02/10/2025
The Irish term “crónán” refers to the act of humming, murmuring, crooning, buzzing, purring, droning and, in certain contexts, chanting or moaning. It can be used for natural sounds: the lapping of waves, the babble of a river, the boom of a waterfall, the buzzing of insects, the purring of a cat or the bellowing of cattle. There’s even a seanfhocal (old saying) that goes: “Ar mhaithe leis féin a dheineann an cat crónán”, meaning it’s for the cat’s own good that he purrs.
It can also be used for manmade noises: the drone of a bagpipe, a kettle boiling, a steam engine rumbling or any low humming air or song.
The term and its derivatives appear in numerous medieval Irish texts. For example, a Middle Irish gloss to Uraicecht Becc, a legal tract on status, lists “crónánaig” – performers of crónán or hummers – alongside “fedánaig” (flute or pipe players) among the “fo-dána”, subordinate performers of the “base arts” whose honour-price depended on that of their patrons. They were ranked with jugglers, buffoons and clowns. In this hierarchy, the only entertainer accorded his own honour-price was the harper.
The late medieval Book of Lismore preserves a poem attributed to the legendary Fianna warrior Caoilte mac Rónáin, nephew of Fionn mac Cumhaill. While resting at a cairn called Letir Dubh in Co. Kerry, Caoilte listens to the music of local herdsmen and shepherds and records in verse the names of the different types of music he hears. Among them is the crónán.
But what did the crónán sound like? In 1786, the Dublin-born antiquary Joseph Cooper Walker described it as “a tune hummed in a low key”. Irish scholar and antiquary Eugene O’Curry, writing in 1873, described it as “a sort of musical purring, a throat accompaniment without words”. He added:
“I have, myself, often heard with pleasure this crónán, or throat accompaniment, without words, performed to old Irish dirges; and I very well know how it was produced, and could even attempt an imitation of it. But, I have never heard the cronán fully sung in concert; and I have known only two men who were proficients in it; one of them was my own father; the other was John Molony, a younger and better performer. They were both large men… There may be many persons still living in various parts of Ireland, who have heard this crónán from their fathers; and there may be some who can produce it…”
Simon O’Dwyer of Ancient Music Ireland has experimented with reconstructing this type of music.
Read more about the history and meaning of the term “crónán” and hear how it’s pronounced by a native speaker from Cork here: https://irishheritagenews.ie/say-it-in-irish-humming-cronan/ (There’s also a video of Simon O’Dwyer of Ancient Music Ireland performing his version of the crónán.)
