BDB Bertsolaritzaren datu-basea

The term sean-nós (old-style, way, method) has been used to describe vernacular Irish language song since the turn of the last century, when the Gaelic Revival of that time cast many aspects of vernacular Gaelic culture into national focus. From that time various individuals and groups have been debating what exactly sean-nós means. To add to this debate I have examined adjudicator feedback sheets from a number of sean-nós singing competitions dating from 1940-2011. All the competitions in question took place at the Oireachtas na Gaeilge (“assembly of Irish”) festival, Ireland’s oldest arts festival, established at the height of the Gaelic revival; collectively these sheets can be read as an ethnographic survey that reveals what is considered aesthetically and ethically important from the perspective of the adjudicators. I argue that, the various Oireachtas sean-nós singing competitions should be viewed as a nexus where individuals from various backgrounds come together to create a unique musical culture with its own performance ethic and aesthetic. It is important to point out that I am not suggesting that sean-nós within the Oireachtas be viewed as “authentic” vernacular Irish-language song. Instead, I argue that those who perform and adjudicate at the festival have collectively contributed to the authoring of a genre of song that is widely framed as traditional Irish language song. In my opinion, it is useful instead to frame the “Oireachtas Irish-language song style” as a sub-genre of what is widely referred to as Irish traditional song; one that shares many characteristics with other forms of the tradition but is nonetheless distinct both aesthetically and ethically.