An Irish Lullaby (Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral)

This simple folk setting of an old Irish favorite would be a natural for St. Patrick's Day or any Irish-themed program. It's also a great opportunity to work on and perform a partner song. The first melody is original and would probably work well for your older singers, as it is slightly more difficult than the second melody, which might be very familiar to you. It's "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral," an Irish folk song from around the turn of the century. (It was made famous by Bing Crosby in 1944 in the film Going My Way.) This melody is simpler and more repetitive and could be used with your younger singers. The two melodies sound very nice on their own, and on the third time through blend together beautifully.

Our arrangement features guitars, mandolin, piano, acoustic bass, cello, and penny whistle. The CD accompaniment really sets the mood for this piece and is highly recommended for a performance. You may even want to have your singers sound more "Irish" by changing some of the words. For example, "laddie" or "lassie" instead of "baby." And whenever the word "my" is used, change that to "me" - so you'd have "me eyes" and "me mother." Actually, in some texts we even ran across "me mither." But it's up to you as to how much accent you think your kids can handle.