Week 2

For Week 2, parcels were delivered to residents in Dunmanway, Schull and Skibbereen Community hospitals and St. Joseph’s Unit, Bantry. This time we asked participants to think about Spring Songs or Bird songs. We’ve included the lyrics to the song ‘If I was a Blackbird’ and a lovely poem written by residents in Bantry with Tess called ‘Spring Songs’ which invites us to “hear the happy arrival of Swallows and their twittering, swooping circus act in the sky.” We also included a postcard showing an engraving of a Blackbird by Thomas Bewick.

We were also delighted to receive so many replies in the post this week, with the wonderful support of hospital staff, to our theme ‘Songs of Our Mothers and Fathers’. We received lots of beautiful Irish songs and also some from Scotland and South America! ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’, ‘Dear Little Shamrock’, ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Golden Jubilee’ were some of the songs heard when people were younger. Some of the songs we hadn’t heard before included ‘The Irish Jaunting Car’, ‘The Maid of Sweet Gurteen’, ‘The Nobleman’s Wedding’ and ‘The Cot where I was Born’ which was describe by one resident as one of “our ancient native songs.”

“I gazed with rapture on the scene, Where first in youth’s bright morn, I played where near me stood serene, The cot where I was born.”