New Children’s Audio-Book Features Irish Songs Brought To Life By Young Singers
A new children’s push-button audiobook featuring six Irish songs performed by young singers was launched this week by My Irish Books.
Old favourites, such as ‘Beidh Aonach Amárach’, ‘Pota Mór Fataí’ and ‘Trasna na dTonnta’ feature in the book, which aims to bring the Irish language to life for children.
‘Mo Chuid Amhráin Ghaeilge 2 / My Irish Songs 2’ is the second book in the series by My Irish Books, and features six traditional Irish songs, which can be heard at the push of a button.
My Irish Books launched its first book of the series in 2020, and sold out overnight following its appearance on The Late Late Toy Show in November.
Commenting on the launch of the second book today, Director and Series Editor of My Irish Books, Risteard Mac Liam, said:
"We originally came up with the idea for My Irish Books as we wanted to bring the Irish language to life for children.
What better way to immerse yourself in a language than through music?
We brought traditional Irish singing to a modern technological concept, books with an internal speaker.
By doing so, we could make the songs more accessible for children, and more enjoyable, and thereby fostering a grá for the language.
The response to our first book was overwhelmingly positive.
It’s been fantastic to see children, and adults singing along to the songs.
We are delighted to add to the My Irish Books series today, with ‘Mo Chuid Amhráin Ghaeilge 2 / My Irish Songs 2’, and we hope that people enjoy this book as much as the first.”
The songs on the book are performed by six young Irish children aged 8 - 15 and were recorded in Dublin.
The young performers include Caoilfhionn Ní Scolaí (15), Sorcha Ní Scolaí (14), Naoise Ó Scolaí (8), Setanta Ó Scolaí (10), Caoimhe Ní Shiúrtáin Ní Loingsigh (13) and Ríona Ní Chonaill (14).
Risteard originally approached the well-known Ó Scolaí family after seeing the sisters performing as part of Sult – a group of young traditional Irish musicians.
Brothers Naoise and Setanta subsequently came on board for the recording. Between them, the Scolaí siblings have won 15 all-Ireland Fleadh Ceoil medals.
A fellow student of the Scolaí family at Scoil Mobhí, Ríona Ní Chonaill also joined the group in 2020.
Ríona, whose mother hails from the Conamara Gaeltacht, has been involved in music from a young age, having experience in sean-nós singing and dancing.
She has been a student at the Glasnevin Academy of Music for three years and competed at Oireachtas na Gaeilge.
Caoimhe Ní Shiúrtáin Ní Loingsigh who was also involved in the book’s recordings, has previously recorded original songs and voiceover for Eric Carle’s award-winning Hungry Caterpillar playschool app.
She is the daughter of producers Anna Jordan and Keith Lindsay.
‘Mo Chuid Amhráin Ghaeilge 2 / My Irish Songs 2’ includes an original illustration for each song, illustrated by award-winning artist Tatyana Feeney. The drawings are also available to purchase as prints, on the My Irish Books website.
The book is suitable for children aged 1-6 years old and goes on sale on myirishbooks.com and in selected bookstores across Ireland from Tuesday, 29th June.
The book retails at €12.
