You might not recognise the title of the song Mná na hÉireann – or even its English translation, Women of Ireland – but you’d know the tune. It was one of The Chieftains’ most celebrated records, used by Stanley Kubrick in his film Barry Lyndon, and recorded by the likes of Kate Bush, Sinéad O’Connor, Jeff Beck and Mike Oldfield. In Ireland, the song is more than merely famous; it has an almost mythical significance, although the significance changes according to whom you ask.

Andrew Ford

Andrew Ford. Photo supplied

A few years ago, my neighbour Owen J. Conlan, a Dubliner born and bred, told me that on his only trip to Ireland in 38 years, he had stood at his mother’s grave and played the song on his tin whistle. He also said he had long harboured the wish to pay me to compose a piece of music and hoped I might be interested in writing something based on Mná na hÉireann.

Well, it’s a beautiful tune and, as chance would have it, I had recently composed a...