Irish Advent Calendar – 7th December

Carol 1942

Patrick Kavanagh was a well-known realist poet of the 20th–century Ireland. He was interested in politics and was involved in journalism as well. Sometimes he was too harsh and broke some topic taboos, so some of his works were scandalous and temporary banned. His famous poem, On Raglan Road, was set to music, and it became a ‘modern folk song’. 

 Kavanagh also wanted to depict the lost idyll of his childhood in many of his poems. One of these was Christmas Carol 1942, which was about childhood memories and the dreads of the Secord World War. 

It was the Irish songstress, Eimear Quinn, who composed music to Christmas Carol 1942 and recorded it for her holiday album, O Holy Night. Although she is a respected classical soprano, she is also involved in folk music. She started her career in the vocal group Anúna, then she won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song The Voice in 1996. She is a well-acclaimed vocalist in Ireland and has recorded some studio albums since her Eurovision victory.