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- Old songs - New settings
- Includes internationally acclaimed singers Dolores Keane, Eleanor Shanley, John Faulkner, Bríd Dooley, Seán Tyrell & Tony Small
- 'A lovely collection of great Irish songs'
- Available From: FAF Society, Kinvara, Co. Galway, Ireland
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Francis Fahy (1854-1935) wrote many well-loved songs. His lyrics, like those of Percy French, capture the charm and humour of the genre which became popular in the early 1900s. Whether awakening national sentiment, lulling a child to sleep, or grieving for a lost lover, these songs speak to the universal heart, and as such, will always ring true.
Francis Fahy's songs were described in his day as varying from "grave to gay, from lively to severe", with recurrent themes of patriotism, nationality, exile, and love. He collaborated with various composers, including Alicia Adelaide Needham (nee Montgomery), an associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Added to these contemporary compositions are the new settings, carefully worked out by John Faulkner, Garry O'Briain and the performers themselves, who include some of our finest musicians.
A selection of clips from the album are available for download below (It is advised that you save these files rather than opening them from the server). The files are in MP3 format and will require Windows Media Player 6.0+, or another MP3 player such as Winamp.
Winamp can be downloaded at the following site www.winamp.com
Complete Track Listing
The Ould Plaid Shawl, various artistes (FAF 01)
Like a blast from turn-of-20th-century parlours or 1950s gramophones, this is an impressive collection of songs by Kinvara writer and Gaelic League cultural zealot Francis Fahy who died in London in 1935.
Some pieces - Queen of Connemara and both versions of Galway Bay - are familiar, My Heart's Treasure and Summer is Coming have a 1920s feel, The Bog Road has pleasant internal rhyme, and Little Mary Cassidy recalls Percy French.
Produced by the Francis FAF society (kinvara.com/francisfahy) this is a terrific documentary of a brilliant songwriter. Backing is superb, with the sax-strings stamp of musicians from At The Racket, and the well-placed male and female voices make this exceptionally pleasant album.
Fintan Vallely
SUNDAY TRIBUNE, 23-9-01
VARIOUS ARTISTS 
The Ould Plaid Shawl - Songs of Francis Fahy
FAF Society
Galwegian Fahy mined a rich vein in songwriting in the mid-late 19th century (in the style of Percy French, albeit darker and more resonant) that tapped the perils of love, politics and geography with considerable success. Penning the standards, 'Galway Bay' and 'The Ould Plaid Shawl', he's best remembered for a vast array of genteel parlour tunes crafted primarily for voice and piano. This collection is a snapshot of times past, evoking memories of scratchy 78's, whistling radio signals and beachfront serenades. Dolores Keane carries the poignancy of 'I Gave My Heart Away' with aplomb and Tony Small's courtly reading of 'Galway Bay' is inevitably seductive...
Siobhán Long
Irish Times, Oct 31ST 2001
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