Seán Gabha – Blacksmith John

There's a song from the Oriel region of Ireland called Seán Gabha (Blacksmith John). It's a wake game song, a cumulative, circle-style chant that a group would keep going verse after verse during Irish funeral vigils. The idea is simple: strike the iron, and keep the song going.

Buail seo, Seán gabha, buail seo ard-mhór,
Buailigí go léir é 'gus méadaígí an t-amhrán,
Méadaígí an t-amhrán.

Strike this here, Blacksmith John, strike here very high. All of you strike it and multiply the song.

The song builds through verses, each one a variation on the same command, "strike hard, strike together, strike with vigor," with the vocables síodram seodram keeping rhythm like a hammer on the anvil.

Buailimis go dian, is buailimis araon é,
Síodram seodram, síodram seodram,
Méadaígí an t-amhrán.

Let us strike it hard, and let us strike it together. Multiply the song.

Buailimis go léir é, is buailimis go tréan é,
Síodram seodram, síodram seodram,
Méadaígí an t-amhrán.

Let us all strike it, and let us strike it with vigor. Multiply the song.

Full lyrics

The Celts and the craft tradition

The Celtic peoples spread across Europe over thousands of years, from central Europe's Hallstatt culture around 1200 BC to a peak around 275 BC, when Celtic influence stretched from the Atlantic coast to modern-day Turkey. Wherever they went, craftsmanship was central to the culture.

The torc, a rigid neck ring twisted from gold, silver, or bronze, is one of the most recognizable symbols of Celtic craft. These were masterworks of collective effort: miners, charcoal makers, forge-masters, and smiths all contributed. Some were finished with mercury gilding, leaving a pure gold surface after the mercury was evaporated under heat. Torcs signified high rank and possibly spiritual power. Celtic gods and goddesses are sometimes depicted wearing them. In Celtic society, skilled craftspeople held elevated social status. The maker was not just useful, the maker was important.

The forge as the original makerspace

The blacksmith's forge was one of the original gathering places in rural Ireland. People came to get tools repaired, horses shod, and iron shaped. They also came to watch, talk, and be around someone making things. The forge was warm, the work was rhythmic, and there was always something happening. It was a third space before anyone had a name for it.

The gabha (blacksmith) was a maker in the truest sense: taking raw material and shaping it into something useful through skill, heat, and repetition. Every makerspace carries a bit of that tradition, whether the tools are hammers and anvils or 3D printers and laser cutters.

A song for the wake

Irish wakes were not somber events. They were lively gatherings meant to celebrate the life of the person who had passed and were filled with feasting, music, storytelling, games, and even feats of strength and acrobatics. The tradition existed in rural Ireland for centuries, up until the 1950s.

Seán Gabha was part of this tradition. Luke Donnellan collected it in Crossmaglen at the turn of the twentieth century as a wake game song; a cumulative, circle-style song where the group keeps it going, verse after verse. The insistence on "multiplying" (méadaígí an t-amhrán) wasn't just poetic. It was practical. Keep the song going, keep everyone moving, keep the energy up until morning. Alongside the singing, mourners would compete in contests of strength, agility, and endurance.

Seosamh Ó Laoide documented a variant called Cleas i dtoigh faire (A Game in a Wakehouse) in his 1914 publication Duanaire na Midhe. Piper Séamus Ennis later transcribed Donnellan's recording for the Irish Folklore Commission in the 1940s.

The song was restored and recorded by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin for Ceoltaí Oirialla – Songs of Oriel (2017). Traditional singer Piaras Ó Lorcáin's performance of it won Best Traditional Folk Track at the 2023 RTÉ Folk Awards.

Lyrics source: Oriel Arts – Seán Gabha, from the collection of Luke Donnellan, Crossmaglen. Restored by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin.