I grew up listening to showtunes and pop music. I am still pretty partial to both. But, ya know, ya get married and are introduced to whole new worlds you never even knew existed. Like Irish Folk music, for instance. I wasn’t aware of any such thing until I met my husband, a Chicago Southside Irish-type.
I was, um, surprised and amused by the subject matter of many of the songs. They sing about love and romance and unicorns, some. But mostly they sing about wars and fist fights and sports and shipwrecks and starving and getting thrown into jail because of untoward young ladies, and whiskey. They sing about whiskey a LOT.
Anyway, I’ve grown to really love Irish folk music in spite of and because of all its craziness. And my kids have grown up loving it. Bobby’s rendition of Whiskey You’re the Devil at the Hooley (our big St. Patrick’s Day party) when he was five was really one for the ages.
Most of the songs are amusing, and crack the kids up. But they can also be poignant and moving. They do sometimes address sophisticated subject matter, but not in a way that makes me uncomfortable, and mostly there are appropriate consequences for bad behavior. Except for the whiskey drinking, they just unapologetically support doing quite a bit of that. So far, I haven’t found that listening to Irish Folk music has made my kids big whiskey drinkers. I’ll keep you posted, though.
So I’m figuring maybe, just maybe, these songs are missing from your lives. And the lives of your children. I want to help you fix that, by giving you a little playlist to enjoy. And maybe play at your St. Patrick’s Day party or tea party play date.
Then, once you come to love them like we do, you can come back here and grab the printables I made featuring our favorite songs, so you can use them to decorate the Irish Pub-themed playroom you’ll be sure to want to install.
The playlist is on Spotify. If you’re logged in to your account, you can just hit play and start listening. If you don’t have an account yet, you can head over to Spotify to sign up. It’s free if you don’t mind listening to an ad every few songs. Or you can get a premium membership, and go commercial-free.
That’s over two hours worth of songs (and growing with all your good suggestions!), and we like ’em all. But, I was working on some decorations for this year’s Hooley, featuring a few of our VERY favorites, so here they are.
The Wild Colonial Boy
Whiskey You’re the Devil
Tim Finnegan’s Wake
Courtin’ in the Kitchen
(in which I first heard of a Hooley)
Bould Thady Quill
Black Velvet Band
You’re welcome to right click and save any of these images. You may print them for your own personal use or as gifts. You can upload them to photo labs, like Shutterfly or Costco or Target, and have them printed there. You can get them made into pillows at Tiny Prints (that’s what *I’m* doing, I can’t wait to see what they look like!). You are also welcome to use them on your blog, just please link back to my blog. If you wish to download them to use in a product to sell, please contact me.
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Hi! I’m Kendra. For twenty years now, I’ve been using food, prayer, and conversation based around the liturgical calendar to share the lives of the saints and the beautiful truths and traditions of our Catholic faith. My own ten children, our friends and neighbors, and people just like you have been on this journey with me.
If you’d like to learn more about what Catholics believe and why, and to be inspired by saints from every era all over the world, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of how to teach your kids about the faith in a way that’s true, engaging, and lasts a lifetime, we can help!
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