Kilkenny songwriter Mick Citern Walsh records first Irish language version of famous Bengali song

Folk songsmith Mick Citern Walsh has returned to the airwaves with a new single that truly showcases a unique international element.

In the great tradition of folk music, the song weaves a tale of hurt and remembrance, whilst shining a light on a dark moment in history. 

The singer/songwriter's release might also have marked a memorable first, as the song - SCAIP FUIL mo CHOMRÁDAÍ sa FEABHRA - is an Irish language version of the Bengali song, Amar Vaiyer Rokte Rangano (full title, Amar Vaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushe February, Ami Ki Vulite Pari?, meaning, My Brother's Blood Spattered 21 February, Can I Forget That?).

Mick's version as gaeilge becomes the 13th language in which the song - written in recognition of International Mother Language Day (February 21) in Bangladesh - has been recorded. 

Mick's single, however, has the distinction and honour of being the first foreign-language version of the song to be recorded outside of Bangladesh (previous recordings of Amar Vaiyer Rokte Rangano were by Bangladeshi university students).

"There are many reasons why being asked to record an Irish language version of this particular song was such an honour", shares the Waterford native. 

"The fact that I'd be adding a rendition in my own native language to a catalogue of more than twenty other languages was an opportunity that I couldn't turn down, and a request that I didn't need very long to consider saying yes to when I was asked to consider it by a gentleman called Syad Rahman. Syad has made his home in Ireland for the past thirty years, and is a former President of the Bangladesh Association of Ireland. He's also the founder of the International Mother Language Day Book Fair in Ireland, as well as also being the man behind the Bengali Cultural Festival in Kilkenny, the biggest Bengali cultural programme in Ireland. 

"So it's a great privilege for me personally, as an artist, to be the one who gets to bring an Irish dimension to the subject, something that holds such a poignant and solemn place in the hearts of the Bangladeshi people." 

International Mother Language Day, which Mick's new single symbolically marks in his own mother-tongue, reflects on the ultimate sacrifice made by several Bengali students, all for the love of their own language, more than seventy years ago. 

"It's a shocking story", observes Mick. "But one that I think Irish people - given our own history in this regard - will connect with in a very emotional way."

Mick, who lives in Kilkenny, has become a mainstay of the live music scene.

"The Bengali language was banned by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Pakistani Governor-General of the newly created state of Pakistan in 1948, with Urdu being seen and treated as the only official and permissible language. And this was despite East Pakistan being a Bengali-speaking majority. So this rightly and naturally caused outrage. This outrage, as you'd expect, led to many protests. The way the Pakistani government decided to deal with those public demonstrations was to outlaw them". 

After a nine-month war during which more than three-million Bengalis made the ultimate sacrifice, Bangladesh won its independence on December 16th, 1971. The Mother Language movement is widely acknowledged as having played a deeply significant role in the path to independence. 

Amar Vaiyer Rokte Rangano was translated into Irish by Tom O' Donoghue, an old school friend of Mick's. Adding a further international dimension to proceedings, Tom, who is an author and a professor, now lives in Perth in Australia, having taught in Papua, New Guinea. The pair grew up together in Lismore, Waterford, in the 1960s. 

Mick performed SCAIP FUIL mo CHOMRÁDAÍ sa FEABHRA at the International Mother Language Day Book Fair (this will be the third running of this event) held in Dublin City University on Sunday, May 28, when he was also interviewed by two UK based Bangladeshi TV stations.

Follow Mick on Facebook for full details (search Mickciternwalsh).