously locking out workers and violently treating protestors . Track 14 Thomas and Muriel There's no doubting that Thomas and Muriel had an incredibly strong relationship, they loved each other dearly . However Thomas is political work took him far and wide all over Ireland and the long absence is strained their relationship at times. There was already strain on the relationship to to the fact that Muriel was a Protestant I'm Thomas a Catholic, and her family had objected her to her marrying a Catholic especially one with nationalistic aspirations. The backdrop of the beautiful waltz "crested hens " here adds to the drama of the three poems Track 15 The Ancient fight the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa. Tom Clarke had handpicked MacDonagh to Marshall and plan the biggest funeral in Ireland since the death of Irish pro home rule politician Charles Stuart Parnell idolized by Mac Donagh. This event on August 1st 1915 and on this track we feature an excerpt from Patrick Pearse's panegyric over the grave of the old Fenian which was a call to arms to the Irish Volunteers and the people of Ireland. Track 16 Down by the Glenside. The song was written by Peadar Kearney who had fought side-by-side with Mac Donagh in Jacobs factory and was assisted in escaping by Mac Donagh with many other young men before English soldiers come after the surrender and took everyone into military custody taking them to Richmond Barracks . Track 17 Easter week - Challenging Fortune . The Old Tipperary Jig is given a martial feel by playing of Dan on pipes and Steve on snare drum , what follows after surrender is a little motif on bagpipes from Tom. Along with three actual quotes from that week from Thomas MacDonagh will give you a more vivid picture of his mindset . Track18 : At the End /Captain O'Kane. This is one of Martin's favorite poems (taken from Songs of Myself 1910) it is almost a foretelling of the events of the 1916 rising and you subsequent execution. Amy Basse and Grammy nominee Janine Randall on piano create a hauntingly beautiful and melancholy version of O'Carolan’s Captain O'Kane. Martin in arranging this piece, he imagined MacDonagh's last moments hearing the notes of Captain O'Kane on the piano played by his mother, who would play for her children while they sat by the fireside reading . Track 19 Ned of the Hill: This part of the album becomes the tribute to MacDonagh in the works he influenced, and in the works written in his honor. Ned of the Hill was translated from old Gaelic to English and modern Irish by MacDonagh who never attempted to be a poet in the Irish language and believed that Irish culture through the English language was a valid and worthy endeavor andstill part of national culture, he created controversy and angered many purists, something he thankfully and rightfully ignored even if it annoyed him. For what it's worth we here agree completely with Mac Donagh that purists ensure the death of works by their intransigence to change. MacDonagh continued his works and alluded to this courted controversy in "Literature in Ireland,” stating that we can have Irish culture in both in the English and Gaelic language. Like Pearse (who did write in the Gaelic language ) both held up Belgium as an example of a multilingual culture. This song is about a Tipperary man Edward Dwyer who after battling against William of Orange lost everything after the Act of Settlement and is forced to live as a rapparee (an outlaw), where almost no one from his past will associate with him. Katie's vocals painting a vivid picture of the now wandering and homeless rapparee. Track 20 Requies/ Planxty Irwin. This piece in the voice of James Stephens captures the writers sadness at his friends death. In this excerpt taken from the introduction to "The Poetical works of Thomas Mac Donagh " written a couple of months after his execution Stephen reminisces on his friend , The music . Planxty Irwin by O'Carolan is played with delicate skill by Grammy Winner Frank Wharton and accompanied by John Owens. Track 21 Easter 1916. Gregory Grenes performs an excellent rendition as the voice of Yeats, with his conflicting emotions over the loss of his friends and a personal enemy John McBride the estranged husband of Maude Gonne the woman he loved. The end of each stanza punctuated with the (now ubiquitous) powerful line "A terrible beauty is born." Gregory's ingenious choice of playing the "Bonny Bunch of Roses” gives a nod to Mac Donagh and Pearse’s admiration of Napoleon. Here he laments that he was unable to conquer the Bonny Bunch of Roses, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Track 22 The Poets Recollection. This track truly captures the loss felt by his social circle as we have chosen poems and book excerpts and in Ledwidge’s case a letter to convey those emotions. The piece rising in intensity from the "Lament For Stalker Wallace" (a 1798 rebellion fighter from limerick executed on the flimsiest of evidence against him) rising in pride and intensity from Padraig Colum (voiced by actor and musician Cormac Marnell ) to a solo bagpipe performance of "The Minstrel Boy" by Tom Miskell into an all-out rendition by the Boston Police Gaelic Column. The Minstrel Boy was composed by Tipperary man Thomas Moore in honor of his friends killed in the 1798 rebellion. Moore’s book "Moore's Melodies, " was to be found in most musical houses in Ireland. Martin's former school master Roche Williams (RIP) had written that although Thomas MacDonagh's mother was apolitical she would lead her students in singing Irish patriotic songs such as this one , placing a child on look out if an inspector or an undesirable visitor was coming to her school house. Track 23: A Warning to Conquerors/ Dublin 1913 Colm O'Brien brings the words and verses of Donagh MacDonagh, son of Thomas MacDonagh vividly to life is powerful rendition of A Warning to Conquerors, followed by Dublin 1913 written in 1963. MacDonagh's grandson Niall penned some of the lyrics with his father. Martin in arranging this with Colm, Declan and Marie tried to capture some of the old Dublin in the arrangement as it was sung by Ted McKenna all those years ago in Donohue's Pub after been given the song by Niall , Ted was the first to sing it at a memorial concert at The Abbey Theatre for Donagh in 1968 after his untimely death . Track 24 Lament for Thomas Mac Donagh /Ar Éirinn Ni ‘Neosfainn Ce Hi, The album ends with the beautiful poem "Lament for Thomas Mac Donagh. Written by his friend Francis Ledwidge. MacDonagh believed that Ledwidge feeling duty bound to do something for Ireland had made the wrong choice by going to fight in the Irish regiments in the English army. The two remained close friends however and Ledwidge was shocked that two of his close friends were executed and Dublin burned beyond recognition. The following year he sadly was killed by a shell in Belgium but not before he had penned this beautiful tribute to his friend. Belfast musician and multi all Ireland champion Eamonn Dillon's skillful playing of this beautiful air where he's joined on keyboards by Jim Fidler seems very fitting way to end the album.