Hugh Joseph Feely - Thousands are sailing to Amerikay

Here's my tribute to the great Andy Irvine of Planxty. As a bouzouki player Andy has been one of my main influences over the years. He truly is a master of the instrument and a troubadour when it comes to storytelling.

I chose this song "Thousands are sailing to Amerikay" because it really hit home with me (no pun intended).
It's a song of Irish immigration, written post famine, so sometime about the 1860s.
A tale of Irish brothers and sisters having to leave their shores never to return again and seek out a better life for themselves, a theme that is still carried out today in some sense or another.

I recorded this in my family's bog plot in An Bhuaile Bhuí not far from my home house in Co. Leitrim.
Footing and bringing home the turf has been something that has been pasted down through generations of Irish heritage and was all people had at one point to keep them through the winter months.
A tradition I still hold close to my heart.

Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. (There's no fireplace like your own fireplace)

HJF x