Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 30 minutes ago
Here is another Carolan song called Eleanor Plunket, arranged as a trio (or two duet harmonies). This arrangement is from my book of 15 Turlough O'Carolan Irish Fiddle Airs (bit.ly/15IrishFiddleAirsPDF).
To me, Eleanor Plunket has a somber essence to it. According to the book, “CAROLAN The Life, Times and Music of an S Irish Harper” by Donal O’Sullivan, the song was written by Carolan in praise of Eleanor Plunket — “the only survivor of her family. It is said that 30 persons of that family shut themselves up in the castle of Castlecome, 2 miles from Robertstown, which were destroyed by boiling water.” The actual incident hasn’t been confirmed, and it may be an exaggeration. I have heard about the practice of dropping boiling water on castle intruders, but this sounds like it might have been a different situation.
Here are the Irish words to the poem that apparently goes with this song for Eleanor (I believed referred to as, “Nelly”) Plunket:
A Nelly an chúil chraobhaigh,
Is a shúil ar dhaith an fhéir ghlais
Ag éirghe dhon lá,
Ó! nach bréag dham so a rádh,
'S gur [tú] do shliocht na bhfear éifeacht
Ó Árdmacha bréige,
Fuair sár-chlú ó Ghaodhalaibh
Le tréan-neart a lámh.
I definitely don't speak Irish, and I'm not going to pretend that I know what that says... I put it into google translate and googled the lyrics to check some translation ideas. It seems the lyrics may talk about Eleanor having flowing hair, green eyes, and being a strong, accomplished person.
The book about Carolan mentions that it's unlikely the lyrics were sung with the melody, but perhaps instead spoken as he played the melody line on his harp.
Also, it is said that while Carolan was composing the song, Eleanor’s coachman said, “I often hear some of them words in other songs.” This made Carolan a bit mad, and he apparently said, “Neither you, nor any other person will ever hear more of it but what it’s already composed!" and ended the song right there. I think that explains why it just sort of ends randomly.
Some people repeat the beginning part as a way to end the song -- the beginning does sound a little more like a better ending, in my opinion. But, for this recording, I left it ending the way Carolan apparently has left the song. To me, it sounds like it ends asking a as question, which I think adds an element of uniqueness that you don't often hear.
I hope you are doing okay -- the world has seen some crazy times over the last year...We've all been through a ton. But, I'm starting to feel really hopeful -- we can get through all of this!
I have received a lot of concern in some of my videos about getting the covid vaccine, but I feel super fortunate that I've had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine! I had it about 2 weeks ago, and I'm going to get the second dose at the end of April. My parents are both fully vaccinated from the Moderna vaccine, and are just waiting for the antibodies to kick into full swing. I'm so excited to be able to safely hug them again!!!! It's been over a year since I've been able to do that -- we had to be really careful.
I realize people are concerned about it, and it is ultimately a personal decision between risk of illness vs. risk of adverse vaccine effects. I personally saw the risk of death from covid (for me) to be much greater than risk of death from the vaccine, so I went with the vaccine. I'm a wee bit nervous about the second dose as I've heard it has a more difficult recovery experience. I guess I'll find out soon. Once my antibodies fully kick in, I'll feel safe enough to be able to start traveling to and from the post office to sell physical copies of my music book again!
Thank you for watching, and please stay safe and healthy! =)
~ Katy
------------
A big "Thank you!" goes to my supporters on Patreon:
patreon.com/KatyAdelson
Music store website:
goldenaspenmusic.com
Artist portfolio website:
katyadelson.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single:
fanlink.to/GhostShip
Hashtags:
#IrishMusic #Celtic #Trad #Violin #Fiddle #KatyAdelson #Music
Software and equipment used:
Full list of all my basic violin equipment:
katyadelson.com/about/violin-equipment-and-recommendations
Violin gear:
Violin: 1899 Ernst Kreusler “Copy of Antonius Stradivarius” violin from Germany
Bow: CodaBow Luma
Strings: Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings (with a ball E)
Rosin: Salchow Rosin
Shoulder Rest: Bonmusica Shoulder Rest
Software used (for Macintosh):
Logic for attempted sound mixing
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Plugins for sound effects (I have A LOT to learn in this department!):
East West plugins – Spaces 2
Camera:
Canon 70D + 18-135 mm kit lens
Sony RX100 V
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
Here is another Carolan song called Eleanor Plunket, arranged as a trio (or two duet harmonies). This arrangement is from my book of 15 Turlough O'Carolan Irish Fiddle Airs (bit.ly/15IrishFiddleAirsPDF).
