> Sandy Denny > Songs > The Quiet Land of Erin

The Quiet Land of Erin

[Trad.]

Sandy Denny recorded this traditional song live for the BBC Radio 1 programme “My Kind of Folk” on June 26, 1968. This recording was published in 2007 on the 3CD+DVD set Live at the BBC. A home demo from Winter 1968 has never been officially published.

The Quiet Land of Erin was also recorded by Maggie Boyle on her solo album Reaching Out, by Grace Notes (with Maggie Boyle) on their album Red Wine & Promises, by the Furey Brothers and, as an instrumental, by Alan Stivell.

Lyrics

By myself I'd be in A'ird Achuinhaing
Where the mountains stands away
And 'tis I would let the Sunday go
In a cuckoo's glen above the bay

Chorus (after each verse):

Agus, och ach 'ea'rai 'gus o
'Ea'rai, lean dom 'gus o,
Ah, the quiet kand of erin

Ah my heart is weary all alone
And it sends a lonely cry
To the land that sings beyond my dreams
And the lonely Sundays pass me by

I would travel back the twisted years
In the bitter wasted wind
If the God above would let me lie
In a quiet place above the winds