1
00:05:44,580 --> 00:05:47,572
They were the first people
to settle in Ireland.

2
00:05:48,420 --> 00:05:51,014
They had tremendous insight

3
00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:53,894
and hidden knowledge
of many things.

4
00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:56,733
They had knowledge

5
00:05:57,300 --> 00:05:58,973
of the future.

6
00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:03,419
They could speak the language
of the birds.

7
00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:08,617
They could see as the birds can see
from the sky above.

8
00:06:09,460 --> 00:06:12,532
They could look over the whole land.

9
00:06:14,420 --> 00:06:15,569
Sweeney -

10
00:06:16,340 --> 00:06:21,289
was cursed by St. Rénén because
he killed one of his clerics.

11
00:06:23,140 --> 00:06:25,290
From a vision he saw in the sky,

12
00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:29,730
he heard the noise of
the upcoming battle and fled.

13
00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:37,331
Part of the curse was that he could
not endure sharp sounds.

14
00:06:38,660 --> 00:06:42,016
He flew from the scene of battle
in a frenzy.

15
00:06:42,260 --> 00:06:45,571
He spent years
hopping from tree to tree

16
00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:49,176
for he couldn't set foot
on land again.

17
00:06:49,580 --> 00:06:53,653
And, like the birds,
he could never again trust humans.

18
00:06:56,860 --> 00:06:58,737
Gloomy this life

19
00:06:59,340 --> 00:07:01,411
to be without a soft bed.

20
00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:04,337
Abode of cold frost.

21
00:07:05,380 --> 00:07:07,610
Roughness of wind driven snow.

22
00:07:09,340 --> 00:07:10,933
Cold, icy wind

23
00:07:12,860 --> 00:07:15,500
shadow of a feeble sun

24
00:07:16,420 --> 00:07:18,650
shelter from a single tree

25
00:07:18,940 --> 00:07:21,295
on the summit of a high plateau.

26
00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:30,500
Very good.

27
00:09:59,940 --> 00:10:01,339
Good work.

28
00:10:01,540 --> 00:10:04,180
We'll do another bit tomorrow.

29
00:10:04,660 --> 00:10:05,660
NOW:

30
00:10:05,820 --> 00:10:08,494
You were all to learn a song
from home.

31
00:10:08,980 --> 00:10:10,653
Who will go first?

32
00:10:11,780 --> 00:10:13,100
Darach?

33
00:10:14,980 --> 00:10:16,175
Joseph.

34
00:10:16,420 --> 00:10:18,934
Come up and sing the song
you learned at home,

35
00:10:19,140 --> 00:10:20,175
good man.

36
00:10:20,420 --> 00:10:22,730
I know you're dying to sing for us.

37
00:10:29,940 --> 00:10:31,339
Stir yourself.

38
00:11:55,180 --> 00:11:57,251
Well done. Good boy.

39
00:11:57,460 --> 00:11:59,497
Didn't he sing well?

40
00:11:59,700 --> 00:12:01,498
Now, from now on,

41
00:12:01,740 --> 00:12:05,051
when you're singing,
open your mouth.

42
00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:06,489
Like this.

43
00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:08,179
Open wide.

44
00:12:08,420 --> 00:12:09,819
Very good.

45
00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:12,256
And sing out every note clearly.

46
00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:15,738
Imagine you had to get a hen's
egg into your mouth,

47
00:12:16,020 --> 00:12:17,419
open it up.

48
00:12:18,260 --> 00:12:20,092
Good man. Now, sit down.

49
00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:57,689
This one won't budge.

50
00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:05,456
Neither will this one.

51
00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:13,529
There are loads of periwinkles.

52
00:14:41,620 --> 00:14:42,940
Good lad.

53
00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:28,572
That's it.

54
00:16:31,180 --> 00:16:33,057
Throw it out quick.

55
00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:39,020
Good lad.

56
00:16:53,860 --> 00:16:55,055
Good man.

