Sam Henry

According to his daughter, Mrs Olive Mary Henry Craig, Henry was a "very large man, tall, broad and burly" who weighed over sixteen stone (225 pounds, over 100 kilograms). He rode a bicycle and also used a car in his travels around the northern counties, as well as the public transport system (bus and train). Henry described himself as "an ardent amateur naturalist, archaeologist, antiquarian, genealogist, and photographer." He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and could therefore append the letters FRSAI after his name. He was also an amateur ornithologist regarded as an authority on the birds of the north of Ireland. As a well-known lecturer who communicated his enthusiasm and knowledge of his special hobbies to other people, Henry contributed many articles on such matters to the local papers.

Despite Henry's attempts to have his collection of folk songs published in book form, this would not happen until 1990, 38 years after his death, when Sam Henry's Songs of the People was published by the University of Georgia Press. This book includes all the songs Henry had published in the Northern Constitution from 17 November 1923 to 28 July 1928 (H1 to H246), and from 28 October 1932 to 9 December 1939 (H464 to H836), with all the songs' tunes transcribed from tonic sol-fa to standard staff notation, plus extensive appendices, indexes and reference aids developed by the book's editors: Gale Huntington, Lani Herrmann and John Moulden. Henry's collection was the subject of extensive scholarship by Moulden, yielding several publications and a conference address to the Library of Congress on 2 May 2007. The collection inspired recordings by folk singers such as Margaret Barry, Paul Brady, Eddie Butcher, Cara Dillon, Joe Heaney, Joe Holmes & Len Graham, Dolores Keane, Paddy Tunney, and many others. Andy Irvine, who first consulted the Dublin set in the mid-1960s, has interpreted an extensive selection of its songs since the early 1970s as a solo artist and with Planxty, Paul Brady, Patrick Street, and Mozaik. In addition to his collection of songs, Henry left behind a large aggregate of 11,000 items, comprising photographs and documents, donated to the Coleraine Museum by his grandson, Gordon Craig, on 25 August 2011. The Portstewart-based musician and researcher Grainne Milner-McLoone recorded and released an album of songs associated with her PhD, The Songs of Sam Henry (2022) under the name Grainne Eve. A documentary in two episodes on Songs of the People was aired by the BBC, during April 2019.