To me, Eleanor Plunket has a somber essence to it. According to the book, “CAROLAN The Life, Times and Music of an S Irish Harper” by Donal O’Sullivan, the song was written by Carolan in praise of Eleanor Plunket — “the only survivor of her family. It is said that 30 persons of that family shut themselves up in the castle of Castlecome, 2 miles from Robertstown, which were destroyed by boiling water.” The actual incident hasn’t been confirmed, and it may be an exaggeration. I have heard about the practice of dropping boiling water on castle intruders, but this sounds like it might have been a different situation.
Here are the Irish words to the poem that apparently goes with this song for Eleanor (I believed referred to as, “Nelly”) Plunket:
A Nelly an chúil chraobhaigh,
Is a shúil ar dhaith an fhéir ghlais
Ag éirghe dhon lá,
Ó! nach bréag dham so a rádh,
'S gur [tú] do shliocht na bhfear éifeacht
Ó Árdmacha bréige,
Fuair sár-chlú ó Ghaodhalaibh
Le tréan-neart a lámh.
I definitely don't speak Irish, and I'm not going to pretend that I know what that says... I put it into google translate and googled the lyrics to check some translation ideas. It seems the lyrics may talk about Eleanor having flowing hair, green eyes, and being a strong, accomplished person.
The book about Carolan mentions that it's unlikely the lyrics were sung with the melody, but perhaps instead spoken as he played the melody line on his harp.
Also, it is said that while Carolan was composing the song, Eleanor’s coachman said, “I often hear some of them words in other songs.” This made Carolan a bit mad, and he apparently said, “Neither you, nor any other person will ever hear more of it but what it’s already composed!" and ended the song right there. I think that explains why it just sort of ends randomly.
Some people repeat the beginning part as a way to end the song -- the beginning does sound a little more like a better ending, in my opinion. But, for this recording, I left it ending the way Carolan apparently has left the song. To me, it sounds like it ends asking a as question, which I think adds an element of uniqueness that you don't often hear.
I hope you are doing okay -- the world has seen some crazy times over the last year...We've all been through a ton. But, I'm starting to feel really hopeful -- we can get through all of this!
I have received a lot of concern in some of my videos about getting the covid vaccine, but I feel super fortunate that I've had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine! I had it about 2 weeks ago, and I'm going to get the second dose at the end of April. My parents are both fully vaccinated from the Moderna vaccine, and are just waiting for the antibodies to kick into full swing. I'm so excited to be able to safely hug them again!!!! It's been over a year since I've been able to do that -- we had to be really careful.
I realize people are concerned about it, and it is ultimately a personal decision between risk of illness vs. risk of adverse vaccine effects. I personally saw the risk of death from covid (for me) to be much greater than risk of death from the vaccine, so I went with the vaccine. I'm a wee bit nervous about the second dose as I've heard it has a more difficult recovery experience. I guess I'll find out soon. Once my antibodies fully kick in, I'll feel safe enough to be able to start traveling to and from the post office to sell physical copies of my music book again!
Thank you for watching, and please stay safe and healthy! =)
~ Katy
------------
A big "Thank you!" goes to my supporters on Patreon:
patreon.com/KatyAdelson
Music store website:
goldenaspenmusic.com
Artist portfolio website:
katyadelson.com
Download/stream my "Tune Collection" album:
fanlink.to/TuneCollection
Download/stream my "Ghost Ship" single:
fanlink.to/GhostShip
Hashtags:
#IrishMusic #Celtic #Trad #Violin #Fiddle #KatyAdelson #Music
Software and equipment used:
Full list of all my basic violin equipment:
katyadelson.com/about/violin-equipment-and-recommendations
Violin gear:
Violin: 1899 Ernst Kreusler “Copy of Antonius Stradivarius” violin from Germany
Bow: CodaBow Luma
Strings: Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings (with a ball E)
Rosin: Salchow Rosin
Shoulder Rest: Bonmusica Shoulder Rest
Software used (for Macintosh):
Logic for attempted sound mixing
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Plugins for sound effects (I have A LOT to learn in this department!):
East West plugins – Spaces 2
Camera:
Canon 70D + 18-135 mm kit lens
Sony RX100 V
Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker
