Songs From A Hidden Ulster

Songs from a Hidden Ulster is a new eight part series in which singer Pádraigín Ni Ullacháin uncovers the lost songs and traditions of Oriel in South-East Ulster.

She tells the story of the swift and devastating language change in the area that had once been the centre of Ulster's literary activity in the Irish language. The programmes are a celebration of the singers and songs of Oriel, the poets who created them and the perceptive collectors who rescued them from oblivion as their memory faded from oral tradition.

Pádraigín took it on herself to find the pieces of this musical jigsaw and to put it together again for future generations and gives voice to many of the songs in the course of the series.

She talks to Cathal Póirtéir about the roles of the churches in bringing about the shift from Irish to English, the decimation of the literary and scribal traditions of the area and the poets Peadar Ó Doirnín, Art Mac Cumhaigh and Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Gunna.

Listen to the series.