Caoineadh Cu Chulainn, Composed by Bill Whelan. Performed here, live, by Mark Redmond. Recorded at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, England.
December 6, 2014 as part of the "Riverdance 20" tour of the U.K.

Riverdance - Southampton 02-12-2014

Caoineadh Cu Chulainn

Black Dog Island (Black Dog Island 2017)
In 2008 I suffered a breakdown/burnout.. whatever you want to call it. It was like no other sickness that I had ever had before. Nothing like a pain or a break this was totally different. So different that I knew I was unwell and didn’t know what was wrong with me or how to fix myself. I remember it being the lowest I was ever in my life and even the simplest of tasks like washing and small chores daily became so hard to do. I’m writing a biograph at the moment that will give you the full story if your interested in learning about dealing with ‘’Black Dog’’ depression, but for now I’ll introduce the song.I was diagnosed with deep depression ‘’The Black Dog’’ and this songs tells about part of my Journey through it. From marriage breakdown to building a wall to protect myself at the same time saying if I come around you can help me break this wall down , again about the ‘’black dog’’ cloud that surrounded me every day of my life. My depression was terrible in the mornings and lifted most evenings and I tried sleeping through it all day to get some relief. The Lyric’s, never come to call me to awake me to my hell when I laugh and smile you know it all for show. Of course people can’t see the pain and hurt, it doesn’t show like any other sickness … so there where days I took part in trying to mix but it was shear hell for me so I put on a face and smiled and people couldn’t see the difference. My life biography tells the full story and how I recovered. It wasn’t easy but I got there. I still go through small phases but nothing like I had. If your ill with black dog , you need to educate yourself about the illness empowering yourself with knowledge for recovery.

Black Dog Island EQ16.WAV

My Mother (Black Dog Island 2017) 16 original folk and contemporary songs written and performed by Gabby Fitzgerald. 
This is one of the first serious songs I ever wrote. My Mother was born on the 19th August 1917. Her name is Lilly Fitzgerald Nee Ellis. At 99 years old she is still going strong and she will celebrate her 100 birthday this year Aug 2017. 

I wrote this song for her for Mother's Day a long time ago and I've sang it at home more than a few times. I would like to dedicate this song to every hard working Mother out there who knows what it takes to raise a Family sacrificing themselves totally in order for their children to grow up Happy to be the best they can be in life. She never knew her Father as he was killed in Flanders in WW1 Mar 23 1917 and she was born 5 months later and raised by her step Father Paddy Malone.

She carried 15 children in total and in her early life and lost 2 sets of twins plus 3 others along the way in miscarriages. I witnessed her cooking 3 dinners a day. One for me and my three sisters coming home from school, Two for all the boys coming in from work and Three for my father who worked 12hrs on the docks in north wall Dublin daily.

My Mother EQ16.WAV

Dublin's Dreaming (Black Dog Island 2017)16 original folk and contemporary songs written and performed by Gabby Fitzgerald. 
I dedicate this song to The band Celtic Brew. Only recently most of us chatted about this song in the old days, on social media. Of course I had something up my sleeve and I was already planning to launch this song again on my new album. This song has never featured on an album before. I remember waking up one night out of a deep sleep at my home in Derry City in 1990. I had this melody in my head and it was one of those melodies that just wouldn’t shift, so I went down stairs quietly and played it softly for a bit. Emigration was in the media at the time and the song began to develop slowly.

Within an hour I had given the song it’s title ‘’Dublin’s Dreaming’’. I knew that it was going to be a deep, strong song with haunting melodies. The song was about feeling detached from Dublin and how thousands were emigrating because there was no work available at home.
I introduced this song to the band Celtic Brew and Robert and Eamon helped me to develop it further. I entered it into the 'Search For a Star - Live' at three competitions that year. We got into the finals and received a beautiful piece of crystal. I never released the song on an album but developed the melody and lyrics further over the years. I had decided very early on in life that I would fulfil that ambition later on. I am delighted to deliver it in digital format and to have Robert and Eamon alongside to complete.

Dublin's Dreaming EQ16.WAV

Gabriel Fitzgerald

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