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The Curragh Wrens

from The Crankie Island Song Project by Cathy Jordan

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about

The Curragh Wrens - Kildare
Words and Music Cathy Jordan (Imro)
A song inspired by the plight of single women during the famine who lived in small hollowed out ‘nests’ in the Curragh Co Kildare

lyrics

I’m poor girl born near Dublin City
All alone and lonely O
The Landlord on us showed no pity
Born to be a Curragh Wren

My Parents died likewise my brother
All alone and lonely O
At 14 years I became a mother
Born to be a Curragh Wren

Death or workhouse lay before me
All alone and lonely oh
To the road i took my baby and me
Born to be a Curragh Wren

For miles we trekked through driving weather
All alone and lonely oh
And on the Kildare plains we found shelter
Born to be a Curragh Wren

Chorus
Banished out to hollowed quarters
God’s men scorned us from their Alters
Who will love the sons and daughters
born onto this Curragh Wren

With bare hands worn to blood and bone
All alone and lonely oh
Among the furze we made our home
Born to be a Curragh Wren

Like dogs we crouched in damp and squalor
All alone and lonely Oh
Crawling out when the soldiers hollered
Born to be a Curragh Wren

At night they’d come to hunt for blood
All alone and lonely oh
They stripped and beat us in the mud
Born to be a Curragh Wren

All ye who judge us from your soft beds
All alone and lonely oh
Hang in shame your righteous heads
Born to be a Curragh Wrens

credits

from The Crankie Island Song Project, track released September 27, 2024
Words and music Cathy Jordan
Recorded in The Magic Room Sligo,
Engineered by Brian McDonagh
Mastered by Richie Ford
Grainne Bath Enright - Original crankie illustrations
Cathy - Vocal, uke, bodhran
Claudia - Vocal, fiddle
Irene Buckley - Vocal electronics
This song features on an album by Plúirín Na mBan (Claudia, Cathy, Irene) called Female Rambling Sailor, released July 2023
Arranged by Cathy Jordan and Plúirín Na mBan
IEWL

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Cathy Jordan Sligo, Ireland

Singer, musician and songwriter,
Roscommon born Cathy Jordan has been a professional singer with traditional group “​Dervish” for nearly 30 years. She is a self-taught guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán and bones player. Cathy has been an ambassador for Irish culture and music for over a quarter of a century, and has a deep understanding of traditional Irish songs and singing. ... more

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