Livingstones - I Presume

Suave dressers the Livingstones came from the Hamilton and Blantyre areas of Scotland. The "anchor man" was Frank McKay, while his brother Ken McKay was the most versatile musician with several instruments in his battery. David McCabe had one of the most glorious singing voices in folk music, played chanter and was an expert in Burns, and John Dempsey. They toured throughout Britain during 1965-68, appeared on television, and supported Tom Paxton on tour.

01 Suzanne
02 Jihnny Cope
03 Far To Far
04 Rough Justice
05 Travelling Through the Rain
06 Westering Home
07 Admiral Benbow
08 Time I Was On My Way
09 Bonnie George Campbell
10 The Jolly Roger
11 Flo'ers o'the Forest
12 The Man from Cyandra

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Livingstones - I Presume

Kila - Handel's Fantasy

This is the 1993 debut from Irelands Kila which was a cassette only release. Largely acoustic, this album consists of several original compositions performed in the traditional vein with a few exceptions bearing a more contemporary style, most notably "B'fhéidir." Acoustic guitar, electric bass and percussion provide the rhythm for Kila's music while fiddle, tin whistles and uilleann pipes generally carry the melodies. The most interesting piece on this album is the title track that combines Arcangelo Corelli's 17th century piece "La Folia" with the traditional-Irish "Mulhaires Reel" and Kila wind player Colm O Snodaigh's "Handel's Fantasy."

1. Handel's Fantasy

2. Leslie's Tune

3. B'Fheidir

4. Tiggy's Giggles

5. Ril Rossa (5.30 am) 

6. Cathain

7. Banda Ruibear

8. Fan Sa Diallat

9. Four Ages Of Man

10. Ril a hAon

11. Faoiseamh

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Kila - Handel's Fantasy

Dublin City Ramblers - Ballad Of Bobby Sands & Freedom EP

In 1981 Irish Folk band The Dublin City Ramblers recorded an original ballad called The Ballad of Bobby Sands, MP, along with four other songs including The Woman Cried which was a poem written by Bobby Sands set to music

1. Farewell Gallant Comrades 
2. The Ballad Of Bobby Sands
3. The Woman Cried
4. Freedom
5. Crossmaglen

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Dublin City Ramblers - Ballad Of Bobby Sands & Freedom EP

Dubliners - In Concert 1965

By the time The Dubliners had recorded their second album live at the Cecil Sharp House in December 1964, they had become a quintet. Luke Kelly had temporarily left the group and Bobby Lynch and John Sheahan had joined. This was to be Lynch's only recording with The Dubliners, as he left the group when Kelly returned. Sheahan has been with the group ever since and in latter years has become their manager.

Group
Barney McKenna - banjo, mandolin
John Sheahan - fiddle, mandolin, flagolet
Ciarán Bourke - flagolet, harmonica
Bobby Lynch - guitar
Ronnie Drew - guitar

1 Roddy McCorley

2 The Twang Man

3 Reels: The Sligo Maid/Colonel Rodney: Sligo Maid/Colonel Rodney (Medley)

4 The Woman From Wexford

5 The Patriot Game

6 Roisin Dubh 

7 Air Fa La La Lo

8 Peggy Lettermore

9 Easy and Slow

10 My Love is in America

11 The Kerry Recruit (alternate take)

12 The Old Orange Flute

13 Reels: The Donegal Reel/The Longford Collector: The Donegal Reel/The Longford Collector (Medley)

14 Leaving of Liverpool

15 Peggy Lettermore

16 The Ragman's Ball

17 Reels: The Sligo/Colonel Rodney: Sligo Maid / Colonel Rodney (Medley)

18 Home, Boys, Home

19 King of the Fairies

20 The Mason's Apron

21 Kitty Come Down from Limerick

22 The Cuilin

23 The Greenland Whale Fisheries 

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Dubliners - In Concert 1965

Tales Of King Arthur And The Round Table [by Andrew Lang]

The tales of King Arthur and his Knights are of Celtic origin. The Celts were the people who occupied Britain at the time when the history of the country opens… It is believed that King Arthur lived in the sixth century, just after the Romans withdrew from Britain… the stories came to be handed down from father to son, in Brittany (whose people are of the same family as the Welsh) as well as in Wales and England… [story-tellers altered the stories to suit their times down through the centuries] …and so in their altered and historically inaccurate form they have reached us at the present day. …Sir Thomas Malory obtained the material for his “Morte d’Arthur,” which was written in 1470. This is the most famous of the early books of Arthurian legend, and it is from the “Morte d’Arthur” that most of the stories in this book are taken…. The language throughout has been modified with a view to making the legends more easy of study

Read by David Wales.