57
00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:57,098
Now, haul it in.

58
00:16:58,500 --> 00:16:59,774
Haul it in.

59
00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:04,014
That's it.

60
00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:08,695
Good man yourself - that's it.

61
00:17:12,700 --> 00:17:14,373
Use both hands.

62
00:17:17,020 --> 00:17:18,169
Good man.

63
00:17:18,380 --> 00:17:20,257
Do you have it?

64
00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:24,330
- Need a hand?
- Maybe.

65
00:17:24,580 --> 00:17:25,580
Hold on.

66
00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,173
That was good.

67
00:19:07,260 --> 00:19:09,536
Is it getting the better of you?

68
00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:11,578
I can't do it.

69
00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:14,892
Let's see now.

70
00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:21,616
Hold the potato like so...

71
00:19:23,740 --> 00:19:26,300
Place the potato between
your thumb

72
00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:28,697
and the knife like that.

73
00:19:29,140 --> 00:19:31,097
Hold it with two fingers,
either side,

74
00:19:31,340 --> 00:19:32,774
and cut through it
nice and easy.

75
00:19:33,460 --> 00:19:35,258
Don't do it too hard

76
00:19:37,100 --> 00:19:38,818
or it'll catch your thumb.

77
00:19:39,500 --> 00:19:40,570
See that?

78
00:19:41,420 --> 00:19:42,535
Good man.

79
00:19:42,740 --> 00:19:44,538
Let's see you try that.

80
00:19:59,220 --> 00:20:00,574
Don't be worried.

81
00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:02,693
It'll come with age, child.

82
00:20:03,140 --> 00:20:05,370
Nice and easy, in your own time.

83
00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:07,695
Mind the fingers.

84
00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:19,095
Good man yourself.

85
00:20:24,220 --> 00:20:25,369
Have you many left?

86
00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:27,898
A few.

87
00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:43,454
Joe!

88
00:21:49,940 --> 00:21:52,329
Hey Joe! Stop your carry-on!

89
00:21:53,340 --> 00:21:54,739
For God's sake!

90
00:24:34,540 --> 00:24:37,578
Isn't your father a fine singer?

91
00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:39,738
Would you sing me a song?

92
00:24:39,980 --> 00:24:41,891
I could record your voice
with this device.

93
00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:43,175
What do you say?

94
00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:45,657
I only sing at home.

95
00:24:46,460 --> 00:24:48,770
Isn't this your home?

96
00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:55,214
Which songs do you like anyway?

97
00:24:55,500 --> 00:24:57,138
I like “An tAmhrén Bréagach.”

98
00:24:57,340 --> 00:24:59,456
And “Amhrén Rinn Mhaoile.”

99
00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:02,497
“Amhrén Rinn Mhaoile”?

100
00:25:02,740 --> 00:25:05,732
That's quite a difficult song
for a young lad, isn't it?

101
00:25:06,660 --> 00:25:09,129
Do you know where they come from?

102
00:25:09,380 --> 00:25:10,973
My dad sings them

103
00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:13,052
and Calm an Bhlécaigh.

104
00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:16,771
And where did they get them?

105
00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:19,495
I suppose they go way back

106
00:25:20,140 --> 00:25:22,609
to the poets who wrote them
long ago

107
00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:25,418
but we still sing them.

108
00:25:28,060 --> 00:25:30,495
Now, what would you say to that!

109
00:31:47,180 --> 00:31:48,375
Here you are,

110
00:31:48,620 --> 00:31:50,372
you may as well...

111
00:31:53,500 --> 00:31:55,013
Here, finish it!

112
00:32:04,260 --> 00:32:06,729
May as well finish it!

113
00:32:07,020 --> 00:32:08,499
Throw it back, son.

114
00:32:14,980 --> 00:32:18,689
- We haven't another bottle?
- No!

115
00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:32,334
We're ready, Joe.

