Thread by @ELangfordMusic

Walking around Baile Mhúirne in our first few days during the residency, we were struck by the powerful opposing presences of Gobnait and of the Súlán.

The Súlán, the only masculine river in the country, carries with it a fatalistic curse

It's said it claims a life every seven years. On a bridge, on the walk to Gobnait's Well, is a stone plinth that reads "mise an Súlán, fuar, fada, fireann. Anois an t-am, cá bhfuil an duine?" "I am the Sullane, cold long and masculine. Now is the time, where is the person?"

Eerie. Gobnait, in contrast, is a healing, forgiving presence.

I wanted to write something around generational guilt & shame, the kind inherited by many Irish people. In Crónán Na mBeach, co-written by @Hannahpianah, a girl wakes from a nightmare where the Súlán called to her.

She walks to the mouth of the river in Coolea, leaving her family asleep in their beds. Gobnait comes to her as a swarm of bees to sing her a lullaby and lead her home again. She tells her there is plenty darkness and sin in this world but it isn't for her to shoulder the blame.

Collaborating with these two was a dream - such a fantastic, educational, enriching experience.

You'll be able to see our full performance across @ionadculturtha & @MusNetIrl socials on Thursday ❤

#RESONATEresidency

Photo: Con Kelliher

An mhaidin chinniúnach a dhúisigh sí
From a dark night of troubling dreams
The sky was the warm hue of honey
Forging gold in the well and the stream...

Taifeadta ag Séamus ó Súilleabháin & Amhlaoibh Mac Suibhne