THE FIELDS of Athenrysounded in Dublin City Hall yesterday when a Caribbean folk group paid tribute to their Irish heritage.
Wearing national dress of green, white and yellow, the Emerald Community Singers of Montserrat brought the summer with a song about “the delightful sensation of being surrounded by the sand and sea”. The audience, wearing coats and carrying umbrellas, approved.
On their first tour of Ireland, many of the singers have strong Irish links with surnames such as Ryan and Barnes dating back to settlers who arrived in the mid-1600s.
Manager Richard Aspin, from England and with Irish grandparents, said place names such as Kinsale and Cork Hill are common on the island.
“The original settlers were Irish – they were kicked out of Ireland by Cromwell. We still have a strong Catholic tradition. Most of our priests come from Ireland, including the present man, Fr George Agger, from Co Clare,” said Mr Aspin.
Those settlers left one more trace – the national holiday is a 10-day party starting on March 17th. According to Mr Aspin, this commemorates an aborted slave uprising against the Irish planters in 1768 but has turned into a celebration of the green.
One Irishman plays there every year. “It’s a paradise island,” Martin Healy from the Healy Traditional Band said. “It’s very poor but it’s beautiful.” As the singers started their Irish songs, Geraldine Mason (67) clapped along. She deserves a break, being a founding member of the group 40 years ago.
"I love the togetherness, bringing the folk songs that are in our history to the people. This is my first time in Ireland. It's cold but besides that, it's beautiful." And a few seats over, Michael and Margaret O'Sullivan from Artane in Dublin were watching with feet tapping. "It was great. That rendition of Dirty Old Townbrought a tear to my eye," she said.
Today the group play at St Stephen’s Green at 1pm; tomorrow, the International Music Festival at Lantern Centre, Synge Street, Dublin 8, at 1.30pm; and Gardiner Street Church at 7.30pm Mass. Next week they play Kinsale, Cobh and Fermoy in Co Cork.