The iconic collection of sean nós singer Diarmuidín Ó Súilleabháín Ar Bhruach na Carraige Báine, released posthumously in 1995, has been re-released in December 2022 under the title Diarmuidín by Éigse Dhiarmuidín Uí Shúilleabháin in Cúil Aodha. 

Diarmuidín features additional songs digitised and made available to Éigse Dhiarmuid Uí Shúilleabháin by ITMA from the Ó Cannain Collection along with materials provided by RTÉ and Raidió na Gaeltachta archives. 

The five newly published songs are mainly from live recordings made in the 1980s at occasions such as Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Fleadhanna Ceoil. One of the recordings is from a live session at the Top of Coom, where Diarmuid, his two brothers and Danny Kelleher sing Glanlea.

Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin 

Rugadh Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin i gCúil Aodha le linn an tsneachta mhóir i 1947, agus tógadh é i dteaghlach ina raibh ceol agus amhránaíocht le cloisint aige ón gcliabhán. Bhailigh a athair Maidhcí mórán amhrán i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla sa dúthaigh sin. Ba ó Chill Gharbháin, trasna na teorann i gCiarraí dá mháthair Nóra, agus cé nárbh amhránaí í, bhi stair agus focail na n-amhrán óna dúthaigh féin aici.

Ag éiri aníos do Dhiarmuid i gCúil Aodha bhí amhránaithe cosúil le Pádraig Ó Tuama (Peátaí Thaidhg Pheig) agus Diarmuid Ó Ríordáin, agus filí cosúil le Dónal Ó Mulláin agus Seán Eoghain Ó Súilleabháin in ard a réime - daoine iad so go raibh an-tionchar acu air i gcaitheamh a shaoil.

Nuair a bhunaigh Seán Ó Riada Cór Chúil Aodha sa bhliain 1963 bhí Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin, in éineacht lena athair Maidhcí agus a dheartháireacha Danny agus Eoiní ina mbaill.

ls ag an seisiúin bheo ab fhearr ab fhéidir taithneamh a bhaint as amhránaíocht Dhiarmuid Uí Shúilleabháin. Bhí sé de bhua aige amhrán oiriúnach d’aon ócáid, pé saghas é, a thabhairt uaidh, agus ba mhinic go mbíodh amhrán nua aige, tarraingthe aníos as foinse éigin, agus foghlamtha go beacht. Ba mhinic an lucht éisteachta faoi dhraíocht aige. Chan sé na hamhráin mhóra ó Mhúscraí, sa stíl faoi leith a thug sé leis ó na glúnta a d’imigh roimis. Bhuaigh sé an chéad duais sa chomórtas sean-nóis ag Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann sa bhliain 1974 agus glactar leis go forleathan go raibh sé ar dhuine de na hamhránaithe sean-nóis ab fhearr sa tír. Chaith sé roinnt blianta ina mhúinteoir scoile sa Phasáiste Thiar i gContae Chorcaí, sula bhfuair sé post le RTÉ i gCorcaigh mar láithreoir agus Iéiritheoir ar raidió áitiúil Chorcaí ar a dtugtaí ‘Corkabout’. Chuaigh sé as san go RTÉ i mBaile Átha Cliath, mar ar oibrigh sé sa tSeomra Nuachta. Tar éis trí nó ceathair de bhlianta thug sé aghaidh ó dheas ar Bhaile na nGall, agus thug sé na blianta deireanacha dá shaol ag obair le RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Bhi tigh aige i mBaile Bhiocáire in aon chlós le sean-tigh Pheig Sayers.

Mhair sé ansan go dtí gur cailleadh é go tubaisteach ar an 2ú Nollaig 1991.

Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin was born in Cúil Aodha in the Winter of 1947. He was brought up in a house where he heard music and singing from the very beginning. His father Maidhcí collected the old songs of the locality, both in Irish and English. His mother Nóra, from Kilgarvan across the Kerry border, had the history and the words of many songs from her own area though she was not a singer herself Diarmuid grew up in Cúil Aodha at a time when singers like Pádraig Ó Tuama (Peátaí Thaidhg Pheig) and Diarmuid Ó Ríordáin, and poets such as Dónal Ó Mulláin and Seán Eoghan Ó Súilleabháin were in their prime. All of these were a source of inspiration for him. When Seán Ó Riada founded Cór Chúil Aodha in 1963, Diarmuid became a member along with his brothers Danny and Eoiní, and father Maidhcí.

It was at live sessions that Diarmuid’s singing was to be enjoyed at its best. He had a knack for picking a song to suit the occasion, and he would often surprise his audience with a new song newly uprooted from some source and learned to perfection. He could hold his audience spellbound, singing the songs of Múscraí in a style inherited from his early mentors and from the generations that had gone before him. He won first prize in the sean-nós singing competition at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in 1974 and was considered one of the finest traditional singers in the country. Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin began his working life as a teacher in Passage West, Co. Cork, after which he joined RTÉ in Cork, as a producer and presenter on ‘Corkabout’.

He went from there to RTÉ in Dublin, where he worked in An Seomra Nuachta (The Irish[language] Newsroom). Having spent about four years in Dublin, he headed south for Baile na nGall, where he spent the rest of his life working with RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin died tragically on the 2nd of December 1991.

 

Product Type:  CD