Airdí Cuan

The Headlands of the Bay

Traditional (John McCambridge, c. 1793–1873)

currently learning antrimemigrantsean-noscounty-antrimulster-irish

English translation

Gaeilge English

Dá mbeinn féin in Airdí Cuan in aice an tsléibhe úd 'tá i bhfad uaim b'annamh liom gan dul ar cuairt go Gleann na gCuach Dé Domhnaigh.

If only I were in Airdí Cuan Beside that mountain so far from me now I rarely missed a chance to visit The Cuckoo's Glen on a Sunday.

agus och, och Éire 'lig is ó Éire lonndubh agus ó is é mo chroí 'tá trom is é brónach.

And oh, oh Ireland and all, oh Ireland, melancholy and oh My heart is heavy and sorrowful.

Is iomaí Nollaig 'bhí mé féin i mbun abhann Doinne is mé gan chéill ag iomáin ar an trá bhán is mo chamán bán i mo dhorn liom.

Many a Christmas I spent myself At the foot of the River Dun, young and heedless Hurling on the white strand With my white hurley in my fist.

agus och, och Éire 'lig is ó Éire lonndubh agus ó is é mo chroí 'tá trom is é brónach.

And oh, oh Ireland and all, oh Ireland, melancholy and oh My heart is heavy and sorrowful.

Nach tuirseach mise anseo liom féin nach n-airím guth coiligh, londubh nó traon, gealbhán, smaolach, naoscach féin, is chan aithním féin an Domhnach.

How weary am I here, alone, Hearing no cry of cock, blackbird or corncrake, No yellowhammer, thrush or even snipe — And I can't even tell one day from a Sunday.

agus och, och Éire 'lig is ó Éire lonndubh agus ó is é mo chroí 'tá trom is é brónach.

And oh, oh Ireland and all, oh Ireland, melancholy and oh My heart is heavy and sorrowful.

Dá mbeadh agam féin ach coit is rámh nó go n-iomarfainn ar an tsnámh ag dúil as Dia go sroichfinn slán is go bhfaighinn bás in Éirinn.

If only I had a small boat and an oar So that I might row across the current Trusting in God that I'd arrive safely And that I would find my death in Ireland.

Notes

Composed by John McCambridge (Seán Mac Ambróis) from Mullarts near Glendun, County Antrim. An emigrant's lament for the townland of Airdí Cuan near Cushendun, Co. Antrim. "Gleann na gCuach" = Cuckoo's Glen. "Abhainn Doinne" = the River Dun (at Cushendun — "Caisleán Dúna" = Black Castle of the Dun). "Traon" = corncrake. "Gealbhán" = yellowhammer. "Smaolach" = song thrush. "Naoscach" = snipe. "Chan aithním" = Ulster Irish for "ní aithním" (I cannot recognise). "Coit is rámh" = a small boat and an oar. The final wish — to die in Ireland — is the classic emigrant's longing: not to live there, just to be buried there.

Commentary

Verse 3 is the one that really breaks you — he's lost not just place but *time*. He can't hear the birds that would mark the Irish countryside (cock crow, blackbird, corncrake, thrush, snipe), and "chan aithním féin an Domhnach" — he can't even feel Sunday as different from any other day. The whole rhythm of life is gone. "Traon" (corncrake) is a bird almost entirely gone from Ireland now due to habitat loss — hearing it in a song is a small heartbreak in itself. Verse 4's final wish — "go bhfaighinn bás in Éirinn" — is devastating precisely because it's not asking to go home and *live*, just to die there. The emigrant has given up on return; he only wants the grave. "i mbun abhann Doinne" is the River Dun at Cushendun — same location as the Christmas/hurling verse, just described by the river rather than the castle. "chan aithním" is Ulster Irish for "ní aithním" (I cannot recognise/distinguish) — a small dialectal marker consistent with the song's Antrim origin.

Source: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/albert-fry-ard-ti-chuain-english

← back to songbook