116
00:50:18,820 --> 00:50:21,175
Micheél Thaidhg bought
a new boat recently,

117
00:50:21,460 --> 00:50:22,460
a trawler.

118
00:50:24,940 --> 00:50:27,216
He'll do well around these parts.

119
00:50:33,940 --> 00:50:36,454
You might never come back, Joe.

120
00:50:37,180 --> 00:50:40,138
There's nothing left for me here.

121
00:50:41,780 --> 00:50:43,418
I don't know...

122
00:50:43,940 --> 00:50:46,090
I miss this place...

123
00:50:49,500 --> 00:50:52,174
You always had your eye on
the horizon.

124
00:52:17,820 --> 00:52:20,653
I am the age of the Old Hag
of Beara.

125
00:52:21,580 --> 00:52:23,969
The age of Newgrange.

126
00:52:24,900 --> 00:52:26,971
The age of the Great Deer.

127
00:52:28,700 --> 00:52:33,331
I have two thousand years of that
stinking sow that was Ireland

128
00:52:34,100 --> 00:52:36,057
resonating in my ears

129
00:52:36,860 --> 00:52:38,294
in my mouth

130
00:52:38,700 --> 00:52:40,213
in my eyes

131
00:52:40,700 --> 00:52:42,338
in my head

132
00:52:42,620 --> 00:52:43,620
in my dreams.

133
00:52:46,380 --> 00:52:50,613
These horses, each with the
hammer and sickle on their flanks,

134
00:52:51,180 --> 00:52:53,330
they were the horses
of the Emir of Bokhara,

135
00:52:53,580 --> 00:52:55,571
they were the Golden Horde,

136
00:52:55,780 --> 00:52:57,691
Genghis Khan's cavalry.

137
00:52:58,380 --> 00:53:01,657
They were also the slender
brown horses

138
00:53:01,900 --> 00:53:03,698
in my father's and grandfathers
stories.

139
00:53:04,780 --> 00:53:06,851
And who truly knows
that they were not?

140
01:02:12,700 --> 01:02:15,419
Do you feel homesick here, Joe?

141
01:02:15,620 --> 01:02:17,179
Sometimes.

142
01:02:17,380 --> 01:02:18,609
Sometimes not.

143
01:02:19,620 --> 01:02:21,497
Why do you feel homesick?

144
01:02:21,740 --> 01:02:25,370
It's hard, leaving your native land
and forgetting it.

145
01:02:25,860 --> 01:02:27,737
Have you forgotten it?

146
01:02:28,100 --> 01:02:30,455
That's not what I mean,
but forgetting the fun

147
01:02:30,620 --> 01:02:32,531
and the people and the songs

148
01:02:32,740 --> 01:02:37,257
the music and the festivities,
the races, things like that.

149
01:02:40,940 --> 01:02:43,614
I'm only here a little
under three years.

150
01:02:44,300 --> 01:02:48,214
But I was at the Newport Folk
Festival in 1966.

151
01:02:56,020 --> 01:02:58,773
But I must say now,
and back then too,

152
01:02:59,420 --> 01:03:03,778
that the Clancy Brothers gave me
great help in getting those things.

153
01:03:04,060 --> 01:03:06,176
- When you started here?
- Yes, when I first started.

154
01:04:05,820 --> 01:04:08,653
Well, we didn't know where he was.

155
01:04:09,860 --> 01:04:12,693
No, the first we'd heard about him,

156
01:04:12,940 --> 01:04:15,295
I was at a Clancy Brothers' concert

157
01:04:15,500 --> 01:04:17,855
and I used to hear Joe talking
about the Clancy Brothers

158
01:04:18,140 --> 01:04:21,770
so, I made it a point to meet
one of them, which I did,

159
01:04:22,060 --> 01:04:23,892
and asked if he knew Joe
and he said,

160
01:04:24,140 --> 01:04:28,179
“Oh yes, very much so, actually he's
over in New York, we just left him

161
01:04:28,420 --> 01:04:31,412
to come over here
and we're going back there.”

