‘I did not dream how rich was the field I was ploughing’. (Sam Henry)

Coleraine-born Sam Henry (1878-1952) was a song collector who amassed the largest and most comprehensive collection of folksongs in Ulster, which is also the largest collection of songs on this island. He was a musician, photographer, lecturer and writer – in addition to his day job as a customs and pensions officer. He published hundreds of songs in his weekly ‘Songs of the People’ column in the Northern Constitution newspaper between 1923 and 1939 and continued to collect songs long after that column ended and well into his retirement.

Singer Grainne Milner-McLoone, who performs songs from Henry’s collection and has studied his work in detail, is our presenter. Selecting a number of songs from Henry’s vast collection, and exploring them with musicians and historians, she tells the story of Henry’s life and work and the invaluable contribution that this collection has made, and continues to make, to the Irish folk-song tradition.

The producer is Claire Cunningham, sound supervision is by Tinpot Productions, and the programme is a Rockfinch Production for RTÉ lyric fm.

Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and by RTÉ. Producer for RTÉ lyric fm: Eoin O’Kelly.