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Tales Of King Arthur And The Round Table [by Andrew Lang]

Mahones - Rise Again

  Clearly patterned after The Pogues, these Canadian Celtic rockers joyously recall their legendary inspirations in sound and attitude. Andrew Brown in particular uses his accordion and whistles to help provide the rakish down-at-the-pub musical setting for singer-songwriter Fin McConnell. "Holloway Jack" sails very near to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."....enjoy

1 Paint the Town Red
2 Rise Again
3 Snake Charmer
4 100 Bucks
5 Far Away
6 Down the Boozer
7 Streets of New York
8 One Star Hotel
9 Take Me Back
10 Down to the Wire

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Mahones - Rise Again

Mick Hanly & Mícheál Ó Dhomhnaill - Celtic Folkweave

An excellent and ultra rare album, a precursor to Ó Dhomhnaill's work with the Bothy Band and Nightnoise. A number of the tracks will be familiar to fans of the Bothy Band, including 'The Hag at the Churn', 'An Bothán A Bhaigh Fionnghuala', 'The Banks of Claudy', and 'The Heathery Hills of Yarrow'. The album was produced by Dónal Lunny. It would seem that the master tapes of this recording were destroyed in a fire at the headquarters of Polydor Ireland some time in the 1970s, and subsequently this album has never been re-released. It features a number of big guns from the 1970s scene, including several members of Planxty, and future members of the Bothy Band:

Mick Hanly – Guitar/Dulcimer/Voice
Mícheál Ó Dhomhnaill – Guitar/Voice
Liam O'Flynn – Pipes/Whistle
Dónal Lunny – Bodhrán
Matt Mollloy – Flute
Tommy Peoples – Fiddle
Declan McNeils – Bass
Triona Ní Dhomhnaill – Harpsichord

1. Bíodh Orm Anocht [Puirt-a-beul]/The Hag at the Churn [Single Jig]

2. The Bold Princess Royal [Song]

3. The Banks of Claudy [Song]

4. Éirigh's Ciur Ort Do Chuid Éadaigh [Song]

5. The Glasgow Barber [Song]

6. Songbird (No Love is Sorrow) [Song]

7. The Heathery Hills of Yarrow [Song]

8. Gan Ainm/Gan Ainm [An Droiou]

9. The Hiring Fair at Hamiltownsbawn [Song]

10. Bríd Óg Ní Mháille [Song]

11. An Bothán A Bhaigh Fionnghuala [Puirt-a-beul]

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Mick Hanly & Mícheál Ó Dhomhnaill - Celtic Folkweave

Paul Brady - Welcome Here Kind Stranger

Originally released on the Mulligan label in 1978, Welcome Here Kind Stranger was the first solo Paul Brady record and featured Irish traditional music and songs. Produced by Paul and Donal Lunny, it included Paul on vocals, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki and tin whistle with guest appearances from Donal, Andy Irvine, Tommy Peoples on fiddle and Noel Hill on concertina. Hailed as a masterpiece shortly after its release, it was voted Folk album of the year in Britain’s leading music paper, The Melody Maker and has been consistently much sought after ever since.

Don't Come Again
I Am a Youth That's Inclined to Ramble
Jackson and Jane
The Lakes of Pontchartrain
The Creel
Out the Door and Over the Wall
Young Edmund in the Lowlands Low
The Boy on the Hilltop/Johnny Goin' to Ceilidh
Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore

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Paul Brady - Welcome Here Kind Stranger

The Hill of Dreams [by Arthur Machen]

The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain. Later it describes Lucian's attempts to make a living as an author in London, enduring poverty and suffering in the pursuit of art. Generally thought to be Machen's greatest work, it was little noticed on its publication in 1907 save in a glowing review by Alfred Douglas. It was actually written between 1895 and 1897 and has elements of the style of the decadent and aesthetic movement of the period, seen through Machen's own mystical preoccupations

Read by Mark Nelson

link to the free audiobook
The Hill of Dreams [by Arthur Machen]

Ricky Cormier - Canadian Junior Fiddle Champion

Ricky Cormier was a mere 15 year old when this fine album was released in 1974. Ricky, who has been helped immensely by his father Ed Cormier, already had begun to gather a list of achievements - he won the 12 and under class in Perth in 1971 and 1973, the 16  and under class in Marmora in 1973 and 1974, 3rd in the 12 and under in Shelburne in 1971 and second in the 12 and under class in Petrolia in 1974 and 1st in the 12 and under class in Cayuga in 1974, among other accomplishments.