162
01:04:31,580 --> 01:04:33,491
So, I said, “Will you tell him
his wife's dead

163
01:04:33,700 --> 01:04:35,418
and to contact his children,”

164
01:04:35,620 --> 01:04:37,531
which he didn't do.

165
01:14:03,460 --> 01:14:06,896
You know that it's never too late,
Joe, to go back.

166
01:14:09,060 --> 01:14:11,370
They might be happy to see you.

167
01:14:12,540 --> 01:14:14,975
I know that, I know that...

168
01:14:16,100 --> 01:14:20,253
But I think that too much water
has passed under the bridge.

169
01:14:24,420 --> 01:14:26,491
I went to England last year

170
01:14:26,740 --> 01:14:28,458
and met my father.

171
01:14:29,260 --> 01:14:33,493
I was going to write to tell you
but I changed my mind.

172
01:14:35,180 --> 01:14:37,979
I hadn't seen him since I was
five years old,

173
01:14:38,220 --> 01:14:39,619
you know that.

174
01:14:40,780 --> 01:14:43,659
Myself and my grandmother went
over to search for him

175
01:14:43,900 --> 01:14:45,732
and we finally found him.

176
01:14:46,020 --> 01:14:47,533
He was in London.

177
01:14:48,580 --> 01:14:50,890
He plays music himself
from time to time.

178
01:14:52,780 --> 01:14:56,091
Do you know what he said to me
when we found him?

179
01:14:56,340 --> 01:14:57,614
He said:

180
01:14:57,820 --> 01:14:59,538
“I always knew

181
01:14:59,740 --> 01:15:01,572
that you'd find me.”

182
01:15:09,100 --> 01:15:10,693
Do you know

183
01:15:11,740 --> 01:15:13,890
in all the old stories

184
01:15:15,660 --> 01:15:19,369
why it is that the warrior
always kills the beast?

185
01:15:21,220 --> 01:15:22,335
I don't know.

186
01:15:22,580 --> 01:15:26,414
Because it is the warrior
who tells the story.

187
01:15:28,380 --> 01:15:30,212
How do you mean?

188
01:15:30,460 --> 01:15:32,531
Sometimes I don't know

189
01:15:33,460 --> 01:15:35,497
if I'm the warrior

190
01:15:36,900 --> 01:15:38,493
or the beast.

191
01:15:55,780 --> 01:15:58,374
There were fish
in the rivers of Ireland.

192
01:15:58,620 --> 01:16:01,180
There were animals
in her hollows.

193
01:16:01,420 --> 01:16:06,335
Wild, shy, monstrous creatures
roamed her plains and forests.

194
01:16:07,060 --> 01:16:11,019
Creatures that one could see
through and walk through.

195
01:16:12,380 --> 01:16:17,056
We lived in ease and saw
new animals grow

196
01:16:20,140 --> 01:16:25,135
the bear, the badger, the boar,
the deer and the wolf.

197
01:16:28,940 --> 01:16:32,456
Then, sudden as a rising wind,
between night and morning,

198
01:16:32,700 --> 01:16:34,452
there came a sickness

199
01:16:37,620 --> 01:16:41,693
and on the seventh day, all of
the race of Parthalon were dead,

200
01:16:41,940 --> 01:16:44,295
all except one single man.

201
01:16:51,860 --> 01:16:55,296
"I am that man,” his companion
affirmed."

202
01:16:57,140 --> 01:17:00,053
Tuan shaded his brow
with his hand

203
01:17:00,860 --> 01:17:04,137
and he remembered back
through incredible ages

204
01:17:04,340 --> 01:17:06,536
to the beginning of the world

205
01:17:06,740 --> 01:17:09,254
and to the beginning of time
in Ireland.

206
01:18:48,620 --> 01:18:50,179
Listen, Méire.

