Birds of the Lough

The Blackbird of Belfast Lough

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Int én bec ro léic feit do rind guip glanbuidi fo-ceird faíd os Loch Laíg lon do craíb charnbuidi This little 9th c. Irish lyric continues to echo in modern Irish verse. Seamus Heaney translated it thus: The small bird chirp-chirruped: yellow neb, a note-spurt. Blackbird over Lagan water. Clumps of yellow whin-burst!