Faith of Our Fathers (album)

Contents

Faith of Our Fathers (subtitled Classic Religious Anthems of Ireland)[1] is a compilation album of traditional Catholic/Christian English, Irish, and Latin hymns recorded by Irish artists in 1996.

The album topped the Irish Albums Chart for two months,[2] broke release records,[3] and was certified fifteen times-platinum.[4] The nineteenth-century hymn "Faith of Our Fathers" is the title track.

Origins

The album was the idea of a broker, John Kearns, working for Hibernian Insurance.[5][6] Funding included contributions from his coworkers.[7] Several labels turned Kearns down before Lunar records agreed to produce the album.[5]

Artists

The album was produced by Bill Somerville-Large and overseen by musical director John Tate.[6] Tenor Frank Patterson, soprano Regina Nathan, the Monks of Glenstal Abbey, youth choir RTÉ Cór na nÓg, and the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir made contributions to the album.[6][8] It was recorded over five sessions in venues that included the Aula Maxima at Maynooth College in County Kildare and Glenstal Abbey in County Limerick.[6]

Track listing

Legacy

With sales of over 150,000 copies,[5] the album was the biggest-selling release in Ireland in 1996,[1] and it became Ireland's biggest-selling album of all time by 1998.[9] Sales in Ireland stand at 200,000 copies as of November 1997.[10] It launched the recording career of Monks of Glenstal Abbey.[1] Peter Lennon compared its popularity to that of Riverdance.[2] The success of the record led the album's promoters to arrange concert performances in the Dublin's Point Depot and New York City's Carnegie Hall.[7][11][12]

A Faith of Our Fathers II album was released in 1997,[13] which inspired the name of Dustin the Turkey's Christmas album Faith of Our Feathers.[14]

References

  1. 1.[1.2][1.3]"Music news & notes: Chanting Monks". The Record. Bergen County, New Jersey. p. 67 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 2.[2.2]Lennon, Peter (27 November 1996). "Play it Again, Father". The Guardian – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 3.Pollak, Andy (9 November 1996). "A blast from a past of celebrity and grandeur". The Irish Times.
  4. 4."John Kearns – Extraordinary Venture, the Faith of Our Fathers Story (Book & DVD)". CDWorld.ie. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  5. 5.[5.2][5.3]Pogatchnik, Shawn (4 January 1997). "Religious CD tops Irish chart". Kokomo Tribune. p. 4. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  6. 6.[6.2][6.3][6.4]Stewart, Ken (9 November 1996). "Lunar Records Hymn Collection a Surprising Irish Hit". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 44, 49.
  7. 7.[7.2]Kearns, John (2006). Extraordinary Venture: The Faith of Our Fathers Story. Foreign Media Music. ISBN 9789087340025.
  8. 8.Taylor, Richie (19 December 1996). "'Miracle Singer' Frank's Thanks from Yanks". Irish Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019.
  9. 9.Faucher, Michael (23 November 1998). "Patterson's Irish tenor soars at Auditorium". Lowell Sun. Retrieved 31 May 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  10. 10.Stewart, Ken (29 November 1997). "Global Music Pulse – Ireland". Billboard. p. 51. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  11. 11.Allen, John (25 January 1997). "Faith of Our Fathers". The Irish Times.
  12. 12.White, Declan (19 January 1997). "The Biz; It's Ireland's Hottest Showbusiness". Irish Sunday Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019.
  13. 13."Faith of Our Fathers II: Classic Religious Anthems of Ireland". Discogs. 1997. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  14. 14.Murphy, Mary J (28 November 1997). "Country Music Scene". City Tribune (Connacht Tribune Galway edition). p. 10. Dustin's own album is currently available in the shops and is cleverly titled "Faith of Our Feathers" [..] but its contents are a world apart from the actual "Faith of Our Fathers II"