I learned this song from my uncle, Frank Mollohan. Lough Bran is a couple of miles from the Mollohan farm just outside Carrick on Shannon, County Leitrim where I’d spend my summer holidays as a child. The song was written by a Mr. Hill about another man called "Brock" who lived beside Lough Bran and worked there in a mill. The remain of his house and the mill can be seen by the lake close to the road between Carrick on Shannon and Leitrim Village. The idea for my Asturian friend Leticia González Menéndez and I to sing came about as we shared the story of our fathers leaving behind the rural life and their mother tongues and moving to the big smoke. Leti sings the verse in Asturian. Armagh born and now Manchester resident Ríoghnach Connolly sings a verse in Irish. Ríoghnach has been a great friend and source of encouragement over the last few years. She sang for the first dance at my wedding, for my father’ funeral and encouraged me to find my own voice. Yorkshire singer Bryony Griffith sings harmony on the last verse. On this track I sing and play the Bb Chinese Hulusi. It’s a gourd instrument my wife brought me back from Shanghai. I brought it into the studio and Michael McGoldrick enthused about it.
from
Quarehawk,
released May 29, 2020
The Shores of Lough Bran (Trad Arr: Michael Walsh, Anthony Davies, Liz Hanks, Ríoghnach Connolly, Leticia González Menéndez, Bryony Griffith, Michael McGoldrick).
Vocals & Hulusi: Michael Walsh.
Vocals: Leticia González Menéndez, Ríoghnach Connolly, Bryony Griffith.
Keyboards: Anthony Davies.
Cello: Liz Hanks.
Produced by Michael Walsh & Michael McGoldrick
Mixed by Sam Proctor.
Mastered by Nick Cooke
Recorded and Engineered in:
Michael McGoldrick at Boxroom Studios Manchester.
Tom Wright at Powered Flight, Sheffield.
Sergio Rodriguez, Tutu Studios, Asturies.
Sam Proctor Music Production, Sheffield.
Rubén Bada, Asturies.
Anthony Davies, London.