If it were "Kill Kenny" it would be a pop culture reference

[sleigh]

 You can thank (or blame, your choice) my brother-in-law Dave Fitzpatrick for introducing me to this song in the Pandemic World Basement Tapes series. After I played an Irish tune for the family several years ago, Dave mentioned that there was this Irish song he’d heard once that he really enjoyed, but he couldn’t recall the title. He said it was about an Irish father writing to his son in America over a period of decades and asking when he might be coming back. I did some internet searching and found a song that fit Dave’s description. I played the song (“Kilkelly, Ireland”) for Dave the next time we were together -- “That’s it!” he said immediately.

 

So… the song isn’t actually Irish, but Irish-American, though it’s been covered by lots of Irish musicians including Danny Doyle, the Dubliners, and Mick Moloney, among others. The song was written (according to most sources) by Peter Jones, though a few (like the first one I came across) say it was Peter and his brother Steven, FWIW. 

 

The backstory’s interesting: a packet of century-old letters were discovered in the attic of Peter Jones’ family, written by their great-great-great grandfather, Bryan Hunt, to his son John Hunt between 1858 and 1892. John Hunt emigrated to the States in 1855 from the little town of Kilkelly in County Mayo and found work (as many Irish did) on the railroad. Bryan Hunt was illiterate, so his letters to his son were transcribed by the local schoolmaster, Pat McNamara. The final letter in 1892, was written by John’s brother Michael, informing him that their father had died. You can find the text of the actual letters here at the Irish Central website: https://www.irishcentral.com/homepage/the-moving-letters-of-a-family-to-their-son-in-america-after-the-famine 

 

Peter (or Peter & Steven, just in case) thought that adapting the letters to a song would be interesting, and so “Kilkelly, Ireland” was born. The ballad was first recorded in 1983. Hope you enjoy the tale!

 

The usual caveats: This is again a first take recording, leaving in any mistakes I make vocally or instrumentally. To find all of these Pandemic World videos, go to YouTube and look for the “sleighwriter” channel. And please leave a comment wherever you hear this if you’re so inclined.