Celtic Corner: St. Patty's Playlist!

St. Patrick's Day...a day when everyone seems to be Irish. My problem is that why don't you claim and celebrate your Irish heritage every day? I do, and I have very little Irish in me. My great-great grandma. That's it. And that's apparently where I get my red hair. I listen to Irish music every day, read something about Ireland nearly every day. I let people know about Ireland and its troubles, its art, and its wonder, but I don't romanticize it. So I party on St. Patty's Day because it's the one day I feel somewhat normal. I don't care for the origins either: a man from Roman Britain converts pagan Ireland to Catholicism...by force. Not cool. I'm not a fan of colonialism (and I know the U.S. did and still does that, and I hate it). I hate that I see people asking for bibles for starving Africans, rather than food. Bibles will not save them from death; food will. Apparently we still try to save the heathens from eternal damnation. For St. Patty, though it may not have been him directly, converting was not a choice: you convert or die.

I tried to narrow it down to 23 tracks: around the normal amount for a full 80-minute CD. It was tough. I chose the more upbeat songs I know and love, which was also tough. There's plenty of traditional drinking songs sung by the Clancy Brothers or The Dubliners, but I'd like to open you to the ancient land of Erin, with centuries of turmoil and striking beauty. From traditional tunes to modern folk to modern rock I give you my list of tunes to download for St. Patty's Day. Yes, The Cranberries are from Ireland.

Malinky
"The Light Dragoon" from the album Last Leaves

Seth Lakeman
"The Hurlers" from Poor Man's Heaven

Cara Dillon
"Here's a Health" from After the Morning
"The Streets of Derry" from After the Morning
"The Hill of Thieves" from Hill of Thieves

Karan Casey
"The King's Shilling" from The Wing Begins to Sing
"When Will We All Be Free?" from Chasing the Sun

Solas
"The Wind That Shakes the Barley" from Sunny Spells & Scattered Showers
"Pastures of Plenty" from The Words That Remain OR Reunion: A Decade of Solas

The Cranberries
"Dreams" from Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
"Free to Decide" from To the Faithful Departed

Tommy Sands
"Let the Circle Be Wide" from Let the Circle Be Wide
"There Were Roses" from Singing of the Times
"Don't Call Me Early in the Morning" from Singing of the Times

Fionn Regan
"Put a Penny in the Slot" from The End of History

Tim O'Brien
"Wagoner's Lad" from The Crossing (feat. Kathy Mattea)
"Demon Lover" from Two Journeys (feat. Karan Casey)

Damien Dempsey
"Colony" from They Don't Teach This Shit in School
"Great Gaels of Ireland" from Seize the Day
"St. Patrick's Day" from Shots

Emer Kenny
"Parting Glass" from Parting Glass

The Chieftains
"Raggle Taggle Gypsy" from Further Down the Old Plank Road (feat. Nickel Creek)

Dolly Parton
"We Irish" from Alive and Well