''An Irish Christmas'' is a music album by Irish

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

. According to Moya, the idea for the album first came to her some time ago: "I've been involved in number of other people's Christmas projects in recent years," explains Moya, "but I wanted to capture a truly Celtic Christmas feeling." "It's always important to bring the meaning of Christmas to the fore. It is the essence of what I believe in and the album offers both celebration and reflection on that familiar theme."

Track listing

# "

Carol of the Bells "Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol, with music by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 and lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. The song is based on the Ukrainian folk chant " Shchedryk". The music is in the public domain; Wil ...

" # " The Wexford Carol" # "

Deck the Halls "Deck the Hall” is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862. ...

" # " Do You Hear (What I Hear)" / "

Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil "Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil" (; "That Night in Bethlehem"; archaic spelling: "Don Oidhche ud I mBeithil") is a popular Irish-language Christmas carol, of unclear origin. It is played as a reel in time. Origins It has been described as going back ...

" # "

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection (iii. 452), and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy", and by other varian ...

" # "

Gabriel's Message "Gabriel's Message" or "The angel Gabriel from heaven came" ( eu, Birjina gaztetto bat zegoen) is a Basque Christmas folk carol about the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ t ...

# "

Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is usua ...

# "I Still Believe" # "

In the Bleak Midwinter "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti, commonly performed as a Christmas carol. The poem was published, under the title "A Christmas Carol", in the January 1872 issue of ''Scribner's Monthly,'' and was first c ...

" # "

Love Came Down at Christmas "Love Came Down at Christmas" is a Christmas poem by Christina Rossetti. It was first published without a title in ''Time Flies: A Reading Diary'' in 1885. It was later included in the collection ''Verses'' in 1893 under the title "Christmastide" ...

" # "

In Dulci Jubilo "In dulci jubilo" (Latin for "In sweet rejoicing") is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol is a macaronic text of German and Latin dating from the Middle Ages. Subsequent translations into English, such as J. M. N ...

" # " Oíche Chiúin (Silent Night)" : Replaced on U.S. release with "

What Child Is This? "What Child Is This?" is a Christmas carol with lyrics written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865 and set to the tune of "Greensleeves", a traditional English folk song, in 1871. Although written in Great Britain, the carol today is more popular ...

" and "

Angels We Have Heard on High "Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "", with paraphrased English lyrics by James Chadwick. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as nar ...

" respectively. In 2013, An Irish Christmas was re-issued and re-packaged with two new tracks: "Dia Do Bheatha", "We Three Kings", a reworking of "Codail A Leanbh" and "What Child Is This" which previously appeared only on the US edition of the album.

Promotional singles

# "Carol of the Bells"

Personnel

Band

– vocals, harp, keyboards * Paul Byrne – drums, bodhran, timpani, tubular bells, percussion * Fionan De Barra – guitars, bouzouki, keyboards, vocals *

Cormac De Barra Cormac de Barra is a harpist, singer and television presenter and is part of the Moya Brennan Band. Biography De Barra comes from a family of traditional musicians and singers from Dublin with roots in County Cork. He studied Irish harp with his ...

– harp, vocals * Éamonn Galldubh – Uilleann pipes, whistles, flute * Yoshinobi Izumi – electric bass * Sam Jackson – piano, keyboards * Sinéad Madden – fiddle, vocals * Frances Mitchell – keyboards

Additional musicians

Máire Breatnach Máire Breatnach is an Irish fiddle, violin and viola player. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has recorded five solo albums, participated in many collaborations, and developed didactic material for chil ...

– viola, fiddle *

Anthony Drennan Anthony "Anto" Drennan (born on 1 November 1958) is an English-born Irish guitarist noted for his involvement with the Corrs, Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics among others. Drennan is from a musical Irish family and was born in Luton, England ...

– electric and acoustic guitars, dobro * Úna Ní Chanainn – cello *

Tim Jarvis Tim Jarvis AM (born May 1966) is a British-Australian environmental explorer, adventurer, climber, author and documentary filmmaker, with Masters qualifications in environmental science and environmental law. Due to his 2013 expedition recreatin ...

– keyboards * Aisling and Paul Jarvis – vocals on "Oíche Chiúin"

Release details

* Ireland and UK: 18 November 2005

External links

Joy to the World video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Christmas Moya Brennan albums 2005 Christmas albums Christmas albums by Irish artists Celtic Christmas albums