Eithne (opera)

For the Irish female name, see Eithne.

Cover of the first edition publication of Eithne (1910)

Eithne, also known as Éan an Cheoil Bhinn (The Bird of Sweet Music), is considered by many critics to be the first full-scale opera written and performed in the Irish language. It was written by English/Irish composer Robert O'Dwyer.

The opera, based on an Irish-language libretto written by Galway Reverend Thomas O'Kelly, covers two acts and includes in its complex plot the presence of stepbrothers, a divine descent to earth and the transformation of a queen into a bird.[1]

  1. ^ Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquiem, volumes XXIV and XXV. Harvard University Press. 2009. p. 46. ISBN 9780674035287. Retrieved 18 April 2020.