Welcome to the Irish Song Project

The Irish Song Project is the first ever attempt to undertake a systematic survey of the history of song in Ireland. 'Irish song' here refers to songs composed or performed in Ireland, thus not only songs in Gaelic and English but also, for the medieval period, Latin and French in addition. The materials range from the earliest written sources in the late seventh and eighth centuries up to the mid-nineteenth century. A representative selection of songs (c.250 items) from this survey has been selected for this online database in order to demonstrate the array of song types and to encourage both performances of, and scholarship on, the extensive and diverse repertoires of Irish song.