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In 1920, after he had issued the revised first series of Songs of the Gael, Breathnach returned to Irish-language song publishing with Ár gCeól Féinig, a substantial hardbound collection of 104 songs. This was a continuation in the same format of his Fuínn na Smól volume of 1913, but confusingly Fuínn na Smól was also brought out in hardback earlier in 1920 with its title changed to the more resonant Ceol Ár Sínsear. The Fuínn na Smól penny songsters were also reissued with the new title. Ár gCeól Féinig resembles Breathnach’s first Irish-language collection in having a large representation of the songs of west Cork, and it also has several songs from his native Waterford. Again, Breathnach’s motivations were to save these songs from being lost and to have them sung by a new generation.
