Carolan's Welcome is a

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

composed by the Irish harper/songwriter

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ; 1670 – 25 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, Carolan is considered by som ...

, (1670-1738). In Donal O'Sullivan's exhaustive book covering Carolan and all his songs, this piece is listed as the first of ten Carolan songs that do not have surviving titles. There it is identified only as number 171 in the Carolan repertoire. Nothing whatsoever is known about the origin of the tune (except that it is by Carolan), and no lyrics have been attributed to it. The piece originally appeared in the William Forde manuscript (1845), with a copy in the John Edward Pigot manuscript (circa 1850). Both of these sources are now deposited in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. It was first formally published by Patrick Joyce in 1909. The title ''Carolan's Welcome'' was given to this piece relatively recently, by

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

, who adapted it as theme music on the occasion of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's historic visit to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1979. The title has been used universally since then, occasionally with variations or misspellings, such as "Carden's Welcome", "O'Carolan's Welcome", and "Carolan's Air". The song has been recorded by many artists, including Patrick Ball, David Wilcox (Canada), Lunasa, Mooncoin, and the Chieftains. The Chieftains 9: Boil the Breakfast Early, 1980

References

Irish folk songs 1845 songs {{Folk-song-stub