Well, Irish isn’t really a theme, it’s more of a category. And what constitutes an Irish hymn? I think of hymns with Irish-sounding tunes and hymns written by Irish people. Maybe more come from Northern Ireland than the Republic, but from a spiritual point of view, as with rugby, Ireland has one team 😀.
Irish-sounding Tunes
I say Irish-sounding because, sometimes, with these old folk tunes, you might find that they’re also seen as Scottish, Welsh, or English, but we like to think of them as Irish😀.
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
In Ireland, we associate this Kingsfold tune with Star of the County Down. Some scholars date the tune to the Middle Ages.
How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place
We associate this melody with the Homes of Donegal, written by Seán McBride in 1955, but the tune is around 150 years old. The lyrics are based on Psalm 84.
Be Thou My Vision
This one goes to the tune of Slane, as does Lord of All Hopefulness. Some say that it’s an 18th Century tune, others say that it goes back to the 8th Century. Slane is where Patrick lit an Easter fire, which was an act of defiance against the pagan king Loegaire. It led to his unlimited freedom to preach the gospel in Ireland.
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
It’s said that this O Waly Waly tune has origins in England. In the past, we used to sing this hymn to Rockingham, then O Waly Waly become popular, perhaps to make it more Irish sounding, but it’s an English tune😀. And some associated the tune with the Appalachian region of the United States. But we think of it as Irish.
I Bind Unto Myself Today
I never remember singing this one in Ireland. The lyrics are based on the writings of Patrick and the tune is a hybrid of two traditional Irish tunes, “St Patrick” and “Gartan”.
Thy Kingdom Come! On Bended Knee
Again, I never remember singing this, but the tune is Irish.
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
We generally sing this one to another tune, but here it uses ST. COLUMBA (Irish), another traditional Irish tune.
There’s a lot of potential to set hymns to Irish tunes, but not everyone is all that keen. I mean, in general culture, people are happy to have coffee in Starbucks and listen to music or watch films from the UK and the US. Everything doesn’t need to be Irish. Perhaps evangelicals sometimes fear that they’re not aligned to Irish culture to the degree that Roman Catholicism is, but how much of Roman Catholicism originates in Ireland? Still, it’s nice that some of our hymns use Irish melodies and these melodies aren’t only sung in Ireland.
Ireland has also had its fair share of hymn writers. These include the following:
- Cecil Frances Alexander, born in Dublin. Her hymns include:
- Nicholas Brad, born in Bandon, County Cork. He co-wrote:
- Thomas Kelly, from Kildare. His hymns include:
Then, there’s the modern songs. I remember singing songs written in Cork back in the 1980s, but I can’t find any of them on YouTube. However, more recently, some Irish-written worship songs have become popular around the world. In some cases, these writers partner with English people, but it’s still nice to have the Irish influence in there.
Here are some examples from Keith & Kristyn Getty, Robin Mark, and Rend Collective
Hibernia Gospel 