John Spillane will share his most artistically ambitious work to date, Fíoruisce: The Legend of the Lough, on Friday 13th September 2024. To celebrate its release, the album is getting a launch of an otherworldly kind…
A concept album to be released on double CD and digital, Fíoruisce: The Legend of the Lough was recorded at Wavefield Recordings, Clonakilty and features a stellar cast of collaborators including Ríoghnach Connolly, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell, Nell Ní Chróinín and more.
A three-act Gaelic folk opera, John Spillane has described the album as his “magnum opus“. The work is an imagined re-Gaelicisation of the Victorian Cork fairytale Fior-usga collected by Thomas Crofton Croker in the 1800s and published in his book Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1828). The story is a surreal tale culminating in a drowned kingdom, which as lore tells us, becomes The Lough in Cork City as we know it today. According to legend, they say you can see the tops of the underworld towers on a clear day and hear the music of their big party on Midsummer’s night.
The project draws on John’s lifelong dedication to storytelling, the Irish language, and music. The text is inspired by the wonderful richness of the literary and oral Gaelic storytelling tradition, with the influences of an t-Athair Peadar Ó Laoghaire and the stories concerning the Fiannaíocht evident throughout. Other inspirations include Seán Ó Tuama’s work through Compántas Chorcaí, an Irish theatre production company, his inspiring lectures on poetry at UCC, and his An Duanaire 1600 – 1900 Poems of the Dispossessed. Other inspirations include the poem Sprid an Locha by Torna, a deep love of The Lough, and a fascination with the older Gaelic story that shines tantalisingly under the original Victorian Thomas Croker fairytale.
Speaking about his upcoming album, John said “I’m so thrilled to present this album in honour of the Lough of Cork. The Lough is a hidden gem and a natural place of healing. Fíoruisce means springwater. This Gaelic folk opera has been a labour of love over many years.”
You can pre-order your copy of Fíoruisce: The Legend of the Lough here.
Album and Art Exhibition Launch
For the album’s release, audiences are invited to experience the world of Fíoruisce at the launch of the site-responsive art exhibition created by artist Megan Clancy at The Lough in Cork City, at 4pm on Sunday, September 15th. This will be followed by a listening party at MTU Cork School of Music.
Admission is free, but booking is advised via Eventbrite.
G.M
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