"Róisín Dubh" (in Irish ˈɾˠoːʃiːnʲ ˈd̪ˠʊw/; "Dark Rosaleen" or "Little Dark Rose") is one of Ireland's most famous political songs. It is based on an older love-lyric which referred to the poet's beloved rather than, as here, being a metaphor for Ireland. The intimate tone of the original carries over into the political song. It is often attributed to Antoine Ó Raifteiri, but almost certainly predates him.[1] [2]
The song is named after Róisín Dubh Ní Néill (Rose O'Neill), one of the daughters of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who was betrothed (and later married) to Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1587, when they were both teenagers. O'Donnell divorced Róisín in 1595.[3] According to G. F. Dalton, Róisín's "misfortunes and her high birth attracted the attention of ballad-makers, who saw her as a type of Ireland."[4]
The song is reputed to have originated during the Nine Years' War in O'Donnell's camps. Another source attributes it to a Tyrconnellian poet under the reign of Red Hugh.[5] [6] According to music scholar Donal O'Sullivan, there is no evidence it was composed that early.[7]
Although Róisín Dubh is superficially a love song, it has been described as a patriotic poem that hides its nationalism via allegory. In a time when nationalistic expression was outlawed in Ireland, the poem was a way to covertly express nationalistic beliefs.[8]
The most popular iteration of Róisín Dubh was adapted by James Clarence Mangan from a fragmentation of an existing love song to Róisín. It is traditionally sung in the Irish language, with only a few recordings of the English existing. It has been translated from the Irish language by Mangan and Patrick Pearse. The following translation is by Thomas Kinsella (The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse, 1986).
Róisín Dubh has been frequently performed and recorded, both in its own native Irish and translated into English. (However, quality of the translations vary greatly, from strict ones to those bearing no relationship to the original Irish.) It has been sung by numerous Irish traditional singers including the late Joe Heaney and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, as well as in genres ranging from classical to rock and jazz.
The instrumental range is as wide as the vocal, but the instruments best suited to render this air authentically are the native Irish uilleann pipes, flute, fiddle, and whistle, as these are capable of making the "caoine" ("cry"), the note-shaping and changing that is characteristic of the native Irish music. However, other versions using different instruments are also widely available.
Musicians/composers who have performed or recorded the song include these: