O' Carolan Inspires
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore wrote many well-known songs using the harp as a motif for Ireland. His works are known as Moore's Melodies and were popular parlour songs in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore wrote many well-known songs using the harp as a motif for Ireland. His works are known as Moore's Melodies and were popular parlour songs in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was born in Dublin. He was a friend of Robert Emmet, who led a revolt against the English in 1803. Emmet was captured and executed.
Moore was also friendly with many of the United Irishmen and sympathised with their nationalist aims.
Moore wrote over 130 songs and combined the words with well-known Irish music of the time. He wrote words to seven of Carolan's airs.
His ten volumes of songs were very popular and are referred to as "Moore's Melodies". In the songs Moore expressed the longings of the country for freedom and independent rule.
In many of his songs he used the symbol of the harp as a way of representing Ireland and her hopes for independence.
Case Studies
Moore's Melodies
The title page of Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies published by James Duffy in Dublin in 1859 demonstrates the resurgence of interst in Irish emblems at this time. The book title is surmounted by an ancient Irish bard complete with harp and wolfhound. Many of Moore's songs made reference to the harp as a symbol of Ireland.
Moore's Melodies -
The Harp That Once
Thomas Moore's Melodies were very popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many of his songs incorporate the theme of the harp as a symbol for Ireland. This one called "The Harp that once through Tara's Halls" is especially resonant for county Meath.
The Harp That Once -
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