Airde Chuain Music

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hey Folks.

Hope I’m not breaking any rules about music requests here…

I’m wondering if anyone can help me find music for the song Airde Chuain. Specifically, there is a version sung by Griogair Labhruidh on his album Dal-riata (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd91UCozqso) that I love. In his version Uilleann drones back the entire track, and at the end the chanter chimes in to play a bit of the tune.

It’s been a long-time favorite of mine, and now that I’m learning the UPs, I’m hoping to learn it.

I’ve been unable to find any form of sheet music for this tune. I’m currently trying to make out some of the notes played at the end, but I wonder if anyone is familiar with this tune and might know where I could find music for it.

2

There are some spelling variations to the title, such as Aird Uí Chuain, Ardaigh Cuain, and more. It’s also known as “Quiet Land of Erin.” The Session has a couple of settings here:

https://thesession.org/tunes/9878

They notate it as a reel in 4/4, though of course Sean-nós singing actually flows more freely than such a rigid time signature would indicate.

You can use the following site to take the ABC notation and transpose it to an appropriate key for the UP chanter:

https://www.mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php

And here’s a site with the lyrics, since master pipers recommend familiarity with the way the song is actually sung, so that the nuances will be reflected in the piping:

https://songoftheisles.com/2013/05/31/aird-ui-chuain/amp/

3

Ah! Thank you!

I hadn’t heard it called “Quiet Land of Erin” anywhere before.

I definitely want to play it as sung as well, so double helpful for that input. It reminds me of learning Piobaireachd on the GHB. My original instructor insisted on learning the canntaireachd for each piobaireachd. Said it was the only way to truly learn the music.

4

Bridget Fitzgerald recorded it a couple of times. Google. Listen. Listen some more. Learn. Play