Originally published at National Catholic Register
The enchanting carol dates to at least the 15th or 16th centuries. Its melody is mesmerizing and evocative, with lyrics telling the Nativity story.
The enchanting Wexford Carol is one of our oldest Catholic Christmas carols, dating to at least the 15th or 16th centuries. Its melody is mesmerizing and evocative of a Catholic Christmas season.
Also known as the Enniscorthy Carol (Carúl Inis Chárthaigh), this beautiful Christmas song has been recorded by Julie Andrews, Nancy Griffiths and The Chieftains, Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma, Tom Jones, Caitriona O’Leary and Rosanne Cash. Choirs have also performed it, including the U.S. Navy Band, and as a haunting slow lament on pipes, it is a staple in traditional Irish music sessions at Christmastime in Ireland.
A deeper look into the origins of the carol also illuminates several unexpected departures that go to the heart of Catholic Ireland in the Penal Era. These departures unveil a Carol-singing tradition in County Wexford that endures.
Familiarity with the carol pivots on a telling intervention by William Henry Grattan Flood, a devout Catholic cathedral organist.
The late Liam Gaul, a Wexford historian and author who writes on the traditional Irish music website TheSession.org, details The
