Erin Go Bragh: The Limerick Rake

Mick Moloney (with Eugene O‘Donnell): The Limerick Rake

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Yes, I know. Music this week can be in any genre. But that doesn’t mean that traditional Irish folk shouldn’t be represented. The key is to avoid the corny pseudo folk one hears so much of this time of year. So Mick Moloney and Eugene O’Donnell strike me as an excellent choice.

Moloney grew up in County Limerick, and began his musical career there. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, where he remains to this day. Moloney, in addition to his music, has also made himself an expert on Irish music in the United States. His recent albums have featured songs about the immigrant experience in America, but The Limerick Rake, from 1978, presents a tour of part of Ireland in the company of a rascal.

Incidentally, I saw Moloney and O’Donnell perform this song in 1979, so my memory may be faulty. But, as I recall, the one line in Gaelic, “Agus fagaimid siud mar ata se”, roughly translates as “We must all take things as they are.”