Ceatharlach agus an Cór

... which is the Irish for "Carlow and the Choir."  The Folk Choir, that is, that marvelous community with whom I spent more than thirty-five years of my professional and spiritual journey on the campus of Notre Dame.

The year was 1988; the Folk Choir had been around less than a decade, and yours truly decided it would be a marvelous idea to take the growing ensemble (eighteen members) on tour.  We had never toured before – not even across town or, going for the big trip, over to Mishawaka....

So the first tour of the Notre Dame Folk Choir was to Ireland.

It was a demanding itinerary, building on parochial and monastic contacts I had made the year before, when I spent a couple of weeks hitchhiking (yes, that's correct) around the nation, trying to figure out if we could string together such a trip on a limited budget.  That first pilgrimage included stops at both Kylemore and Glenstal Abbeys; we also had a wonderful collaboration with Dublin's Catholic Youth Council.

And for three days on this trip, we holed up in Carlow.  At the time, it was the home of the National Liturgy Centre (later moved to Maynooth University in 1996).  As a choir, their staff treated us to a treasury of sacred music compositions, not the least of which was an entire three-year psalter by the renowned Irish composer Fintan O'Carroll. 

Somewhere in the middle of that stay, we were introduced to another hymn, a simple four-part arrangement of the Lorica of Saint Patrick, entitled Christ Be Near At Either Hand.  It had been scored by the renowned Irish organist, Gerard Gillen – a dedicated church musician whom I finally had the privilege of meeting, and becoming great friends with, upon moving to Dublin in 2016.  

Carlow Cathedral

Hearing Christ Be Near, I immediately knew that the piece would work for our ensemble, because Dr. Gillen's arrangement was readily complemented by guitar chords (from the start, organ and guitar were joint partners in our ensemble).  All that was needed was a flute part, which I provided.

Then came a published octavo by World Library Publications, followed by the first St. Patrick's Day liturgy on the campus of Notre Dame University (March 17th, 1989, which coincided with a parade in downtown South Bend for the ND football team, who had just won the national championship).  And this was followed by other churches and cathedrals (most notably, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City) that included the hymn in their own celebrations the following year.  

All because a rowdy group of college singers landed on the doorstep of this remarkable center for liturgy and song in the heart of County Carlow.  We were like worker bees, having visited the blooming fields of Ireland, carrying gifts that would soon become honey for the church's robust song around the world.