Just Irish Music

The Fairy Child is one of Ireland’s most tender and sorrowful ballads — a song that drifts between heartbreak and hope. Written in the 19th century and attributed to the poet Samuel Lover , it tells the story of a mother whose little boy is stolen by the fairies, leaving behind a frail changeling in his place. Her song is both a lament and a prayer — an appeal to the unseen world for the return of her “fairy boy.” Unlike many lively Irish tunes, The Fairy Child moves slowly and softly, with each verse painting a scene of quiet tragedy. We see the golden-haired child sleeping on his mother’s breast, the robin singing outside, the flicker of the rushlight dying, and finally the lonely midnight when the mother realises her true son has gone. The ballad carries the unmistakable mark of Irish folklore, where joy and sorrow often share the same breath — the living world and the Otherworld forever intertwined. Yet even through grief, the song finds light. In its final verses, the mot...

In the cold silence of a prison cell, when the noise dies down and the walls no longer speak, a man closes his eyes. And when this tune begins to play — low and haunting, full of yearning — it opens a door in his heart. A door to the only place that keeps him human. Sosaidh. She is not gone. She is out there — living, breathing, waiting. And he, locked away from the world, holds onto her with the one thing they cannot take: memory. They were inseparable once. Days of laughter under Irish skies, quiet talks by the fire, hands clasped tight through hard times. She stood by him when no one else would. When the world turned its back, she stayed. Through long court days and dark headlines, she never flinched. Her eyes, full of love and fire, met his across the courtroom. And in that moment, he knew: he could survive anything — except losing her. Now, every night, when the noise dims and the light fades, he plays this melody in his head. He hears it as she used to hum it in the kitchen. I...