Unique Word Count: 60
Music composed by: Unknown
Words written by: Mícheál Ó Murchadha (and another unknown person)
Lyrics:
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Beidh tagairt faoi ghréin go brách,
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Go dtáinig an Briathar slán.
Tá gríos-ghrua sna spéarthaibh,
Is an talamh faoi chlúdach bán,
Féach Íosagán sa chliabhán,
Is an mhaighdean á dhiúl le grá.
Is ar leacain lom an tsléibhe,
Go mbraitheann na haoirí scáth,
Nuair i n-oscailt ghil na spéire,
Tá teachtaire Dé ar fáil.
“Céad glóire anois don Athair,
I bhflaitheasaibh thuas go hard,
Is feasta fós ar talamh,
D’fhearaibh dea-mhéin, síocháin.”
Translation:
Of that night in Bethlehem,
There will be discussion under the sun for ever,
Of that night in Bethlehem,
When the Word arrived safely.
There is a glowing red light in the sky,
And the land lies under a white cover,
See baby Jesus in the cradle,
And the virgin nursing him with love.
It is on the bare sides of the hill,
That the shepherds feel the shadow,
When in a bright opening in the sky,
The angel of God can be seen.
“A hundred glories now to the Father,
In his heavenly mansions on high,
And now and forever on earth,
To men of good will, peace.”
Notes: This is by far the most popular carol written in the Irish language. At the time of writing, there are 152 recordings of the song uploaded onto streaming service YouTube. According to the editors of “Amhrán Is Fiche Don Nollaig“, this poem was originally written by Mícheál Ó Murchadha / Ó Murchú, or “An Gabha Gaelach”. It was published for the first time in the journal Misneach in 1920 (An Claidheamh Soluis under a different name, as a result of State censorship). Mícheál Ó Murchú published it for a second time in his book Tuaim Inbheir agus Dánta Eile (1923, Clólucht an Talbóidigh, Dublin). The text of the original poem is noticeably different to the song commonly known today; there are seven verses, and it is not in the same metre as the melody the song is sung to. This is the original poem:
An Oíche Seo i mBeithil
Do’n oíche seo i mBeithil
Beidh tagairt fé ghréin go brách, forever,
An oíche seo i mBeithil
Go maireann an Bréithir slán.
Tá díon dubh ar spéarthaibh,
An talamh fé chludach bán ;
Tá Íosa beag béartha
’S an Mhaighdean á dhiúl le grá.
Ní h-i leabaidh den bhfaision,
Le gradam a’s uabhar ’na dháil ;
Ach i mainséar an asail,
An leanbh do fuair cliabhán.
An damh a’s an t-asal
Go dtarraingeann féi anál
Nuair a chrathann an leanbh
Ar phailéid a chaol-bhotháin.
Amuich ar na sléibhtibh
Go mbrathann na h-aodharí scáth ;
Mar in osgailt na spéire
Tá teachtaireacht Dé ar fáil.
Táid angil ó’n bhflaitheas
Ag spreaga an duain do chách,
Mar mhaithe le peacaigh,
Go dtagann an t-Uan do láimh.
Céad glóire don Athair
I bhflaitheasaibh thuas go h-árd
Agus fós, ar an dtalamh
Le fearaibh gan uabhar, síocháin !
Translation:
This night in Bethlehem
Of this night in Bethlehem,
There will be discussion under the sun
This night in Bethlehem
That the Word lives.
The skies have a dark roof,
The land is under a white blanket;
Little Jesus has been born
And the Virgin is nursing him lovingly.
It is not in a fashionable bed,
With honour and luxury around him;
But in the donkey’s manger
That the child has found a cradle.
The ox and the ass
Draw a sharp breath
When the child shakes
The pallets of his narrow shed.
Outside on the hillsides
The shepherds feel a shadow;
Because in an opening in the sky,
The message of God is at hand.
The angels from the heavens
Are singing the song for all,
Because for the good of sinners,
The Lamb has come close by.
A hundred glories to the Father
In the heavens high above,
And further, on earth,
To men without pride, peace.