The following table shows a selection of songs recorded from Henry's collection. • Title – the title of the song (this column is sortable) • No. – the song's Henry number (Hxxx) (this column is sortable) • Singer – the name of the singer on the recording (this column is sortable) • Album – the title of the album featuring the recorded song (this column is sortable) • Year – the year the album was released (this column is sortable) • Notes – a reference about the song and/or its recording (this column is not sortable). • Title — No. — Singer — Album — Year — Notes • "Blackwater Side" — H811 — Cara Dillon — Wanderer — 2017 • "Bonny Bonny" — H75b — Cara Dillon — Sweet Liberty — 2003 • "Bonny Brown Jane" — H613 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976 • "Bonny Woodha — Dick Gaughan — The Bonny Pit Laddie — 1975 • Andy Irvine — Andy Irvine/Paul Brady — 1976 • "Boston Burglar" — H202 — Margaret Barry — Ireland's Own — 1976 • "Bright Morning Star" — H146 — Cara Dillon — A Thousand Hearts — 2014 • "Captain Co(u)lston" — Paddy Tunney — The Flowery Vale — 1976 • Andy Irvine — Parallel Lines — 1982 • "Carrowclare" — H169 — Andy Irvine — All in Good Time — 1993 • "Coleraine Regatta" — Paul Brady — The Barley Corn — 1969 • Eddie Butcher — I Once Was A Daysman — 1975 • "Come With Me Over The Mountain" — H61b — Andy Irvine — Rain on the Roof — 1996 • "Dark-Eyed Gipsy" — H124 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976 • "Donald of Glencoe" — H655 — Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "Éirigh Suas a Stóirín" — H42a — Cara Dillon — A Thousand Hearts — 2014 • "Farewell To Balleymoney" — H615 — Andy Irvine — Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams — 1980 • "Farewell To Old Ireland" — H743 — Andy Irvine — Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams — 1980 • "Flora" — H637 — Eddie Butcher — I Once Was A Daysman — 1975 • "Going To Mass Last Sunday" — H625 — Margaret Barry — I Sang Through The Fairs — 1998 • "Grá Mo Croi" — H204 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Green Grows the Laurel" — Andy Irvine — Street Life — 1997 • Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "Green Grows the Rashes" — H165a — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Her Mantle So Green" — Margaret Barry — Street Songs and Fiddle Tunes — 1957 • Andy Irvine — Made in Cork — 1997 • "I Am A Youth That's Inclined To Ramble" — Paul Brady — Welcome Here Kind Stranger — 1978 • Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "Jack Tar" — H779 — Andy Irvine — Live at Foxrock Folk Club — 1971 • "Jacket So Blue" — H644 — Cara Dillon — A Thousand Hearts — 2014 • "John Mitchell" — Joe Heaney — Irish Songs In Gaelic And English — 1965 • Paddy Tunney — Ireland Her Own — 1966 • "Johnny and Molly" — H755 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Kellswater" — H695 — Andy Irvine — The Woman I Loved So Well — 1980 • "Loughinsholin" — H176 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Lovely Derry on the Banks of the Foyle" — H813 — Margaret Barry — Ireland's Queen Of The Tinkers Sings — 1960 • "Lovely Glenshesk" — H28a — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Mary and the Soldier" — H782 — Paul Brady — Andy Irvine/Paul Brady — 1976 • "Moorlough Mary" — H173 — Cara Dillon — A Thousand Hearts — 2014 • "Molly Bawn" — H114 — Seamus Ennis — World Library: Volume I - Ireland — 1955 • Mick Hanly — The 5th Irish Folk Festival — 1978 • "My Love Nell" — H49 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "Nights in Carrowclare" — H169 — Andy Irvine — Changing Trains — 2008 • "Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore" — Paul Brady — Welcome Here Kind Stranger — 1978 • Dolores Keane — Farewell To Éirinn — 1980 • "Pat Reilly" — Eddie Butcher — Shamrock, Rose and Thistle project — 1966 • Andy Irvine — The Well Below the Valley — 1973 • "Roger O'Hehir" — H486 — Andy Irvine — The Woman I Loved So Well — 1980 • "She's Like the Swallow" — H683 — Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "She Moves Through the Fair" — H141 — Margaret Barry — Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady — 1956 • "Spanking Maggie From The Ross" — H516 — Andy Irvine — Made in Cork — 1997 • "Streets of Derry" — Andy Irvine — Andy Irvine/Paul Brady — 1976 • Cara Dillon — After the Morning — 2005 • "Sweet Bann Water" — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • Andy Irvine — (Live at Róisín Dubh, Galway) — 2001 • "The Banks of the Foyle" — H2 — Cara Dillon — Wanderer — 2017 • "The Bonny Light Horseman" — H122a — Andy Irvine — High Kings of Tara — 1980 • "The Emigrant's Farewell" — H743 — Cara Dillon — Sweet Liberty — 2003 • "The Factory Girl" — H127 — Margaret Barry — Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady — 1956 • "The Faughan Side" — Eddie Butcher — Shamrock, Rose and Thistle project — 1966 • Cara Dillon — Wanderer — 2017 • "The Flower of Gortade" — H178 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976 • "The Flower of Sweet Strabane" — H224 — Margaret Barry — Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady — 1956 • "The Galway Shawl" — Margaret Barry — Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady — 1956 • Ged Foley — On the Fly — 2007 • "The Girl I Left Behind" — H118 — Andy Irvine — Way Out Yonder — 2000 • "The Green Fields of Amerikay" — H743 — Len Graham — Wind And Water — 1977 • "The Green Fields of Canada" — H743 — Paddy Tunney — The Man Of Songs — 1962 • Andy Irvine — Cold Blow and the Rainy Night — 1974 • "The Hare's Lament" — H12 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "The Hills of Donegal" — H196 — Margaret Barry — Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady — 1956 • "The Kilgrain Hare" — H12 — Andy Irvine — Cornerboys — 1996 • "The Lakes Of Pontchartrain" — H619 — Paul Brady — Cold Blow and the Rainy Night — 1976 • "The Lass of Glenshee" — H590 — Cara Dillon — Hill of Thieves — 2009 • "The Lion's Den" — H474 — Eddie Butcher — I Once Was A Daysman — 1975 • "The Lonesome Scenes of Winter" — H637 — Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "The Longford Weaver" — H745 — Andy Irvine — Rainy Sundays... Windy Dreams — 1980 • "The Maid of Culmore" — H687 — Cara Dillon — Cara Dillon — 2001 • "The Maid of Mourne Shore" — H27a — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "The Mountain Road" — H515 — Margaret Barry — The Blarney Stone — 1961 • "The Mountain Streams" — H32 — Eddie Butcher — I Once Was A Daysman — 1975 • "The Parting Glass" — H769 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — After Dawning — 1979 • "The Rambling Siúler" — H183 — Andy Irvine — After the Break — 1979 • "The Rocks of Bawn" — H139 — Seamus Ennis — World Library: Volume I - Ireland — 1955 • Joe Heaney — Irish Music in London Pubs — 1965 • Paul Brady — The Given Note — 1995 • "The Thatchers of Gleanrea" — H186 — Dick Gaughan — No More Forever — 1972 • "The Verdant Braes of Skreen" — H593 — Cara Dillon — Hill of Thieves — 2009 • "The Wild Colonial Boy" — H750 — Margaret Barry — Street Songs and Fiddle Tunes — 1957 • "The Yellow Bittern" — H830 — Joe Heaney — Come All Ye Gallant Irishmen — 1975 • Paddy Tunney — The Stone Fiddle — 1982 • "Thousands Are Sailing" — N/A — Eddie Butcher — I Once Was A Daysman — 1975 • Andy Irvine — Words & Music — 1983 • "Three Huntsmen" — Johnny Moynihan — Sweeney's Men — 1968 • Andy Irvine — Abocurragh — 2010 • "True Lover John" — H722 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976 • "Tumbling through the Hay" — H697 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976 • "When I Was a Bachelor" — H694 — Joe Holmes and Len Graham — Chaste Muses, Bards And Sages — 1976