IRISH SINGER GLEN HANSARD DIES IN MOTORBIKE ACCIDENT

Irish singer Glen Hansard has died in a motorbike accident at the age of 56. Winner of an Oscar for best original song in 2008 for "FALLING SLOWLY" from the film which he also performed "Once".

Video "FALLING SLOWLY", Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova:

Video "BIRD OF SORROW", Glen Hansard live @ Lollapalooza 2014:

Video noticia / news @ RTE:

MAY 1st: INTERNATIONAL WORKERS' DAY & MAY DAY TRADITIONS

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY 2026: 6 FACTS ABOUT THIS DAY +"WHEN YOU DANCED WITH ME"

 

(Info & pics from Toursim Ireland)

Wallace National Monument, Scotland

Telling Stone, Jutland

Cibeles, Madrid

Empire State Building, New York

Reichsburg Tower, Cochem, Germany

Niagara Falls

Trinity College, Dublin

London Eye

Ha'penny Bridge, Dublin

Sydney Opera

Chicago

Pyramids, Egypt

Torre de Hercules, A Coruña                               ⁶

Being today, March 17th, Saint Patrick's day, the patron of Ireland, here are six surprising facts about the day, landmarks and monuments around the world that have turned GREEN (even Coruña's Torre de Hércules) and an Abba's song with an Irish flavour and that takes us to the Irish town of Kilkenny. Song's lyrics on the video so you can sing along.

Video-lyrics "WHEN YOU DANCE WITH ME", Abba:

ALL PREVIOUS St. PATRICK'S POSTS ON ClickOnEnglish

"FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK", THE POGUES' CHRISTMAS SONG (Tribute to Shane MacGowan)

 Shane MacGowan, composer and singer of the band died on November 30th at the age of 65. As a tribute to him, we bring today on Christmas Eve, what could be considered their own Christmas song "A FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK", which he sings together with Kristy MacColl.

Videos "FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK", the Pogues & Kristy MacColl:

Video of the music played at Shane MacGowan's funeral (11-12-2023):

SINÉAD O'CONNOR HAS DIED

 Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor has died at the age of 56. RIP.

Video "CHIQUITITA", Sinéad O'Connor:

Video "NOTHING COMPARES 2 U", Sinéad O'Connor:

[13th CW] DUBLIN - CAPITAL CITY OF IRELAND

 

[13th CW] CITY SONGS: "GALWAY GIRL" (on St. Patrick's Day)

ALL PREVIOUS St. PATRICK'S POSTS ON ClickOnEnglish

Being today, March 17th, Saint Patrick's day, the patron of Ireland, so Ed Sheeran's song with a city's name takes us to the Irish city of Galway, and the story he had with a girl he met there. Song's lyrics after the video.

She played the fiddle in an Irish band
But she fell in love with an English man
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand
Said, "Baby, I just want to dance"

I met her on Grafton street right outside of the bar
She shared a cigarette with me while her brother played the guitar
She asked me what does it mean, the Gaelic ink on your arm?
Said it was one of my friend's songs, do you want to drink on?
She took Jamie as a chaser, Jack for the fun
She got Arthur on the table with Johnny riding a shotgun
Chatted some more, one more drink at the bar
Then put Van on the jukebox, got up to dance

You know, she played the fiddle in an Irish band
But she fell in love with an English man
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand
Said, "Baby, I just want to dance"
With my pretty little Galway Girl
You're my pretty little Galway Girl

You know she beat me at darts and then she beat me at pool
And then she kissed me like there was nobody else in the room
As last orders were called was when she stood on the stool
After dancing to Cèilidh singing to trad tunes
I never heard Carrickfergus ever sang so sweet
A capella in the bar using her feet for a beat
Oh, I could have that voice playing on repeat for a week
And in this packed out room swear she was singing to me

You know, she played the fiddle in an Irish band
But she fell in love with an English man
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand
Said, "Baby, I just want to dance"
My pretty little Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl

And now we've outstayed our welcome and it's closing time
I was holding her hand, her hand was holding mine
Our coats both smell of smoke, whisky and wine
As we fill up our lungs with the cold air of the night
I walked her home then she took me inside
To finish some Doritos and another bottle of wine
I swear I'm gonna put you in a song that I write
About a Galway Girl and a perfect night

She played the fiddle in an Irish band
But she fell in love with an English man
Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand
Said, "Baby, I just want to dance"
My pretty little Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl
My, my, my, my, my, my, my Galway Girl

UK CULTURE CLASS BY DAMIEN SHEEHY FOR 1ºBAC STUDENTS

This morning, 1st BAC students had the opportunity to listen to the Irishman, from Dublin, Damien Sheehy, who, courtesy of Burlington Publishers, visited our school and gave a cultural talk about the United Kingdom.

A speech about: 

- the British flag ("The Union Jack"), (Info about this is also in this blog: HERE1)

- the difference between Northern Ireland, part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, (Info about this is also in this blog:  HERE2).

- why British drive on the left, which countries do so and the reason why. (Info about this is also in this blog:  HERE3).

Damien with Guillermo González (B1ºB) explaining the reason why the British drive on the left.

- Scottish traditions (pagpipes, kilts, tartan...)

The speech came together with some quiz questions for the audience to answer:

1- Which country (out of 4 given) doesn't drive on the left? 

Answered correctly by Martin Golán (B1ºB), who took the help of 50%. The answer was Iceland.

2- What's the most forgotten object on the London tube?

Answered correctly by Victoria Orrico (B1ºC) & Alejandro Fernández (B1ºB), who took the help of the phone call to Damien's mum. The answer being the mobile phone, the object that is mostly lost on the tube.

Damien's mum helping Victoria & Alejandro with their answer via a phone call.

3- Where is Welsh mostly spoken outside the UK?

Question for Román Alemparte (B1ºA), who had the help of the rest of the audience, but the answer was really unexpected: Patagonia in Argentina. So they didn't answer it correctly.

The audience voting to help Román with his answer.

Damien with some of the boys and their English teacher at the end of the speech:

St. PATRICK'S DAY 2022

 It's Saint Patrick's Day another year on. This day is the patron saint of Ireland and everything's green. Showing some symbol icons of the day and the possibility of linking to previous posts about this day in our blog.

[11thCW] "THE SONG OF THE SEA" (film & song)

 The enchanting Irish animation SONG OF THE SEA tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse – the last Seal-child – who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.

SONG OF THE SEA, directed by Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells) features the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny.

Video-trailer (StudioCanalUK):

Video song from the film: