Thursday, June 12, 2008

SING UP! Irish Comic Songs and Satires for Every Occasion


The Dedalus Press is delighted to announce the publication of Sing Up! an anthology of Irish comic songs and satires, compiled and introduced by Fintan Vallely.

Sing Up! is a collection of comic and satirical songs that comment on recent changes and developments in Irish society. Sex, National Politics, Drink, Fast Food, Traditional Music, Religion, Recreation, Agriculture and the Weather—all are analysed in depth herein through the medium of the direct slag, the obtuse dig, the dry remark. Sing Up! is, in the editor’s own words “a gather-up of intolerance, irreverence, slagging and sedition” — and all the more welcome and necessary for that.

“We have an ancient tradition of balladry in Ireland, a tradition that lives in continuation. These writers help to keep the ball rolling. I have long enjoyed their humourous slant, their jaundiced take, their pure love of Bognia. I have also had the privilege of singing many of their songs. This book is a must for me.”
Christy Moore

“The perfect antidote if you are prone to bouts of moral piety.”
Nell McCafferty

“In the grand tradition of Zozimus and the Gaelic poets, the satirical voice makes truth even funnier than fiction.”
Des Geraghty

Sing Up! features songs by
Finbar Boyle, Hugh Collins, Patsy Cronin, George Curtin, Crawford Howard, Dónal Lehane, Tim Lyons, Jim McAllister, Mickey McConnell, Fred McCormick, Brian McGuinness, Adam McNaughton, John Maguire, Mícheal Marrinan, Sheila Miller, Andy Mitchell, Sean Mone, Joe Mulheron, Ciarán Ó Drisceoil, Con Ó Drisceoil, Brian O’Rourke, Déaglán Tallon, Fintan Vallely and Bill Watkins.

Sing Up! is available through all good bookshops in Ireand, through Eason Wholesale, on Amazon, etc, or direct from the Dedalus Press.

Sing Up! is launched at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay on Sunday 06 July 2008.