Liam Weldon was a singer and songwriter in the Irish folk tradition.

Life

Born in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Liam, like many people in inner city Dublin at that time, was moved out of the developing city to Ballyfermot

Ballyfermot

Ballyfermot is a suburb in the city of Dublin.Celebrities such as the famous Furey Brothers and the brilliant Keenan family have all resided in Ballyfermot.Ireland, located 7 kilometres due west from the city centre, and to the south of the Phoenix Park...

, a suburb on the outskirts of the city.

Liam had a lifelong interest in the songs of the Irish Travellers and his own songs reflected a strong awareness of poverty, disadvantage and exploitation. His personal ballad style had features of other genres, but the precision of intent in his abrasive lyrics was unmistakable.

Six years working in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from the age of sixteen tempered his social awareness, but yet his lyrics often have deep lyric sensitivity. He sang first at the Central Bar in Aungier St., Dublin, and with his wife Nellie ran gigs and clubs through the 1970s.

In Dublin, he organised the Pavees Club in Slatterys on Capel Street and sessions

Irish traditional music session

Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...

 in the Tailor's Hall and the Brazen Head. In the early seventies, Weldon sang and played bodhrán

Bodhrán

The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...

 in the group "1691". Named after the year of the signing of the Treaty of Limerick

Treaty of Limerick

The Treaty of Limerick ended the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobites and the supporters of William of Orange. It concluded the Siege of Limerick. The treaty really consisted of two treaties which were signed on 3 October 1691. Reputedly they were signed on the Treaty Stone, an...

, other members of the group included Tommy Peoples

Tommy Peoples

Tommy Peoples is an Irish fiddler.He was born near St. Johnston, a village in the Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. He has been a member of well known traditional Irish music groups, including 1691 and The Bothy Band as well as performing...

, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer, pianist, and composer, considered one of the most influential female vocalists in the history of Irish music. She is famed for her work with traditional Irish groups such as Skara Brae, The Bothy Band, Relativity, Touchstone, and Nightnoise.-...

, Peter Browne

Peter Browne

Peter Browne , Irish divine and bishop of Cork and Ross, was born in County Dublin, not long after the Restoration.He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1682, and after ten years' residence obtained a fellowship...

, and Matt Molloy

Matt Molloy

Matt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at only seventeen years old...

, who later went on to form The Bothy Band

The Bothy Band

The Bothy Band was an Irish traditional band active during the late 1970s. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the most influential bands playing Irish traditional music...

.

Liam is well known for his songs "Dark Horse on the Wind" and "The Blue Tar Road". "Blue Tar Road" is a criticism of Dublin Corporation

Dublin Corporation

Dublin Corporation , known by generations of Dubliners simply as The Corpo, is the former name given to the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin between 1661 and 1 January 2002...

 in the eviction of Traveller families at Cherry Orchard, County Dublin.
"Dark Horse on the Wind" is a lament for the lost dreams of the 1916 Volunteers and a criticism of the conflict then (1960s/1970s) raging in Ireland.

Discography

• 1691 — Irish Folk Songs, 1973 (Arfolk, France)
• Dark Horse on the Wind, 1976 (Mulligan, Ireland) (CD reissue, 1999)
• Liam Weldon with Pol Huellou, 1989 (cassette only, Goasco)
• Séan Howley, Liam Weldon, Brian O’Donohue — Elixir (Goasco)

See also

• Traditional Irish Singers
  Traditional Irish Singers
  Some of the traditional Irish singers alphabetically listed below are known to have sung in both the Irish and English language and if so are listed in both sections below as well known singers of macaronic Irish songs.-Mainly English language songs:...