Old traditional songs are something Pauline Scanlon has always been drawn to. She isn’t convinced, however, by the ongoing attempts to group the current crop of acclaimed Irish folk and traditional musicians under another ‘folk revival’ umbrella.

“In order for something to have been revived, it has to have gone away,” she points out. “But traditional songs never do. That’s the nature of them. They’re a very enduring presence in Ireland. The songs are always there – it’s just the people that are hearing them change, with every generation.”

On her new album, The Unquiet, the singer, who hails from Dingle, Co. Kerry, is approaching these songs in a wholly unique, subversive way – by setting out to explore the lives of modern women, including her late mother Eileen, through the medium of traditional music.

“I wanted to sing about a life in its entirety,” she tells me. “My mother has passed away, and she had lived a whole life. She was a bright spark, and a real feminist. She had a perspective that I share on many things. And I knew her very well, obviously. So, wanting to sing about a woman’s life, I decided to sing about hers.”

Some of the experiences of women that Pauline sets out to capture on the album are, sadly, as relevant as ever – with tragic cases once again sparking conversations about violence against women, and various #MeToo movements continuing to ripple around the world.

“My own #MeToo moment is in there,” she states. “The album was very much inspired by my mother, but there’s a lot of other stuff in there that would be my own. ‘The Two Magicians’ is a #MeToo song, for want of a better phrase.

“The whole point of it was to link traditional songs to modern women’s experiences,” she adds. “I know women have experienced that throughout the ages, but I wanted to sing it from my own perspective, as a contemporary woman.”

Her version of ‘The Bird In The Bush’, meanwhile – the folk song that also provided the title of A. L. Lloyd, Anne Briggs and Frankie Armstrong's 1966 album of 'Traditional Erotic Songs' for Topic Records – is a bold embrace of female sexuality.

“Female sexuality appears in other songs, but I find it very projected upon us – in the sense that it can be about high, lofty ideals of female beauty, grace and purity,” she reflects. “To be admired is different to feeling sexual. There’s also a lot of songs about shame in the global folk canon. But there’s not many like this. I identify with the sense of sexuality being owned by women in it.”

She’s joined on The Unquiet by producer John Reynolds, a long-time collaborator.

“I made my very first solo album with John nearly 20 years ago now,” she recalls. “It's a very strong creative partnership. He’s brilliant to work with, because he’s very respectful of everyone in the room, and everybody’s point of view. It’s always about servicing the feeling, emotion and intent of the song. He has a way of making things evolve emotionally, and then the music follows.”

Damien Dempsey also makes an appearance – with the Dublin singer-songwriter teaming up with Pauline for a particularly stirring rendition of ‘The Unquiet Grave’.

“We all love Damo!” she laughs. “We’ve a good, deep singing connection, Damo and I, because we’ve collaborated an awful lot over the years. We both work with John, and we’re in the same music family. He always brings such sincerity and depth to every last note that he sings.”

Dempsey is also one of many prominent musicians who has voiced his support for FairPlé, an organisation that Pauline co-founded, in order to ensure gender balance across all aspects of the Irish traditional and folk music community. The group is also attempting to change the culture within the community that has allowed gender-based harassment and violence to occur.

Pauline – who has spoken openly about her own experiences with sexual assault and predatory behaviour – tells me that FairPlé has been met with “a mixed response” since it was established in 2018.

“We had an awful lot of support, but there was a lot of kickback as well,” she notes. “People feel very proud of traditional and folk music in Ireland. Our criticism was not necessarily of the music, but about the need to question the culture that surrounds it. If you’re part of a community, and you don’t feel comfortable with examining or looking at elements of it that not all members or participants are happy with, then you’re just maintaining the status quo – and that’s not a good thing in any walk of life. Particularly given women's history in Ireland. Just listen to women! If a certain portion of women who work and live and breathe in a community are dissatisfied, or uncomfortable, or treated unequally, then it warrants attention.

“Tradition in Ireland is a funny thing,” she continues. “People guard it, and they’re right to. But not all elements of all cultures are worth hanging onto.”

Credit: Ruth Medjber

Is she hopeful that the community is gradually moving forward in a positive direction, in regards to gender equality?

“I am hopeful,” she says. “But at the same time, when we started FairPlé, we were looking carefully at gender equity across line-ups. We’re just looking at this year’s festivals at the moment – and, to be honest, it’s pretty dismal. It hasn’t changed much. People talk about changing it, and are more conscious of it, but whether that’s put into action and practice or not… my jury is still out!”

She reckons that men in the community should also be using their own platforms to speak out on issues like this.

“Some of them do, and some of them don’t,” she muses. “At a certain point, maybe it will be something that male musicians will consider – if they’re looking at a line-up, and there’s very few women on it, they’ll say something, and use their voices to amplify it. But that doesn’t happen as much as it should.

“I mean, I get it, it’s difficult to make a living working in the arts,” she adds. “I feel that people don’t want to upset the apple cart. They don’t want to upset the people with the money, and the programmers. So they don’t say anything, and everyone is looking out for their own little patch. That’s why we formed the organisation – so we could look out for each other’s patches.”

For now, with The Unquiet finally unleashed on the world, Pauline is in no rush to move onto the next project.

“I’m terrible,” she grins. “I’ll probably get into my caravan for the summer, and maybe regroup again in September, and have a think about what I’ll do. I’m looking forward to having a free summer, with a few gigs here and there. I’ll be up around north Mayo – on my own, reading books!”

The Unquiet is out now. Pauline Scanlon plays the Royal Spa Hotel & Cafe, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare (May 15); Royal Theatre Castlebar, Co. Mayo (19); Raheen House Hotel, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary (20); Gleneagle INEC Arena, Co. Kerry (21); and Pepper Canister Church, Dublin (September 16).