Mná na hÉireann
"Mná na hÉireann" () is a poem written by Ulster poet Peadar Ó Doirnín (1704–1796), most famous as a song, and especially set to an air composed by Seán Ó Riada (1931–1971). As a modern song, "Mná na hÉireann" is usually placed in the category of Irish rebel music; as an eighteenth-century poem it belongs to the genre (related to the "aisling") which imagines Ireland as a generous, beautiful woman suffering the depredations of an English master on her land, her cattle, or her self, and which demands Irishmen to defend her, or ponders why they fail  to. The poem also seems to favour Ulster above the other Irish provinces. Ó Doirnín was part of the distinctive Airgíalla tradition of poetry, associated with southern Ulster and north Leinster; in this poem he focuses on Ulster place-names, and he sees the province as being particularly assaulted (for instance, he says that being poor with his woman would be better than being rich with herds of cows and the shrill queen who assailed Tyrone, in Ulster, i.e. Medb who attacked Cooley, as the borderlands of Ulster, which would have lain in ancient Airgíalla). This may be because, besides  being the poet's home, until the success of the Plantation of Ulster the province had been the most militantly Gaelic of the Irish provinces in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Poem. Here is the Irish text of the poem. The verses most often performed by modern singers are the first two and the last. Mná na hÉireann. <poem>Tá bean in Éirinn a phronnfadh séad domh is mo sháith le n-ól Is tá bean in Éirinn is ba bhinne léithe mo ráfla ceoil Ná seinm théad; atá bean in éirinn is níorbh fhearr léi beo Mise  ag léimnigh nó leagtha i gcré is mo thárr faoi fhód Tá bean in Éirinn a bheadh ag éad liom mur' bhfaighfinn ach póg Ó bhean ar aonach, nach ait an scéala, is mo dháimh féin leo; Tá bean ab fhearr liom nó cath is céad dhíobh nach bhfagham go deo Is tá cailín spéiriúil ag fear gan Bhéarla, dubhghránna cróin. Tá bean i Laighnibh is nios mhiste léithe bheith límh liom ar bord, Is tá bean i bhFearnmhaigh a ghéabhadh bhéarsai is is sárbhinne glór, Bhí bean ar thaobh cnoic i gCarraig Éamoinn a níodh gáire ag ól Is  tráth bhí ina maighdin ní mise d'éignigh dá chois ó chomhar. Tá bean a leafgfadh, nífead is d'fhuaifeadh cáimric is sról, Is tá bean a dhéanfadh de dh'olainn gréas is thairnfeadh an bhró Tá bean is b'fhearr leí ag cruinniú déirce nó cráite re cró Is tá bean 'na ndéidh uile a luífeadh lé fear is a máthair faoi fhód Tá bean a déarnadh an iomad tréanais is grá Dia mór, Is tá bean nach mbéarfadh a mionna ar aon mhodh is nach n-ardódh glór; Ach thaisbeáuin saorbhean a ghlacfadh lé fear go cráifeach cóir Nach mairfeadh a ghléas  is nach mbainfeadh léithe i gcás ar domhan. Tá bean a déarfadh dá siulfainn léi go bhfaighinn an t-ór, Is tá bean 'na léine is fearr a méin ná táinte bó Le bean a bhuairfeadh Baile an Mhaoir is clár Thír Eoghain, Is ní fheicim leigheas ar mo ghalar féin ach scaird a dh'ól</poem> Women of Ireland (Kate Bush version). This is the translation performed by Kate Bush on the album "Common Ground – Voices of Modern Irish Music". No translator is given, but the song is credited as arranged by Bush with Dónal Lunny and Fiachra Trench. < poem>There's a woman in Ireland who'd give me a gem and my fill to drink, There's a woman in Ireland to whom my singing is sweeter than the music of strings There's a woman in Ireland who would much prefer me leaping Than laid in the clay and my belly under the sod There's a woman in Ireland who'd envy me if I got naught but a kiss From a woman at a fair, isn't it strange, and the love I have for them There's a woman I'd prefer  to a battalion, and a hundred of them whom I will never get And an ugly, swarthy man with no English has a beautiful girl There's a woman who would say that if I walked with her I'd get the gold And there's the woman of the shirt whose mien is better than herds of cows With a woman who would deafen Baile an Mhaoir and the plain of Tyrone And I see no cure for my disease but to drink a torrent</poem> Women of Ireland (Michael Davitt version). This translation (of the same three verses ) is by Michael Davitt. Davitt plays with the second couplet of each verse, reversing the meaning and turning the poem into the song of a womanising drunkard, who favours no particular woman (second verse), resorts to drink instead of avoiding it (third verse—though this may be ironic in the original), and whom his lover wants dead (first verse). <poem>There's a woman in Erin who'd give me shelter and my fill of ale; There's a woman in Ireland who'd prefer my strains to strings being played; There's a woman in Eirinn and  nothing would please her more Than to see me burning or in a grave lying cold. There's a woman in Eirinn who'd be mad with envy if I was kissed By another on fair-day, they have strange ways, but I love them all; There are women I'll always adore, battalions of women and more And there's this sensuous beauty and she shackled to an ugly boar. There's a woman who promised if I'd wander with her I'd find some gold A woman in night dress with a loveliness worth more than the  woman Who vexed Ballymoyer and the plain of Tyrone; And the only cure for my pain I'm sure is the ale-house down the road.</poem> Song and melody. Recordings. The poem in song form was first recorded by Ceoltóirí Chualann, with lead vocal by Seán O Sé (on the 1969 live album "Ó Riada Sa Gaiety"). Subsequent recordings include: Live performances. The song is also a frequently played song at concerts. One example of a notable act performing "Women of Ireland" is guitarist Jeff Beck, who at times performs it with Irish violinist Sharon Corr. It also appears  on her first solo album, "Dream of You". Use in film and television. "Women of Ireland" has been used in various film and television productions.