Voices and Poetry of Ireland

Bono and Paul McGuinness have contributed to Voices and Poetry of Ireland, a 3 CD and book anthology of Irish poetry that will benefit Focus Ireland, an organization that aims to combat homelessness and advance the rights of homeless people.

The list of contributors to Voices and Poetry of Ireland, which is supported by Poetry Ireland, reads like a Who’s Who of Ireland. The book that accompanies the CDs contains the text of the poems, as well as photos and biographical information of the readers. Priced at Euro 40, the CD and book set will be available from Harper Collins in two weeks.

Read the press release and full list of poems and their readers.


PRESS RELEASE

VOICES AND POETRY OF IRELAND
A UNIQUE BOOK AND 3 CD PACKAGE IN AID OF FOCUS IRELAND.

A collection of over 100 best loved Irish poems featuring recordings by many of Ireland’s famous names.

Voices and Poetry of Ireland is a 3 CD and beautiful hardback book anthology of classic and contemporary Irish poems from poets such as Yeats, Kavanagh, Wilde, Kennelly and Heaney read by over 100 of the best-known voices in Irish life such as Bono, Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Bertie Ahern, Maeve Binchy, Bob Geldof and Terry Wogan. The objective of this rich and colourful celebration of Irish poetic heritage is to raise much-needed funds for Focus Ireland, one of Ireland’s largest voluntary agencies solely dedicated to combating homelessness. Founded by Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985 it helps over 4,000 people each year throughout the country.

The original concept was by Lunar Record’s Brian Molloy and the project was produced by the company with the full support of Poetry Ireland. Voices and Poetry of Ireland is scheduled for world-wide release in November 2003 with Harper Collins. The CDs feature over 100 readers from such diverse backgrounds as the arts, broadcasting, politics and all aspects of public life and together with the Book comprises a living anthology of the best of Irish writing while capturing the wide range of registers that make up the Irish speaking voice.

The poems, drawn up in consultation with Poetry Ireland, reflect something of the diversity and variety of poetry from Ireland and includes both famous and historical poems alongside new and even unpublished work from among our finest living writers. The Book contains photos and biographical details on the well-known readers and the text of the poems which they bring to life on the accompanying CDs.

Retail Price Euro 40

VOICES & POETRY OF IRELAND

Contributor – Poem – Author

Bertie Ahern – The Mother – Padraic Pearse

Robert Ballagh – A Glass of Beer – James Stephens

Patrick Bergin – The Mystery – Amergin

Maeve Binchy – Pangur Ban – Anonymous

Charlie Bird – Danny – J.M. Synge

Tara Blaze – Nuala – Brendan Kennelly

Luka Bloom – Mirror in February – Thomas Kinsella

Bono – God’s Laughter – Brendan Kennelly

John Bowman – A Little Boy in the Morning – Francis Ledwidge

Paul Brady – 4 Voices without an Instrument – Medbh McGuckian

Pierce Brosnan – Father and Son – F.R. Higgins

Vincent Browne – A Christmas Childhood – Patrick Kavanagh

Gabriel Byrne – To L.L. – Oscar Wilde

Gay Byrne – Mid Term Break – Seamus Heaney

Liam Clancy – The Second Coming – W. B. Yeats

Paddy Cole – The Friction of Feet in Time – Michael Coady

Andrea Corr – Never Give all the Heart – W.B. Yeats

Sharon Corr – First Annual Report – Gerry Corr

Phil Coulter – The Man from God knows Where – Florence Wilson

John Creedon – The Bells of Shandon – Francis Mahony

Anthony Cronin – The Fisherman – W.B. Yeats

Jeananne Crowley – An Old Woman of the Roads – Padraic Colum

Bill Cullen – Shades of Ranelagh – Macdara Woods

Dana – The Christmas Rose – Cecil Day Lewis

Ian Dempsey – Duffy’s Circus – Paul Muldoon

Dermot Desmond – My Land – Thomas Davis

Moya Doherty – Winter Birds – Moya Cannon

Theo Dorgan – Death of an Irishwoman – Michael Hartnett

Anne Doyle – Nude – Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill

Danny Doyle – Pity the Islanders – David Quin

Ronnie Drew – Ode – Arthur O’Shaughnessy

Joe Duffy – Someone – Dennis O’Driscoll

Myles Dungan – To My Daughter Betty, the Gift of God – Thomas Kettle

Eamonn Dunphy – excerpt from The Paddiad – Patrick Kavanagh

Paul Durcan – The Lovers – Anthony Cronin

Dave Fanning – July in Bettystown – Gerard Fanning

Colin Farrell – Dublin Made Me – Donagh MacDonagh

Marian Finucane – Night Feed – Eavan Boland

Brenda Fricker – The Pride of the Coombe – Seamus Kavanagh

Gavin Friday – The Ballad of Reading Gaol – Oscar Wilde

James Galway – The Rainstick – Seamus Heaney

Bob Geldof – Bagpipe Music – Louis MacNeice

Des Geraghty – Speaking to my Father – Theo Dorgan

Brendan Gleeson – Emotions – Rory Gleeson

Larry Gogan – She Moved Through the Fair – Padraic Colum

Adrian Hardiman – Seals at High Island – Richard Murphy

Mary Harney – Sunday’s Well – Vona Groarke

Richard Harris – Ode to Christy Brown – Richard Harris

Shay Healy – How to be my Heart – Pat Boran

Seamus Heaney – What Then? – W.B. Yeats

Michael D. Higgins – Dark Rosaleen – J.C. Mangan

John Hume – Claudy – James Simmons

Neil Jordan – I Grabbed an Education – Patrick Kavanagh

Fergal Keane – All of these People – Michael Longley

Frank Kelly – Stony Grey Soil – Patrick Kavanagh

Gerry Kelly – Ulster Names – John Hewitt

John Kelly – The Singers House – Seamus Heaney

Brian Kennedy – The Tree Speaks – Cathal O Searcaigh

Sen Ed. Kennedy – Fiddler of Dooney – W.B. Yeats

Sr. Stan Kennedy – To A Child – Patrick Kavanagh

Brendan Kennelly – My Father – John B. Keane

Pat Kenny – Antarctica – Derek Mahon

Marian Keyes – Thems Your Mammy’s Pills – Leland Bardwell

Mick Lally – Omos do John Millington Synge – Mairtin O Direain

Des Lynam – There Are Days – John Montague

John Lynch – The Sunlight on the Garden – Louis MacNiece

Ciaran MacMathuna – To a May Baby – Winifred Letts

Jimmy Magee – I Will go with My Father – Joseph Campbell

Tommy Makem – Requiem for the Croppies – Seamus Heaney

Paddy Maloney – The Country Fiddler – John Montague

Eamonn McCann – Christ Goodbye – Padraic Fiacc

Charlie McCreevy – Literary History – Rita Kelly

Paul McGrath – The Game of your Life – Gabriel Fitzmaurice

Paul McGuinness – Shapes and Shadows – Derek Mahon

Pauline McLynn – The People I Grew up With – Michael Gorman

Van Morrison – Solstice for my Daughter – Gerry Dawe

Mike Murphy – The Village Schoolmaster – Oliver Goldsmith

Kevin Myers – Fontenoy – Emily Lawless

Christina Noble – The View from under the Table – Paula Meehan

Michael Noonan – A Kind of Trust – Brendan Kennelly

David Norris – The Jackeens Lament – Brendan Behan

Miriam O’Callaghan – A Woman Untouched – Frank McGuinness

Sinead O’Connor – Pride – Paul Williams

Daniel O’Donnell – Poem from a 3 Year Old – Brendan Kennelly

Ardal O’Hanlon – Plaisir D’Amour – Patrick Galvin

Deirdre O’Kane – School Friends – Susan Connolly

Olivia O’Leary – Ship of Death – Kerry Hardie

Micheal O Muircheartaigh – The Boys of Barr na Sraide – Sigerson Clifford

Milo O’Shea – Peter Gilligan – W.B. Yeats

Morgan O’Sullivan – Canticle – John F. Deane

Fintan O’Toole – Ceasefire – Michael Longley

Maureen Potter – The Fairies – William Allingham

Deirdre Purcell – Bewleys Caf