Just Irish Music

The Hills of Connemara — A Poitín Ballad from Ireland’s Wild West The Hills of Connemara is one of Ireland’s liveliest traditional songs — a spirited celebration of the old art of poitín-making , the illicit distillation of homemade whiskey that once sustained families across the rugged West. Set among the misty mountains and bogs of Connemara, County Galway , the song tells of the quick-witted moonshiners who outsmarted the taxmen and kept Ireland’s spirit — in every sense — alive. The verses follow the frantic energy of a poitín raid: “Keep your eyes well peeled today, The excise men are on their way…” With humor and defiance, the singer describes hiding barrels in streams, rolling casks down hills, and warning the neighbors as the lawmen approach. It’s half chase-song, half celebration — a musical wink to a centuries-old cat-and-mouse game between the people and authority. Beneath the laughter lies something deeper: a reflection of Irish resilience and independence. For ma...

The West’s Awake — A Cry of Freedom from Ireland’s Western Heart The West’s Awake is one of the great anthems of Irish nationalism — a song that rouses the sleeping spirit of the western counties to remember their courage, their pride, and their duty to a free Ireland. Written by the 19th-century patriot Thomas Davis , founder of The Nation newspaper, the song appeared during the Young Ireland movement — a time when poetry and song were weapons of conscience against British rule. In the ballad, Davis calls to the long-silent West — Connacht, Clare, and Kerry , lands that had suffered centuries of invasion, famine, and silence. “Long, long the West’s asleep,” he writes, lamenting how its proud people have been subdued by poverty and despair. Yet the song is no elegy — it’s a call to rise. He recalls how the West once rose for freedom: the men of 1798, the defenders of faith and land, those who refused to bend the knee. The refrain — “The West’s awake!” — is both prophecy and c...