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Ghosts

by Emer Kenny

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1.
Ghosts 03:33
You were a dangerous game I believed I could win, I think of you all the time. Laid bare on the grave of our dead love And I'm slowly losing my mind Chorus So let the storms take me Your virtue was cruelty, This wound, it still bleeds for you. Your words, They still haunt me And Ghosts, They torment me, This wound, it still bleeds for you. Why did I return to this Desolate place, Did I think I could raise The Dead? Should I curse your name, My dangerous game? Or make this cold earth My bed? Chorus
2.
3.
Roisin Dubh 04:13
A Róisín ná bíodh brón ort fé'r éirigh dhuit: Tá na bráithre 'teacht thar sáile 's iad ag triall ar muir, Tiocfaidh do phárdún ón bPápa is ón Róimh anoir 'S ní spárálfar fíon Spáinneach ar mo Róisín Dubh. Is fada an réim a léig mé léi ó inné 'dtí inniu, Trasna sléibhte go ndeachas léi, fé sheolta ar muir; An éirne is chaith mé 'léim í, cé gur mór é an sruth; 'S bhí ceol téad ar gach taobh díom is mo Róisín Dubh.
4.
5.
Wolves 04:09
Wolves in police clothing, Lying in wait In Deadman’s blossom Driven by hate Bombs hidden darkly, Innocents die. Pawns of the powerful Blown to the skies Grief lasts a lifetime Chorus Only Love, I remember only love, I remember Glorious Revolution! A beautiful lie. Deceives generations And our children die Chorus
6.
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Of all the money 'ere I had I spent it in good company And all the harm I've ever done Alas it was to none but me And all I've done for want of wit, To memory now I cannot recall. So, fill to me the Parting Glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all. If I had money enough to spend, And leisure time to sit a while, There is a fair maid in this town, That surely hath my heart beguiled. Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips, I owe, she hath my heart enthralled, So, fill to me the Parting Glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all. Of all the comrades ere I had They are sorry for my going away And all the sweet hearts ere I had, They'd wished me one more day to stay. But since it fell, into my lot, That I should rise and you should not So I gently rise and softly go, Good night and joy be with you all.
8.
Lilibulero 01:52
9.
Identity 01:12
10.

about

'Ghosts' a newly released album by Emer Kenny, is presented by The Playhouse Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy. It is a unique endeavour centred on the composition and interpretation of music and songs driven and inspired by first-hand accounts of specific events and tragedies connected to the conflict in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties.
In the production and recording of 'Ghosts' with producer and engineer John Murphy, Emer interviewed and worked with six individuals severely impacted by The Troubles – these include Stephen Travers, a survivor of the Miami Showband massacre, July 1975, who plays bass on the album in addition to reading an excerpt from his book. Giving spoken word testimonies are Margaret English whose father, Hugh Watters, was killed by a loyalist car bomb left outside Kay’s Tavern in Crowe Street Dundalk, Christmas 1975. David Cunningham and his mother Mary, who were caught up in Clarke’s Bar bombing Monaghan Street, Newry on Christmas Eve 1973, and Will Glendinning, who was an Alliance Party Councillor and Assembly Member for West Belfast 1977-1986 and served in the UDR in Armagh in the early 1970s. Also performing on the album is the Rev Gary Hastings, Rector of Holy Trinity, Killiney, a respected traditional musician and academic who has performed with the Chieftains. He is as an expert on Ulster's two-hundred-year-old fife and drum tradition and has been involved with peacebuilding for many years.

Emer's notes
For most people in Ireland, whether identifying as Irish or British, consciously or subconsciously, there is a subtext of political bias when it comes to the appreciation of music or art from 'the other side’. I have endeavoured to challenge this and explore the huge cultural cross over of music and shine a light on the possibility that nothing is quite as black and white as it may, at first glance, appear to be. I’ve added some historical and cultural background below.

2nd movement, Harp Concerto, Handel
Handel came to Britain and Ireland with the Hanoverian Prince George I who became King of Great Britain and Ireland in the early 18th Century. Handel is associated with Ireland as his most famous work 'The Messiah' was premiered in Dublin in 1741. I've performed 2nd Movement of Handel's Harp Concerto to represent early Protestant classical harp music as nowadays the harp in Ireland is predominantly the symbol of Nationalism.

Roisin Dubh
Dating from the late 16th century, the song ‘Roisin Dubh’ has been described as the greatest song in the Irish language. It is synonymous with Irish Nationalism not only because of the lyrics but also it’s inclusion in Sean O’Riada’s film score for ‘Mise Eire’ (I am Ireland) celebrating the 1916 Easter Rising. Intertwined with Roisin Dubh are fragments of Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ evoking bird-song and a landscape that has long since disappeared. ’The Lark Ascending’ was voted England's favourite classical work in 2019.

Parting Glass
Parting Glass is an Irish/Scottish song first referenced in 1604

Lilibulero
Lilibulero is an Irish tune which became hugely popular in England
during the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 when William III of Orange took the British throne. First referenced in 1689, it is still associated with British identity, (BBC World Service theme) and popular within the Orange tradition.

Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to Stephen Travers, Margaret English, Gary Hastings, Will Glendinning, Mary and David Cunningham for sharing their stories, memories and insights of their experiences of the conflict in Ireland. Thanks to all at the Derry Playhouse: Elaine Forde, Pauline Ross and Cindy Le Clere and a special thank you to Liam Campbell for his guidance and support. Thank you to Laurence McKeown for his help and guidance. Thank you to all the musicians who played on the album. Thank you to Nicole Trengove and photographer Samuel Whittaker for use of the image of the Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. I am so very grateful for the music of Satie, Handel, Vaughan Williams, Debussy and those composers in the folk tradition whose names have been forgotten over time.Thank you to Rosie Murphy for your musicianship, support and technical knowhow. And thank you to John Murphy for his musicality, patience and unflinching determination to make this album the best we could.
Emer


Margaret English: “My world crumbled 19th December 1975, when my dad Hugh Watters was murdered in the Dundalk bombing. A quiet loving gentleman who was a tailor by trade. I am still striving for truth and justice; I wish his legacy to be one of peace.”(“Handel Harp Concerto, B flat, 2nd movement” & “The Last Time I Saw Him)

Stephen Travers:
Author, screenwriter, composer, arranger, musician and record producer, Stephen Travers was born in Carrick on Suir in South Tipperary. He joined the legendary Miami Showband in 1975: The rest, as they say, is history… However, much of that history remained “hidden” until 2007 when his book “The Miami Showband Massacre; A survivor’s search for the truth” was published and exposed the stark reality of collusion between British security forces and Loyalist terror organisations. In March, 2019, Netflix released a major documentary based on the book written by Stephen and Neil Fetherstonhaugh.
Stephen is a co-founder and Chairman of Truth and Reconciliation Platform (TaRP), Stephen Travers has been awarded this year's prestigious Chicago iBAM Person of The Year Award for 2019.
(“Silence is Betrayal” & “Parting Glass”)

Gary Hastings: Celebrated flautist and academic, Gary Hastings was born in East Belfast in 1956. He has a degree in Irish Studies from the University of Ulster and an MA in Adult Education. In 1993 he was ordained in the Church of Ireland and is presently Rector of Holy Trinity, Killiney, Co. Dublin. He is an expert in Ulster’s 200-year-old fife and drum music in the Orange tradition and found it to
be much the same as traditional music, ‘the same tune, but different’
mutated by time and man’. Gary believes traditional music cannot be annexed by political loyalty, ‘it’s music of the island’. He is married with two children (“Lilibulero”)

Will Glendinning: Will is the Coordinator of the Peace-building Charity Diversity Challenges where he has lead projects on storytelling dealing with our past conflict developing an understanding of the conflict from differing backgrounds. He was Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council 1997-2001. He was an Alliance Party Councillor and Assembly Member for West Belfast 1977-1986. He served in the UDR in Armagh in the early 1970s. He now lives near Market hill with his wife Maura where he runs a sheep farm.(“Identity”)

Mary Cunningham & David Cunningham:
“A bomb goes off prematurely in a bar on Christmas Eve. Three young men die. Two were delivering the bomb and a third was delivering a message for his mother. We were just passing by.”
“In the morning of Christmas Eve 1973, a bomb exploded. I wrote this poem to express my gratitude to you mum, and your protectiveness of us, my older brother and I, just two months from being born.“-David. (“I think of the Mothers”)

Liam Campbell’s Note (Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy )
This album is a unique endeavour centred on the composition and interpretation of music and songs driven and inspired by first-hand accounts of specific events and tragedies connected to the conflict in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Music and musical inspiration is a key component of The Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy, and we are very proud of this work. I thank all who were involved in the creation and realisation of this musical suite: particularly Emer and John, and the participants who gave so bravely and generously of themselves and their stories. A special thanks also for the vital support of PEACE IV.
Participants whose experiences and first-hand accounts inspired the work and are featured:

This album is produced as part of the Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy: a PEACE IV Programme. PEACE IV is an EU funded Programme designed to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border region. It is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The Playhouse is working in partnership with Holywell Trust, Thomas D’Arcy McGee Foundation and Queens University Belfast to deliver The Playhouse Theatre Peace Building Academy.
Match-funding for the project has been provided by the Executive Office and the Department for Rural and Community Development.
More information about the project is available from www.theatreandpeacebuilding.co.uk

credits

released November 16, 2019

Produced by John Murphy and Emer Kenny
Recorded and mixed by John Murphy at Probeat Studios, Dundalk
Mastered by Fergal Davis
Cover Photography Opus Conservation/ Samuel Whittaker
Copyright Control (Kenny, Murphy)
Website www.emerkenny.com
Email emerkennymusic@eircom.net

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Emer Kenny Dublin, Ireland

Emer's self titled first album “Emer Kenny” was released worldwide by Polygram in 1997. She released two other solo albums in 2000 and 2004 with Gold Circle and Artemis respectively. Emer’s tracks have been featured on more than 20 commercial releases, synchronised to Top US TV shows and major film releases on the big screen and re-mixed by dance Icon Junior Vasques . ... more

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