Irish National Anthem Celtic Style FRAMED

Please Note:

Due to fragile nature, we regret we cannot ship overseas from Ireland. We will ship by courier within Ireland, please contact us for availability and details.

The unframed mounted version is available for shipping worldwide

The Irish National Anthem Dual Large Print Edition

FRAMED

H56 x W46 x D2.5cm / H22 x W18 x D1 inches

Composer

Peadar Kearney

Details

This beautiful large scale reproduction of the Irish National Anthem 'Amhrán na bhFiann'

(The Soldier's Song) is set in a double mount. This superb presentation features the

National Anthem in both Irish and English.

The piece also features information on the history behind the anthem.

See more on the anthem below

Mounting

Precision cut double mount

Backing

High quality backing card

Amhrán na bhFiann

Amhran na bhFiann is the nationsl anthem of Ireland. Although usually sung in the Irish language, a translation of the original, it is also known by the English-language title, A Soldier's Song, as well as The National Anthem of Ireland (Amhrán Náisiúnta na hEireann). The lyrics of hte song are by Peadar Kearney and the music by both Kearney and Patrick Heeney. It was composed in 1907 and was first published in Irish Freedom in 1912. The Irish language version of the original was the work of Bulmer Hobson.

The song is regarded by many nationalists as the national anthem of the whole of Ireland, and it is therefore sung, for example, at Gaelic Athletic Association matches held anywhere on the island. Unionists, however, reject this use of Amhrán na bhFiann, and at international games  played by the all-Ireland Irish Rugby Football Union team (and now also by all-island teams in some other sports) the song Ireland's Call is sung instead of, or (in the Republic of Ireland) as well as  Amhrán na bhFiann.

History

Amhrán na bhFiann was relatively unknown until is was sung by rebels in the General Post Office (GPO) during the Easter Rising of 1916, and afterwards  in British internment camps. The song became the official state anthem in 1926  when it replaced God Save Ireland. God Save the King was the official anthem of the United Kingdom of Great Britai and Ireland until the independentIrish Free State was established in 1922. The continued use of God Save the  King by some Irish people caused embarrassment to the new Irish state  and, on one famous occasion, Governor-General James McNeill refused to attend a public function in Trinity College when he discovered that he university intended playing the anthem during his visit. Even after the adoption of Amhrán na bhFiann as the official anthem of the Irish Free State in July 1926, a minority continued to sing the British anthem, and to pray for the King and Queen in religious ceremonies, for a number of years.

In 1934, the Irish state acquired the copyright of the song for the sum of £1,200. Controversy also surrounds the change in the wording of Amhrán na bhFiann over the years. In the original translation, the first line read as Sinne Laochra  Gaedheal (literally "we the heroes of Ireland") This has since been replaced by Sinne Fianna Fáil, which to some people is evidence that the anthem has been hijacked by the Fianna Fáil party.

In recent years, a number of Irish newspapers and columnists have proposed replacing Amhrán na bhFiann with a new national anthem, arguing that the current wording is excessively militant and anti-British. Others have argued that the melody is  difficult for bands to play. Problems have sometimes been witnessed at international sporting events, where either the entire song (not just the chorus that constitutes the anthem) has been played (as occurred, for example, at the Los Angeles Olympics) or the right part has been played but at the wrong speed, as occurred at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.