What a beautiful song.
The people of Ireland have chosen ‘On Raglan Road’ as Ireland’s Favourite Folk song, following a series on RTÉ.
The song was performed on Friday night’s episode of The Late Late Show on RTÉ One by Luka Bloom, following the news that it had been chosen.
A series entitled Ireland’s Favourite Folk Song series was presented by folk legend Mary Black, who spoke about how pleased she was with the decision.
She said: “I’m delighted to hear that the public voted for the wonderful On Raglan Road as Ireland’s favorite folk song. It’s always been a favourite of mine and deserves this great accolade!”
The history of the song shows that it was first written in the 1940s as a lyric poem written by Patrick Kavanagh, following his doomed infatuation with Hilda Moriarty, a young medical student from Dingle.
Kavanagh befriended Hilda in 1944 when they both lived on Raglan Road.
She enjoyed the famous poet’s company but at twenty-two she was not interested in having a romantic relationship with this forty-year-old man.
It was first published in The Irish Press in 1946 under the title “Dark-haired Miriam Ran Away”.
You can watch the series in its entirety on the RTÉ player here, or enjoy Bloom’s performance of the song here:
Clip via The Late Late Show
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