The wonderful resource “Amhrán Is Fiche Don Nollag” outlines the following: “In 1955, the Jesuits compiled a book of hymns in Irish, Dúchas, for use in their own schools, and the song Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil was included, in the form with which we are familiar with it today, with two stanzas composed out of four of the seven verses in the original poem. It is not known who edited the book, but whoever it was apparently reworked the original poem; presumably the same person wrote the music. As Nóirín Ní Riain says in her Master’s Thesis (The Music of Traditional Religious Song in Irish, 1980, UCC): “The Jesuit collection Dúchas, intended as a comprehensive song-book for Jesuit pupils, contains thirteen religious songs and hymns … [I]t is obvious that the editor had a deep feeling and understanding for not only the religious musical tradition but also for the folk songs of the people.” In the same year, or soon thereafter, Seán Óg Ó Tuama (1912-1980) published Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil in his collection An Chóisir Cheoil vol II (ca. 1955. An Claisceadal Cois Life); perhaps he was the one who arranged the song for for the Jesuits, or perhaps he found it in the book Dúchas.”
There is an arrangement of this song by Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair, on page 12 of the book ‘Ceol na Nollag’.
Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil – Ceithre Véarsa
Unique Word Count: 100
Music composed by: Unknown
Words written by: Mícheál Ó Murchadha (and another unknown person), and the editors of ‘Amhrán Is Fiche Don Nollag’
Lyrics:
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Beidh tagairt faoi ghréin go brách,
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Go dtáinig an Briathar slán.
Tá gríos-ghrua sna spéarthaibh,
Is an talamh faoi chlúdach bán,
Féach Íosagán sa chliabhán,
Is an mhaighdean á dhiúl le grá.
Ní i leabaidh mhór den bhfaisean,
Le gradam is uabhar ina dháil,
Ach i mainséar beag an asail,
An leanbh do fuair cliabhán.
An damh agus an t-asal,
Go dtarraingíonn siad anáil,
Nuair a chroitheann an leanbh naofa,
Ar phailéid an chaol-bhotháin.
Is ar leacain lom an tsléibhe,
Go mbraitheann na haoirí scáth,
Nuair i n-oscailt ghil na spéire,
Tá teachtaire Dé ar fáil.
“Céad glóire anois don Athair,
I bhflaitheasaibh thuas go hard,
Is feasta fós ar talamh,
D’fhearaibh dea-mhéin, síocháin.”
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Beidh tagairt faoi ghréin go brách,
Don oíche úd i mBeithil,
Go dtáinig an Briathar slán.
Tá na haingil ó na flaithis,
Ag spreagadh an duain do chách,
Ar mhaithe leis na peacaigh,
Go dtáinig an tUan do láimh.
Translation:
Of that night in Bethlehem,
There will be discussion under the sun for ever,
Of that night in Bethlehem,
When the Word arrived safely.
There is a glowing red light in the sky,
And the land lies under a white cover,
See baby Jesus in the cradle,
And the virgin nursing him with love.
It is not in a big fashionable bed,
With honour and luxury around him,
But rather in the donkey’s small manger,
That the child found a cradle.
The ox and the donkey,
Draw their breath in,
When the holy child,
Shakes the palettes of the narrow shed.
It is on the bare sides of the hill,
That the shepherds feel the shadow,
When in a bright opening in the sky,
The angel of God can be seen.
“A hundred glories now to the Father,
In his heavenly mansions on high,
And now and forever on earth,
To men of good will, peace.”
Of that night in Bethlehem,
There will be discussion under the sun for ever,
Of that night in Bethlehem,
When the Word arrived safely.
The angels in the heavens,
Are singing the song vigorously for all,
For the good of sinners,
The Lamb has come close by.
Notes: The authors of ‘Amhrán Is Fiche Don Nollag” write: “We wanted to give recognition to the original poem, and to increase the number of verses which might be commonly sung. The primary poem has seven verses, four of which were used in the normal song, arranged into two stanzas. This left only three verses, although four would be needed to make two more stanzas. Therefore, we repeated the first verse as a half-stanza. We had to change the order of the verses as well, in order not to depart to radically from the already well-known song, although we did change one word back the original: braitheann na haoirí scáth instead of glacann na haoirí scáth, because it seemed to us to make more sense. We also made other minor changes to the words to fit them to the music. We hope that these extra verses will be widely sung and enjoyed.”