Skibbereen, also known as Dear Old Skibbereen,
'Farewell to Skibbereen', or 'Revenge For Skibbereen',
is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue
wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine,
being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as
a result of the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848.
The first known publication of the song was in a
19th-century publication, The Irish Singer's Own Book
(Noonan, Boston, 1880), where the song was attributed
to Patrick Carpenter...(+)
Skibbereen, also known as Dear Old Skibbereen,
'Farewell to Skibbereen', or 'Revenge For Skibbereen',
is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue
wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine,
being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as
a result of the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848.
The first known publication of the song was in a
19th-century publication, The Irish Singer's Own Book
(Noonan, Boston, 1880), where the song was attributed
to Patrick Carpenter, a poet and native of Skibbereen.
It was published in 1915 by Herbert Hughes who wrote
that it had been collected in County Tyrone, and that
it was a traditional ballad of the famine. It was
recorded by John Avery Lomax from Irish immigrants in
Michigan in the 1930s.
The son in the song asks his father why he left the
village of Skibbereen, in County Cork, Ireland, to live
in another country, to which the father tells him of
the hardship he faced in his homeland. It ends on a
vengeful note expressed by the son.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skibbereen_(song)).
Although originally created for traditional Irish
instruments, I created this Interpretation of
"Skibbereen" for Flute, Oboe & Celtic or Concert
(Pedal) Harp.