Caipíní

‘Caipíní’ or ‘people who wear caps’ is an affectionate way of referring to a particular type of rural personality, now a dying breed. It was also the title of a series produced a few years ago for TG4 by Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich, Niamh Ní Bhaoill and Philip King. Of necessity, much of what was recorded for those programmes never went out on air; this album, as Ó Beaglaoich explains in the booklet notes, is by way of making the best of it available for all to enjoy. This is the pure, hard stuff, recorded without accompaniment and in the field, with the emphasis on the sean-nós style of the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht. The voices might be getting quavery and the instruments might not always be in perfect tune, but the unalloyed delight in the music is unmistakable.