Mo Ghille Mear (My Gallant Hero) - Choral Scholars of University College Dublin

Traditional Irish arr. Desmond Earley
Text by Seán Clárach Mac Dómhnaill

From the album ‘Invisible Stars – Choral Works from Ireland and Scotland’
The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
Artistic Director: Desmond Earley
Solo: Mark Waters
Bodhrán: Tristan Rosenstock (track) / Brian Garvin (visual)

Released on Signum Records

The UCD Choral Scholars released their debut international recording on Signum Records on 11th December 2015 (USA and Canada – 12th February 2016). The disc, entitled Invisible Stars is an enchanting collection of traditional and contemporary choral music from Ireland and Scotland and features arrangements and new compositions by some of Ireland’s most celebrated composers for choir, including Michael McGlynn, Brendan Graham, Ivo Antognini, Bill Whelan and the group’s artistic director, Desmond Earley.

A Zucca Films Production
DoP - Richard Kendrick
Editor - Emmet Reddy
Animator - Chris Lynch
Colourist - Leandro Arouca @ Media Milk, Dublin
Costume - Alex Calder
Art Director - Declan Winser

Twitter: @UCDChoral

[pointyfox]

I've never been so proud to be Irish. I've also never been Irish.

[maciejkwiatkowski]

The Irish.... please don't lose your language...it would be the great loss for the rest of the world...request from Poland. The song is amazing...

[JohnWinkelman]

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.” - G.K. Chesterton

[mazdysoraya]

I love so much Irish people. They remind me on us Serbs. I am listening to Irish music every day. Love from Serbia.

[leah_goldman]

Korean here: the pain of a small yet courageous nation that resisted for thousands of years makes for lovely music. It thrills and awakens the soul!

[timcusack]

This was a poem written by Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill in the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden.
It's sung by a woman who longs for her loved one. The woman in question is a representation of the island of Ireland herself, and her longing for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Many of Séan's poems talked about Ireland's longing for a fair and just Catholic ruler that would reestablish the old order destroyed by the Revolution.
As a result of the Hanoverian victory, Ireland (as well as Scotland and the other places of the Kingdom to some extent) experienced the replacement of local nobility by English nobles, faithful to the Protestant crown.
This eventually helped greatly the downfall of native languages like Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Scots all throughout the United Kingdom.
The meaning of this song is often forgotten and it's famously sung as a simple love ballad.

[domeniconota]

I' m Italian and I don' t understand a word, but I think as Europeans we need to preserve our languages and dialects. The only way to save ourselves and future generations is knowing where we come from and who we are. I love the song :)

[dannybowden]

Arguably the most beautiful piece of choral music ever

[ImranSahir]

This is the kind of thing that should make us proud to be humans. I don't understand a word of it but I am choking and overcome with emotions.

[paraicmcdonagh]

Mo Ghille Mear translates to "My quick boy." but words in the Irish language sometimes don't translate perfectly. The idiom is more like "Lively young man".
The opening line "Sé mo laoch, mo Ghile Mear" is therefore something like "He is my hero, my lively young man". Outwardly the song appears to be a lovers lament, but the female narrator is none other than Ireland herself and the "lively young man" is Bonnie Prince Charlie who went to France to try to raise aid for the Jacobite rebellion. The song reflects Ireland's hope that he would succeed.
*Spoiler* He didn't.

[rcheung]

I'm not Irish, but this has to be one of the most remarkable songs in one of the most beautiful languages on Earth.

[Bollocks]

Irish people please don't forget your mother tongue, I'm a Balinese and many of us almost forgot how to speak or write in our language, i would love to visit your beautiful lands one day.

[Mr]

I'm an Englishman who has spent half a 78 year lifetime in the US - mainly Texas. I discovered this video only a couple of days ago, quite by accident; I have listened to it perhaps a hundred times since. A beautiful song, so very well sung by a young group of passionate and talented singers. God bless 'em and God bless the Irish.

[MakeDixieGreatAgain]

The culture dies when the language dies--the people die when their culture dies. God Bless the Irish.

[islaadele]

Irish girl far from home. Crying like a damn baby. Lovely work, folks.

[stianaasland]

Norwegian, part Sami, I love the celtic languages and I pray they never dissappear from this world.

[mccollumparkfarmersmarket]

Yup love the Irish. Proud stubborn beaten up, people. Yet refuse to bow or give up. Full of pride laughter, fight, and mischief. As a Norwegian. I feel a kindred fondness for my Irish neighbors. Cheers mates and missus.

[fuwahen]

I'm Japanese. I'm crying because this song so beautiful and I love love, love this...

[martineduffy]

Played at my son Séanna's funeral. Passed when he was, 19, killed by a lorry

[ljss]

Irish: please do not lose your language. I'm Mexican and my grandmother's indigenous language has all but been lost and we cannot recover it anymore. It is lost to the world. Please do not allow Gaelic to suffer the same fate.