207
01:18:51,820 --> 01:18:55,814
I've a list of songs I haven't yet
recorded anywhere

208
01:18:56,620 --> 01:19:00,295
and I believe it would be good
to record them.

209
01:19:08,060 --> 01:19:14,375
Look, Méire, I have to find some
way out of this country.

210
01:19:15,900 --> 01:19:20,337
I don't want to die
amongst strangers.

211
01:19:21,340 --> 01:19:26,096
There are fine people here,
but they are not my own people.

212
01:19:26,780 --> 01:19:31,138
If there was some way I could...

213
01:19:33,300 --> 01:19:37,294
Maybe you could ask around
and see...

214
01:19:40,620 --> 01:19:45,456
Look, Méire, I'd better go now.

215
01:19:45,740 --> 01:19:49,290
There are people here waiting
to use the phone.

216
01:19:49,900 --> 01:19:52,210
We'll talk about it again.
Goodbye.

217
01:24:47,660 --> 01:24:49,890
I haven't seen you here before.

218
01:24:50,340 --> 01:24:52,616
How long have you been here?

219
01:24:53,740 --> 01:24:55,139
Seven years.

220
01:24:56,700 --> 01:24:58,099
That's a long time.

221
01:24:59,420 --> 01:25:01,536
I would wait twice as long
for a poem.

222
01:25:02,900 --> 01:25:05,335
Have you caught good poems?

223
01:25:07,580 --> 01:25:09,173
The poems I am fit for.

224
01:25:11,380 --> 01:25:13,530
No person can get more than that

225
01:25:14,660 --> 01:25:21,259
for a man's readiness is his limit.

226
01:25:25,140 --> 01:25:28,576
It was foretold by a man
of knowledge

227
01:25:28,820 --> 01:25:33,769
that I should receive All Knowledge
by the bank of this river.

228
01:25:35,860 --> 01:25:37,453
And then?

229
01:25:38,300 --> 01:25:39,813
And then,

230
01:25:41,020 --> 01:25:43,170
I would have All Knowledge.

231
01:25:43,380 --> 01:25:45,690
And after that?

232
01:25:46,740 --> 01:25:49,414
What should there be after that?

233
01:25:50,300 --> 01:25:51,813
I mean,

234
01:25:52,060 --> 01:25:54,859
what would you do with
All Knowledge?

235
01:25:56,540 --> 01:25:58,053
A question

236
01:25:58,300 --> 01:25:59,734
of great weight.

237
01:26:01,220 --> 01:26:06,772
I could answer it if I had All
Knowledge, but not until then.

238
01:26:09,100 --> 01:26:11,455
What would you do, young man?

239
01:26:11,860 --> 01:26:14,659
I would make a poem.

240
01:26:29,860 --> 01:26:31,658
I was born at night.

241
01:26:32,460 --> 01:26:35,134
That's why I was always so shy,
they said.

242
01:26:38,940 --> 01:26:41,500
My mother told me stories.

243
01:26:41,700 --> 01:26:43,691
My father taught me to sing.

244
01:26:44,820 --> 01:26:46,891
And when I had grown

245
01:26:47,180 --> 01:26:50,377
and had listened to the
world's song,

246
01:26:50,620 --> 01:26:54,614
I felt that there could be
no greater happiness

247
01:26:54,860 --> 01:26:56,692
than to return to that song.

248
01:26:57,940 --> 01:27:01,490
In song dwelled the most precious

249
01:27:01,740 --> 01:27:04,858
and the most incomprehensible
dreams of mankind.

250
01:27:06,300 --> 01:27:10,339
The mountains stretched into
the heavens in those days.

251
01:27:11,540 --> 01:27:16,330
The songbirds of the air listened
in wonder to this song,

252
01:27:16,780 --> 01:27:19,249
the most beautiful song in life.

253
01:28:36,060 --> 01:28:39,769
Birds don't sing songs of glory.

254
01:28:40,060 --> 01:28:44,816
Ice wrapped wings
That's my story