FILL FILL A RÚN Ó

"Fill, fill a rún ó

Fill a rún ó is ná himigh uaim. . ."

Her voice

flowing over me

like I was a pebble

in a stream on a summer's morning

and time

an endless second or a mere century.

Her words in the Gaelic

and although I didn't know

their meaning

I could grasp

the sense of the sound

know

without knowing

like listening to water

breathing.

The faces of those

who had gone before

flew into her face

like a startled bird in a church.

Face after face

rose up and

became her

face.

The words like beads now

strung on the string of her song

ending in a lament

with no words at all

and I crying

not knowing I was crying

as if tears

were the only answer.

"Fill orm a chuisle 's a stór

Agus chífidh tú 'n ghlóir má fhilleann tú. . ."

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Notes: Oh I often I have been entranced by this song long before I knew what it meant...it haunted my mind and stained my soul.

This lament. It is supposedly sung by a mother whose son, a priest, has turned to the Protestant faith, and she is calling him back.

Moya Brennan's version is the only version for me.

FILL FILL A RÚN Ó

Curfa
Fill fill a rún ó
Fill a rún ó
is ná h’imigh uaim
Fill orm a chuisle ‘s a stóir
agus chifidh tú ‘n glór má fhillean tú

Shiuil mise thal is a bhus
i mólta ghrainn óige a rugadh mé
‘sni fhaca mé niontas go fóill
mar an sagart ó Dónaill ‘na mhinistir

Curfa

Dhiultigh tú Peadar is Pól
már gheall ar an ór ‘s as an airgid
Dhiultigh tú banrion ná glóir
agus d’iompaig tú go cóta an mhinistir

Curfa

English Translation

Refrain
Return return o (secret) lover
Return o (secret) lover
And do not depart from me
Return to me o heart and treasure
And you will see the glory if you return

I walked hither and yon
In Molta Ghrainn I was born
And I didn’t see the wonder yet
Like Father Ó Donaill as a minister

Refrain

You denied Peter and Paul
Because of the gold and silver
You denied the queen of glory
And you converted to the garb of a minister

Refrain

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