Mountshannon

Ballad by Simon Oak about the White Tailed Sea Eagles of Mountshannon, Co. Clare. The song was written for the Song Writing Competition of the 2013 Trad Festival, where the theme was to celebrate the successful breeding of these mighty birds at a nest near…

The Ballad Of Charlie McCoy

Here’s the Ballad Of Charlie McCoy. Last September (2014) I was at the impressive ancient Celtic site of Glendalough, co. Wicklow. Looking for old undocumented Irish songs, a local man, John Holden, told me about the late Charlie McCoy, who was the local forester and…

The Ballad Of Nelson Mandela

Here’s the ballad I wrote one year ago about Nelson Mandela, shortly after his passing. I was delighted when Claudio Benito was willing to join me to make a version of this song by combining his Flamenco skills and my folk style into a brand new…