I owe many of the songs in this book to the Hession family. It is famous in Irish speaking circles. It consists of a father, mother and nine children, all equally proficient in song and story.
Stephen and Ellen Hession raised nine children in a modest thatched cottage in Ballydotia, Belclare Co Galway; All nine participated in the local and national competition’s organised by the Gaelic League; Their four sons, Thomas, Martin, Stephen and Micheal, but particularly their daughters Annie, Maggie, Maire, Ellen and Bridget, were celebrated singers and active participants in the Gaelic Revival in the early years of the 20th Century.
When I came to live in Tuam, some fifteen years ago, I had already formed the acquaintance of the Hession family of Belclare (beside Tuam) at different Feisanna, had admired the beauty of their singing, and I regarded myself as fortunate in being brought into such close proximity with them.
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