Tipperary musician launches Kickstarter campaign to help get book on lost songs published

Tipperary author Bill ‘The Bard’ O’Brien has launched a Kickstarter campaign for his upcoming book ‘The Lost Songs of Tipperary’.

In his book, O’Brien’s aim is to uncover the songs and sounds of generations past, and bring them back to the forefront of public attention.

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Speaking on the campaign and on the book, O’Brien said: “I have collected over 1000 ballads that are almost or entirely forgotten to time by searching through old newspaper and folklore archives as well as travelling to singing sessions and talking to older generations. I document this in a podcast I host called Lost Songs of Ireland Podcast which is available on all major streaming platforms.

“From this work, I have collected a large number of songs from around County Tipperary which I have arranged into a songbook. The songs contained are almost entirely unknown and largely lost to time and I have worked to match their lyrics to airs popular around the region at the time of composition based on meter, rhyme and overall structure that are likely the melodies to which the were originally written and sung to. As well as lyrics, I have also included details about the stories these songs tell, as well as cultural and historically contexts.

“To someone with an interest in Tipperary history or ballad singing, this should be an interesting publication.

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“I hope to raise funds to have this book printed and distributed due to astronomical costs of short run publishing.”

At the time of writing, O’Brien has amassed almost half of his fundraising goal.

If you wish to donate to the project, you can do so by clicking here.