Compositions

1. An Bhinn Bhuí [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel
2. Jacqueline & Tommy's [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], hornpipe
3. Méaracáin Mhordáin [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel
4. Port Eoghan Páraic [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], slip jig
5. Port Mhuireann Anna [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], slip jig
6. Ríl an Ghoirt [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel
7. Spraoi an Spidéil [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], jig

Listen: Audio playlist of Saileog Ní Cheannabháin compositions, played by the composer.

Learn: Interactive scores of Saileog Ní Cheannabháin compositions, with the tunes played slowly by the composer.

Learn: Transcriptions of compositions, composed by and transcribed by Saileog Ní Cheannabháin

An Bhinn Bhuí [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel 

This reel came about just before Halloween in 2009 when I was playing the fiddle, alone in my grandparents' house in Aill na Brún, Iorras Aithneach, Connemara. It was a very windy and stormy night.  

Learn the tune:

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

Jacqueline & Tommy's hornpipe [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin] 

This tune was inspired by the playing of Jacqueline McCarthy on concertina and Tommy Keane on pipes, in particular when they play in B flat tuning. I really like listening to them and was also hoping to compose a tune that might sound like a piping tune with a particular atmosphere.

Learn the tune:
Recorded in F.  It could be played in G or A, but written to be played in a lower key.

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

Méaracáin Mhordáin [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel

I started humming the first part of this tune one summer, sometime between 2010 and 2014, while looking at Croc Mordáin (Mordán's hill), whilst out walking on the bog near Aill na Méaracáin, near Cill Chiaráin, Connemara. I added the second part when I got home. Mordán, according to local folklore, was a druid who had the hill named after him. Croc Mordáin is the highest hill in south Connemara and has great views from every side on a clear day.

Learn the tune:
Recorded in C, but could be played in any key.  

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

Port Eoghan Páraic [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], slip jig

Learn the tune:
Recorded in F, but could be played in E or A.

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

I can't remember many details about what was happening but it was an improvisation,  loosely based on what I perceived to be the general way they might have been at the time!

Port Mhuireann Anna [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], slip jig

Learn the tune:
Recorded in F, but could be played in any key.

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

Ríl an Ghoirt [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], reel

Ríl an Ghoirt/Ríl Ghort Inse Guaire - This reel was inspired by some of the many fantastic sessions at the Cooley-Collins traditional music festival in Gort, Co. Galway. 

Learn the tune:
Recorded in C, but could be played in D.

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

Spraoi an Spidéil [comp. Saileog Ní Cheannabháin], jig

This is a tune I composed in 2014, following Éigse an Spidéil. It was the first time I had attended the festival and I was really inspired by the fantastic musicians, singers and dancers there, as well as the lovely atmosphere. The concert was a particular highlight. 

Learn the tune:
Recorded in C, but could be played in D.

• Interactive score with Saileog Ní Cheannabháin playing the tune slowly
• Tune transcription

About Saileog Ní Cheannabháin

Saileog is a musician, sean nós singer and composer, who has played traditional and classical music on piano from a very young age, and also plays traditional music on fiddle and viola. Her father Peadar is a sean nós singer from Connemara, her mother Úna Lawlor is a classical violinist and her siblings Eoghan and Muireann are also singers and musicians. She has a BMus degree from UCC, where she studied many different kinds of music. Having graduated with a BMus (2009), UCC awarded her the Seán Ó Riada Prize, for a study of the Songs and Singers of Iorras Aithneach. 

She has released two albums to date - I bhfíor-dheiriú oidhche and Roithleán. I bhfíor-dheiriú oidhche, is an album of sean nós songs which Saileog learned from Seamus Ennis' collection, (housed in the National Folklore Collection, UCD) from various singers in Iorras Aithneach,  Connemara. The songs were collected in the early 1940s, and are a combination of songs that are no longer sung and unusual versions of more well known songs, chosen from the collection.

Roithleán is a mostly solo album of traditional music, sean nós songs, and also features some tunes composed by Saileog, with guest musicians on some of the tracks, including Muireann Ní Cheannabháin, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Jack Talty, Marie McHugh, Tim McHugh and Eoin Ó  Beaglaoich. Roithleán was awarded Albam Thraidisiúnta na Bliana (Traditional Album of the Year) by Nós magazine in 2018.

In 2014, she did research work for the project Amhráin Ó Iorrus, a compilation recording of songs from Erris, North Mayo, which were collected from Mayo singers in Chicago at the beginning of the last century. The project was initiated by Séamas Ó Mongáin and Síle Uí  Mhongáin.

Saileog also features as a guest on Ensemble Ériu's debut album (2011), on the Tunes in the Church compilation album (2013), on Treasa Ní Mhiolláin's Lán Mara album (2019) and on the Rogha Raelach Volume 1 compilation (November 2020).

In 2018 Saileog and Maitiú Ó Casaide composed and arranged music for Darach Mac Con Iomaire's play, Baoite. Some of the music was composed between both musicians, and other parts in collaboration with sound designer Steve Lynch. Baoite was commissioned by the Abbey Theatre, and performed for ten days in An Taibhdhearc, as part of the Galway# International Arts Festival 2018. In 2019, the play was commissioned by the Abbey Theatre and performed again for several nights in the Peacock Theatre, Dublin, in May 2019.

In February 2020, Saileog took part in Úna Monaghan's Aonaracht project at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, performing a piece for piano and electronics.

One of Saileog's ongoing projects is arranging sean nós songs from Connemara and Rinn Ó gCuanach, along with Ailbhe Nic Dhonncha and Pádraic Keane. 

Saileog also teaches classical and traditional piano, traditional Irish fiddle and sean nós singing. She has been teaching privately and also giving occasional workshops since 2009.

Saileog is currently NUI Galway's 2021 sean nós singer in residence, and is also currently working on some new solo compositions.

https://saileog.blogspot.com

Presented by Treasa Harkin, May 2021, with thanks to Saileog Ní Cheannabháin