Made in recording sessions by Alan Lomaz and Seamus Ennis in 1951, this was one of the first comprehensive surveys of the folk music of Ireland. Lomax and Ennis went from village to town in western Ireland, recording professional and amateur singers and musicians in their homes and community places. The songs are familiar, since so many of them have been learned by more generations via these recordings, and include classics like "I'll Go No More A' Rovin," "Whiskey in the Jar," "The Lark in the Morning," and dozens of others. Aside from Ennis, who contributes a fair number of songs himself, the names of the performers will not be too familiar. It's a straightforward, honest brand of Irish music (not "Celtic") that focuses on the tunes and stories, delivered with quiet grace or raucous joy, untouched by fad. Accordions, fiddles, and piano are the instruments most likely heard here, but the real gems are the solo singers and storytellers, whose voices still ring true because they were so real, so personal. The booklet includes Ennis's original recording notes, a new introduction to put the music in contemporary perspective, and Lomax's original effusive and overromanticized commentary. --Louis Gibson