Track Listing

1. The holly she bears a berry - The Voice Squad
2. An Irish blessing - Roma Downey
3. The parting glass - The Voice Squad
4. Away in a manger - Slane National School
5. The dromcolliher set - Ger Kiely & Band
6. Flower of Maherally - Brian Kennedy
7. Oh holy night - Phil Coulter
8. Adeste fideles (Come all ye faithful) - Celtic Tenors
9. Oiche ciuin (Silent night) - Slane National School
10. My Irish Molly-o - Maura O'Connell
11. Codail a linbh (Sleep o child) - Moya Brennan
12. Be thou my vision - Roma Downey
13. Remember me - Brian Kennedy
14. The pig's head (from Angela's Ashes) - Frank McCourt
15. Danny boy - Celtic Tenors
16. Steal away - Phil Coulter

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9054 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-18
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

A fascinating Irish Christmas album
This album appears to have been released with two different titles, the American version being An Irish holiday while the British version is An Irish Christmas. As there is clearly no difference in the music, this review applies equally to either. Some of the songs are familiar and some not but even the familiar songs sound very different here to the way I normally hear them. The music has a traditional Irish feel to it but the music does not easily fit any classification although the album as a whole flows well.

The Celtic Tenors provide a touch of opera with their renditions of Danny boy and Adeste Fideles (O come all ye faithful), which blends perfectly with the rest of the album. The Voice Squad, an a-capella group, sing The holly she bears a berry and The parting glass. A children's choir from Slane National School sing Away in a manger in English. Later in the album, they do a fine Gallic version of Silent night as Oiche Ciuin. Phil Coulter contributes an instrumental version of Oh holy night and a vocal version of Steal away. Frank McCourt narrates an excerpt from his book, Angela's ashes. Roma Downey, Ger Kiely, Brian Kennedy, Maura O'Connell and Moya Brennan all provide excellent contributions.

Apart from those like me who are always looking for something different, I'm not clear who this mix of folk, a-capella, choral and operatic music will appeal to most. Maybe the purity and quality of the performances here will appeal to listeners of all those types of music. It deserves to.