​It’s been a busy two months since my last blog.

September involved a BBC 2 NI shoot with Nova Collective; a trip to Scotland for my brother’s incredible wedding festivities; singing on Jimmy McCarthy’s latest single; an collaborative recording by ANÚNA on the Mediaeval Music of Irish Saints with Dr Ann Buckley; performing on a moving bus for Culture Night Dublin; and singing at the An Góilín Frank Harte Festival.

Not to mention The Ideas Collective Showcase, where participants got the opportunity to present our projects to a roomful of invitees. It was a valuable process, and a useful deadline – it marked the end of the 100-day SUAS-coordinated programme. Now we’re out on our own. Well, not exactly. What’s happening now is the so-called alumni have continued to work together to support each other’s project. For instance, by attending and promoting events such as the screening of Meaghan Carmody’s important documentary “No Snowflake” (which was recently shown at the SUAS 8x8 Festival) and Eoghan and Alan’s “Dev, Meet Tech” events.

October was hectic too. ANÚNA hit the Top 20 iTunes singles charts and simultaneously held #1, #2 and #3 in the iTunes World Music Charts in Ireland; I sang at Éigse Oirialla in Omeath, a wonderful festival exploring traditional songs and tunes from the Oriel; I was brought on board to assist with the High Hopes Choir; ANÚNA performed at the Echo Festival in the European Capital of Culture, Mons; Nova Collective is writing four new songs ahead of our EP recording next month; Tourist Walk finalised the London Walk videos – which will be released any day now; and last night, ANÚNA filmed a Christmas Day Japanese TV special on the music of Ireland.

It was an interesting day when I attended the Government Culture 2025 policy consultation at IMMA in Kilmainham. In a room brimming with arts practitioners and cultural ambassadors, we were set to task on coming up with normative values, goals and methods for a National Cultural Policy for 2016-2025. A big ask. There were lots of opinions floating around and I found it absolutely fascinating. I hope to publish my submission to the consultation process on the website soon.

Over the next month, I'll continue to develop VOCALISM, create a specific website and move forward with marketing. I aim to set up a steady flow of workshops in the New Year. Things to flag at this stage are a VOCALISM event at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival 2015, which should be very interesting... For more info on this, get in touch. I also have a few VOCALISM workshops lined up. Otherwise, I’ll be ANÚNA’s Tour Manager for our December tour to the Netherlands, which takes me right up to Christmas.

Thanks for your support and I’ll keep posting as and when I can.

From 24th to 27th June 2015, Dónal will facilitate the 3rd Anúna International Summer School in Dublin, Ireland.

In February 2015, Dónal travelled to the USA as a member of Anúna, together with composer Michael McGlynn and sean-nós singer Éabha McMahon, to present at the world-famous American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the event, he spoke about the Donegal sean-nós song, Coinleach Glás an Fhomhair.

In an infamous version of the song by Clannad, Moya Brennan sings only the first three verses (find the lyrics below). You can hear Dónal's live performance at ACDA - singing the first two verses only - by clicking here. Enjoy!

I first sang this song about ten years ago with Cór na nÓg Caisleán Ruairí under the direction of Siubhán Ó'Dubháin. That group of young people taught me so much about singing. With the incredible, natural voices of everyone involved - all boys and girls local to Rostrevor, County Down - I was surrounded by talent and (more importantly) a total love for music-making. We toured to Wales, Malta and Spain together and I had some of the most rewarding musical experiences of my young life with these singers. Siubhán's boundless creative energy taught us so much and I am still reaping the benefits.

Coinleach Glás an Fhomair is a traditional song from County Donegal, sung in the Irish language. A young man sings of a girl he once saw "on the green-stubble fields of Autumn". He paints a picture of her rosy cheeks and little feet as he remembers her that day, and wishes that they could be together.

In the second verse, the narrator expresses his jealousy of others who may share his interest in the same girl. The mention of the King of Spain sets the song, in my opinion, in the 18th century - around the time of the "Flight of the Wild Geese".

After the Williamite victory over the Jacobite rebellion at the Battle of the Boyne on 12 July 1690, the Jacobite leader, King James, returned to France. The rebellion had sought to bring about the return of the Scottish Stuarts, from James II to his grandson Prince Charles Edwards (aka. Bonny Prince Charlie, ‘The Young Pretender’), to the throne of England. In 1691, the Irish Jacobite army departed Ireland’s shores for France, as had been agreed in The Treaty of Limerick in what became known as the “Flight of the Wild Geese”. Until 1730, thousands of so-called “Wild Geese” soldiers left Ireland to fight in continental armies (mainly in France and Spain), marking the demise of the Jacobite movement in Ireland.

Thus, perhaps from Spain, the narrator looks back to Gweebarra, which places the song in the Gaeltacht region of western Donegal. The metaphor of a swan is introduced in the third and fourth verses. Often in sean nós songs, imagery of the landscape, animals and other natural elements is employed to signify human emotions. For instance, the cuckoo or the blackbird have been used in many songs to symbolise profound sorrow. In this song, the swan can be seen to illustrate the purity of the lovers' relationship. This is perhaps because they have never actually kissed.

In the final, heartbreaking verse, the narrator hears that the young woman is set to marry. He pleads with her. Perhaps the first time he saw her was the previous Autumn, one year before. He promises that he will love her, and urges her to reciprocate. We are told that she wrote to him about her love for him - "go rabh a croí istigh i lár mo chléibh" (her heart is in his chest), so there is a sadness when we learn that she will marry another young man, which is compounded by the fact that he probably heard this devastating news in the form of gossip.

The song leaves us wondering the circumstances of the woman's new marriage. Just as the narrator is left to wonder for himself.