Just off the west coast of Ireland, west of Clare and south of Connemara, lie three small islands. With weather-beaten cliffs, tiny stone-walled fields, and a small, resilient population, the Aran Islands are steeped in history. Those who live there have found ways to live alongside the unrelenting seas of the North Atlantic. It is a landscape filled with story and myth, and a distinct area of the gaeltacht, where the Irish language is spoken primarily.
Padraig Jack is a bilingual singer and songwriter who hails from the largest of these islands, Inis Mór. He is a songwriter of rare sensitivity, able to bridge the past with the present with a humble and likeable approach. He has grown and developed from seeds sown around him. Quite apart from the obvious inspiration of the landscape, his sister Aisling Ní Fhlaithearta is a producer who has worked in TV and film; his aunt Mary O’Malley is a poet; his brother Cathal and cousins Eoin Jack and Ronan are also musicians. His father, who performs under the name Barry Ronan, had previously paved the way with his own successful musical career, and a song, Máirín, that is still played on Irish-language radio today.
Padraig came to prominence himself with the song Making Sand, released in 2022. It is a poetic, moving and anthemic song that captured the hearts and the ears of Ireland, becoming the most played song on Irish radio for four weeks consecutively, and still a mainstay of Padraig’s live set today. The feel of the land and the people is encapsulated in a few short verses.
And the roads, they cease at Rossaveal. Long ago, they rowed their curragh’s here / With bones of Burren marrow, shared blood with Connemara, We’re just making sand out here
(Note: the regular jumping-off point to the islands is from Rossaveal, a curragh is a traditional boat, and the Burren is a huge limestone landscape on the Clare mainland, though it is similar to the rock formations on the islands).
Óileáin álainn is deacair, mar a deir Ó’Direáin is Ó’Flaithearta
Translation: A beautiful but tough island, as said by Máirtín Ó’Direáin and Liam O’Flaithearta (notable Aran writers)
Oireann tír le teanga, a anam a chosaint i dteannta
Translation: A country with its own language should use its language to preserve its soul
It is a magical experience to hear the song sung in the live setting; so two video versions are included below, and both are recommended – the live one, for the warmth and intimacy; and the recorded single, for the very moving images featuring the islands and the islanders themselves, and co-directed by his sister.
There is more than one arrow in Padraig’s songwriting quiver, however. As an example, try the subtly potent Minnie, wherein the story of an ill-fated love affair with an older woman is told with empathy and understanding. Cracking melody, too. Fighting Irish is a stunning call to arms, again, steeped in history but with a thread connecting it to today. On his second album, These Shores, the title track draws further on the Celtic roots of his home, with an uplifting musicality. Oiche Gheal, meanwhile, is a beautiful old song given new life through translation into Gaelic.
Anyway, hopefully these videos will be enough to act as a taster for the music of Padraig Jack, but most of all, it is in the live show that the music comes to life. He has made connections with musical communities in West Wales, in Canada, as well as other places, and of course, regularly plays live in Ireland. Padraig has a warm and reassuring presence, and the echoes of hearing music made down the centuries in small communities and homesteads are present in his intimate and welcoming shows.
