Dawn of the Day

Dawn of the Day is the English rendering of the Irish Gaelic title Fáinne Geal an Lae — literally "the bright ring of the day." The name actually covers two distinct Irish tunes: the first, composed by the harper Thomas Connellan in the 17th century; the second, a song in the Irish language published by Edward Walsh in 1847, later translated into English under the same title.

The Irish lyrics describe an aisling — a traditional poetic vision — in which the poet encounters a mysterious beautiful woman who reproaches him and points out the approaching dawn. The melody of the second tune is today known worldwide as the one to which the poet Patrick Kavanagh set his celebrated poem On Raglan Road.

The piece is often played as a march and is one of the first tunes that students of Irish music learn. Its melancholic, contemplative character — evoking the fragile stillness of daybreak — makes it a much-loved piece on both the uilleann pipes and the Highland bagpipe, where it is readily performed as a slow air or solemn march.