Sorcha Ní Ghuairim

Who was Sorcha Ní Ghuairim?

Sorcha Ní Ghuairim was a teacher, writer, and sean-nós singer.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the Ó Guairim family. There were 11 children in the family. Sorcha was the youngest. Sorcha was particularly well known as a singer. She joined her sister Máire Ní Ghuairim, in Dublin in 1928 and obtained a teaching post with Conradh na Gaeilge. She studied at UCG with Tomas O Maile. An active promoter of Irish, she wrote a column for The Irish Press which she later edited.

She recorded her first album, Sorcha Ní Ghuairim Sings Traditional Irish Songs, issued as Folkways Records FW06861, while visiting her brother in the USA in 1945.

She moved to England in 1955, apparently disillusioned with the future of the Irish language. She was found dead in her apartment in London, and buried in Carna on 24 December 1976.