LUKA BLOOM: "There is nothing more pure in music than friends coming together to create, perform and record music and songs. It is the creative department in community. The Diviners are very good at it. I love it when I can feel the bond in the music."

THE DIVINERS new single release ‘THE MAN BRANSFIELD’ was written to commemorate Edward Bransfield, the largely forgotten Cork man who discovered the Antarctic continent.

“It feels good to play a small role in a big story.

A story that begins in 1803 with a young man called Edward Bransfield press-ganged off the deck of his father's fishing boat in Cork Harbour by the British Navy.
A story that sees him, against all odds, rise through the ranks and go on to discover the Antarctic continent.
A story that saw him die in obscurity, his achievements forgotten and uncelebrated.

Until now.”

Composed by band member Ciarán Ruby, it is a modern-day folksong rooted in tradition. Beginning with soaring uilleann pipes, it follows Bransfield as he is press-ganged from home in 1803, to his discovery of Antarctica in January 1820.

The accompanying unique video for the song was shot at the beginning of March, just before lockdown, in Roches Point Lighthouse, high above the waves at the mouth of Cork Harbour.

If Bransfield’s story is, amongst many other things, a tale of triumph over adversity, then it is also one of hope. In these fearful and uncertain times, it may also stand as testament to the resilience of the human spirit.