Carlow songwriter wins Pan Celtic song competition
The song "Dúlra Scriosta", composed by Dave Barron and Fiach Ó Muircheartaigh and performed by Clara Hutchinson and Fiach Ó Muircheartaigh representing Ireland were the winners of the Pan Celtic International Song Contest in Visual. Pic: © Michael O'Rourke Photography 2026
, a song written by Carlovian Dave Barron, emerged as the winner of the Pan Celtic International Song Competition on Thursday night to rapturous applause from the audience at Visual.
“It’s a tremendous feeling on a personal level,” said Dave, but he also sees the win “as an affirmation that the celtic culture is alive and well in the Carlow area. I think there’s probably more Irish culture in the gaeltacht areas at this stage.” “Last night wouldn't have happened without the work of Bríde de Róiste and Ollie Hennessy and the Pan Celtic group and the Glór Cheatharlach group.” Dave believes the success of the song is down to the collaboration between performer Clara Hutchinson and music composer Fiach Ó Muircheartaigh. “It was a kind of a three-cornered stool,” Dave said.
The trio won the Pan Celtic trophy and a cash prize of €1,500. The other competitors, Alba, Cymru, Breizh, and Mannin gave wonderful performances on Thursday night also.
A former teacher at the CBS in Carlow, Dave took to song writing and researching celtic culture when he retired. He originally wrote the song in English to the melody of Kilkesh and is about how we are damaging nature. He then translated it into Irish.
“Our celtic culture was from way back, there was a close affinity between Irish people and nature and now we're damaging nature. When did you last hear the curlew, the cuckoo at dawn, the splash of the salmon in summer, the croak of the crake in the corn,” is the chorus in English, he recited. “All of these sounds we have damaged, they are gone now.” At a spoken introduction to the song “Clara’s voice is coming in as the voice of Ireland, she is the voice of the wind, the voice of the sun, the voice of Ireland,” professed Dave.
He prefers the song to be sang as Gaeilge rather than in English. “I think it's a more musical language than the English and it lends itself more. The I prefer the than the English version.” Dave has occupied himself with other celtic pursuits, researching old songs and stories from the Carlow area and creating a website repository for them with county librarian John Shorthall. He is also involved in reviving the rambling house tradition, whereby people share stories and songs in neighbours’ houses and is expanding this to the younger generation through the project, which encourages young people to learn songs and stories from family members.
You can find the repository of songs Dave has collected on the website From Carlow Streams: https://fromcarlowstreams.ie/.