Big John McNeil
Andy's Jig
Waylon's Breakdown
Shannon Waltz
Ole French Reel
Angus Campbell
Jacket Trimmed in Blue
Joys of Wedlock
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Black Velvet Waltz
Way Down Yonder
Honest John

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Ricky Cormier - Canadian Junior Fiddle Champion

Ernie Graham - Ernie Graham

Ernie Graham (born 14 June 1946 in Belfast, died 27 April 2001 in London) was a singer, guitarist and songwriter, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s with bands such as Eire Apparent, Help Yourself & Clancy. The standout track on this album is, ‘The Girl That Turned the Lever,’which is magnificent. A majority of tracks come very close to matching its splendour, particularly ‘For a Little While’ and ‘Sea Fever,’ and whilst all are wonderful songs in their own right, they are elevated to true greatness by sensitive instrumental arrangements. Every piece is subtly layered, with new aspects revealed on each successive listen,

1. Sebastian

2. So Lonely

3. Sea Fever

4. Girl That Turns The Lever

5. For A Little While

6. Blues To Snowy

7. Don't Want Me Round You

8. Belfast

9. Romeo And The Lonely Girl

10. Only Time Will Tell

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Ernie Graham - Ernie Graham

The Book of Hallowe'en [by Ruth Edna Kelley] [Audiobook]

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe'en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas. The context is illustrated by selections from ancient and modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe'en ideas.

Read by Sibella Denton.

link to the free audiobook
The Book of Hallowe'en [by Ruth Edna Kelley] [Audiobook]

Jake Burns - Drinkin' Again

In 2006 the legendary Stiff Little Fingers lead singer turned his hand to a spot of folk singing. The result which is no longer available to purchase but you can take it for free from here, is quite a change of direction from his Punk Rock roots....enjoy

1 Domino
2 Drinkin' Again
3 V.E. Day
4 The Green Fields Of France
5 The Right To Fight
6 Cliffs Of Dooneen
7 Land Of Opportunity
8 The Well Below The Valley
9 Lancashire Rose
10 Half Past Dead
11 Belfast 14

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Jake Burns - Drinkin' Again

Flogging Molly - Complete Control Sessions

Complete Control Sessions was an online only live six-track EP by Flogging Molly. It was released by SideOneDummy Records on March 13, 2007. It was only available through the iTunes Store. Two of the songs, "Requiem for a Dying Song" and "Float", were previously unreleased and later appeared on Float (2008). Of the other four songs, "Devil's Dance Floor" originally appeared on Swagger (2000) and the others originally appeared on Within a Mile of Home (2004).

Requiem for a Dying Song
Whistles the Wind
Tobacco Island
Factory Girls
Float
Devil's Dance Floor

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Flogging Molly - Complete Control Sessions

The Rebel of the School [by Mrs. L. T. Meade]

Kathleen O'Hara is a young pretty girl sent to school in England from Ireland by her father to get a good education, but Kathleen has other ideas. She quickly become friends with the girls of the school who don't pay for their education and in turn these girls consider Kathleen to be their Queen. What trouble will Kathleen and her friends get into? And what will the school do with the naughty, "Rebel of the School?

Read by Elaine Webb.

link to the free audiobooks
The Rebel of the School [by Mrs. L. T. Meade]

Irish Rovers - Down By The Lagan Side

Here's to the bards and the poets long may they write their ideals and here's to the music makers who play the jigs and reels for if there were no songs to sing that bring us all enjoyment then lads like us unfortunately would have to seek employment.  Band members hail from Ireland and one from Scotland, however The Irish Rovers formed in Toronto, Canada. They have produced over 40 albums.

Boys Of Belfast
Over The Ocean
Erin's Green Isle
Rambling And Roving
Jigs
Back Home In Sweet Tralee
Staten Island
St. Brendan's Fair Isle
Wild Slieve Gallen Brae
The Crockery Ware
The Rambler From Derry
Hornpipes & Reels
The Roses Of Prince Charlie
Down By The Lagan Side

link to the free album

Irish Rovers - Down By The Lagan Side

The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk [by John Howell]

This work was the true story of Alexander Selkirk (1676 to December 13, 1721), a Scottish sailor who was employed in a number of different trades during his early life. As a young man, Selkirk learned the skills of tanning and shoemaking, and later became a buccaneer (a government-sanctioned pirate) on the Cinque Ports, working his way up to the position of ship's sailing master or navigator. But in the case of Selkirk, his experiences would eventually help him to survive his isolation on a deserted island in the Juan Fernández archipelago, off the coast of Chile, where he spent 52 months before being rescued.

The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk is a real-life “survivor man” narrative: Alone, pitted against nature with only his wits and the barest of tools at his disposal, the protagonist eventually triumphs over his adversities. Certainly this theme is at the heart of what makes it so timeless, but it includes an exploration into the story of who Selkirk was before the adventure began. In his research, Howell diligently investigated Selkirk's life through parish records from the small town of Largo in Fife, Scotland, where Selkirk was born and spent his childhood. He also conducted interviews with surviving relatives, and gleamed information from the published accounts of others with whom Selkirk had sailed, such as privateer and explorer, Captain William Dampier, and the man who ultimately rescued him, Captain Woodes Rogers.

Read by James K. White.

link to the free audiobook

The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk [by John Howell]