Ireland is an island located to the north-west of continental Europe. Politically is divided in Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland which is the southern part of Ireland that reached the independence in the XX century. Ireland is a place rich in culture and history that comes from 2000 years ago. It’s a heavily touristed region thanks to great varieties of art representations that it presents. Flora, fauna, geography, history, culture, art, music, literature, etc. all of these are interesting to know, visitand discover how it was evolutioning and how important are the Irish artist in these contemporaneous times around the world. Next, Music and arts will be showing to understand the great importance of this marvelous country and why people consider Ireland a great place to discover and enjoy.
“Bountiful Ireland” – The beautiful coastline view of Ireland
Irish Music
Music is the human being’s inner feelings expressed in sounds, silence, pitches, rhythms, textures, dynamics and other sound qualities and all related to a context in certain culture, with it we can be immersed in that culture. Ireland has a long music related past that was evolving since the 3rd century and started as war songs and some histories related to it and transmitted via oral, because the Celtic culture had a warlike past so, most of their manners were related to war, however as humans they were evolving.
In the early ages of Ireland weren’t musicians but poets, these poets were called bards whose made many ballads and went to war with their masters to have a register of it. Most of the musical evidence related to the old Irish music was destroyed because the repeating wars between the kingdoms so there are not much evidence left before the 18th century.
Also in Ireland there were many monks that had the teacher role, however they taught focused in music in many learning centers made by themselves or teaching in one previously built. Some researchers of ancient cultures said that in Ireland lived the most skilled musicians in comparison with other kingdoms. They used to play the harps vigorously and were called by King Griffit of Wales and the Danes to play their harps. Also in the crusades, Italy adopted the harp. The harp was very popular as the Irish musicians. The most important people whose promoted the music were the monks and thanks to them the music was one of the most important things around Ireland, These monks were very welcome in everyplace.
The music played in the ancient Ireland was one of the most important things in daily life, proof of it are the ancient medieval registers. In the medieval age of Ireland pagan music used to be converted into religious music written in Latin and focused in churches but people in their houses kept playing pagan music.
When the invasion from Normandy to Ireland began in 1100. there was a division between outside and inside cultures, it generated that people built English and Anglo-Norman learning centers that hadn’t much presence in terms of art among people. Invaders from Normandy were strong warriors who attacked and looted almost all Ireland but they eventually became assimilated and converted themselves into Irish people. Irish people always were experts in fields of poetry, astronomy and medicine. But the invaders used to delay the civilization development, example of that were the old laws called “Statues of Kilkeny” that its target was to stop the Norman King decline by forbidding and exiling English people from Ireland, then it was replaced by another English law and it generated that English people couldn’t have contact with Irish Poets or Musicians. At the end of the 14th century poets were active again in England because of the civil war.
At 16-17th century, Ireland was under the ruling of the Tudors and Cromwell so Ireland was very suppressed by these rulings and the Ireland arts had to be hidden into the poems by the bards and some secret teachers who tough to children in secret the culture and spirit of Ireland. The horrors made by the invasions to Ireland generated composing music were hard and it let space to making some of the most important kind of music for Irish people in these times, that was the “Work Songs” that preceded the Blues. However there aren’t survived too much Work Songs from Ireland because it wasn’t very popular among people but then peasants realized that was very useful to record them and the practice of these song raised again. Nevertheless in the “Big Hunger” of 1845 people feel without spirit and was the great silence of Irish music, and thanks to the “Work Songs” we can know the old manners and culture of the Irish in a intimacy view.
The “Work Songs” were useful for people doing repetitive works and tasks because of the rhythmic nature of it, helped in a huge way to do the works that needed some kind of synchronization and works that were too boring like , so people was able to share their feelings among other workers against the master or just for fun and morphing a boring work into a orchestral and happy team promoted work. Humor was a essential element in many songs, changing some words into senseless syllables was characteristic in this kind of song of song also this characteristic can be found specially in the refrain.
Songs were very important and useful in the ancient daily life to ancient Irish druids, war songs of warriors, even to mothers making their children sleep.
Irish art
The Irish art is mainly composed by ornamentation and illumination of script books; metal works; sculptures and buildings. All the influence of Irish art comes from Celtic culture and it was changing through years, but there are not evidence of this. The most important period of the Irish art was during the ending of IX century to the beginning of XII century, after that period, the art was degenerated by Danish irruptions and Anglo-Norman invasion.
Fragment of the book of Armagh – The beginning of the Gospel of Saint Mark, in Latin.
The Irish scribes developed a great work on penmanship for writing their books, holding great honour, skills not used by scribes of other countries. The used capital letters very larger and mixed up with waves, spirals and another draws. Although, the ornamentation that they used were faces or forms of differents animals or mythological enties likes dragons, angels, serpents mixed with general designs in the other space on the pages of the books. In addition to this, they used to paint these pages with primary colors in the gaps of the letters. This art is called Illumination. The most important books are: Books of Kells, which is a copy of the four gospels in Latin and no other book is compared with its style and develop; the Book of Armaghwhich contains a copy of the New Testament in Latin and the life of St. Patrick. Nowadays, both books are in Trinity College, Dublin.
Capital Letter “P” – Fragment of Book of Kells
About metal works, the Irish artist put the same heart and soul to develop their art piecework, similar to the penmanship. The patterns used were the same that in manuscripts in diverse items made by gold, silver, bronze, gems and enamel. The most remarkable were the Cross of Cong, the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch. The Cross of Cong was elaborated in 1123 in order of the King of Ireland, Turlough O’ Connor and it is covered in bronze with draws of serpents and a crystal ball at center. The Ardagh Chalice is considered one of the most important treasure of the country, found in 1868 by two men who digging to discover potatoes. It is made by gold, silver and bronze even precious stones. The Tara Brooch was made in 700 A.C. A farmer woman discovered it and sold to a man who called it Tara Brooch because it was found in Tara’s hill.
Cross of Cong
Ardagh Chalice
Tara Brooch
After the Act of Union in the year 1800, many artists moved to London, but artists who remained in Ireland established organizations that continue to support the artists such as the “Royal Irish Academy” founded in 1823 which presents an annual exhibition of contemporary Irish painters and sculptors. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Irish painters looked to the French impressionists for a new style. These included William Leech (1881 – 1968), Walter Osborne (1859 – 1903), John Lavery (1856 – 1941) and Roderic O’ Connor (1860 – 1940).
Nowadays, all of these artistic representations are shown in the Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Ireland and the National Gallery of Dublin, important places used in the tourism that well worth a visit because the best piece arts all of times are there.
National Museum of Ireland
Sources
– Grattan, W. A History of Irish Music. Retrieve September 14, 2012 from http://www.libraryireland.com/IrishMusic/Contents.php
– Encyclopedia of Art. 2012. Retrieve September 14, 2012 from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/irish-art.htm
– Arnold, B. (1977). A Concise History of Irish Art. W W Norton & Co Inc; Revised edition.
Irish Culture 