A collection of Ireland’s greatest and best-loved ballads, including the lyrics, music and chords, along with an introductory piece on each song. Illustrated with photographs and woodcuts. A beautiful guide to the cream of the Irish ballad tradition.

Songs of love, yearning, revolution, celebration, emigration, mourning, fun, famine, drinking and more. A collection of powerful yet beautiful ballads of Ireland, placed in and reflecting historical events and traditions. All have stood the test of time and present to the world the uniqueness of Irish history and her musical and revolutionary traditions.

Including:

• Are You Right There Michael?
• Danny Boy
• Kevin Barry
• I’ll Tell Me Ma
• The Irish Rover
• Molly Malone
• The Rare Old Mountain Dew
• The Rocky Road to Dublin
• The Rose of Tralee
• Whiskey in the Jar

Best-Loved Irish Ballads celebrates the songs and tradition of Irish music.

Emma Byrne is a graphic designer and artist. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. She has won numerous awards for her design including The IDI (Irish Design Institute) Graduate Designer of the Year, the IDI Promotional Literature Award for her work on Brown Morning, and a Children’s Books Ireland Bisto Merit Award for her work on Something Beginning With P: New Poems from Irish Poets. She has illustrated many books, including Best-Loved Oscar Wilde, Best-Loved Yeats, The Most Beautiful Letter in the World by Karl O’Neill, a special edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, and A Terrible Beauty by Mairéad Ashe Fitzgerald. Her other books are Irish Thatch and, with Eoin O’Brien, Best-Loved Irish Ballads. Eoin O’Brien is a songwriter and musician, a writer and illustrator. He enjoys nothing more than a good old singsong around a kitchen table or a bonfire. He lives in beautiful Finglas in north Dublin, and has two fantastic children.