<P> In a chapter entitled "Richard Farrelly and The Isle of Innisfree" of his book Picture The Quiet Man, Professor Des MacHale wrote: </P> <P> "It is one of the finest and most beautiful melodies ever written, ranking in the opinion of many, right beside Danny Boy and no greater praise is possible . But its appeal is also timeless and international, expressing as it does the trauma of separation from one's birthplace and the ecstasy of returning to the physical soil from which one is sprung...But it is the sheer unanswerable beauty of the melody of Richard Farrelly's The Isle of Innisfree that makes the greatest impact and dwells so deeply in the memory . Here is music dripping with emotion, lush texture, brimming with nostalgia, and fitting so perfectly into the action of The Quiet Man that it could have been written with the movie in mind . No wonder John Ford jumped on it and named the village of Innisfree in its honour". </P> <P> "Isle of Innisfree" has been recorded by hundreds of artists worldwide, most notably Finbar Wright of The Irish Tenors, The Quiet Man Soundtrack CD (featuring The Dublin Screen Orchestra), Celtic Woman, Tommy Fleming, Bing Crosby, Sinead Stone and Gerard Farrelly (Legacy of a Quiet Man CD), RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Val Doonican, Sean Tyrell, The Cafe Orchestra, Phil Coulter, Joe Loss, Anne Shelton, Vera Lynn, Connie Francis, Eamonn Campbell, Norrie Paramor and his Orchestra, James McNally, Finbar Furey, Paddy Reilly, Frank Patterson, Daniel O'Donnell, Diarmuid O'Leary and the Bards, Josef Locke, Charlie Landsborough, Geraldo and his Orchestra, Bridie Gallagher, James Galway, John McNally, Jimmy Young, Victor Young and his Singing Strings, Carmel Quinn, the Dublin City Ramblers, Tony Kenny, Alec Finn, Victor Silvester, Brian Kennedy, Semprini, Sean Dunphy and Siobhan Owen to mention but a few . </P> <P> The first public performance of the song was at a social event in the St. Vincent De Paul Hall in Kells, Co . Meath on St. Patrick's Night 1950 . The "Isle of Innisfree" and "Seolta Bána" by Dick Farrelly were performed by Sinead Stone and Gerard Farrelly (Dick Farrelly's son) for Irish actress Maureen O'Hara at her induction into the Irish America Hall of Fame at the JFK Heritage Centre in New Ross, County Wexford, in July 2011 . In May 2012 they performed the "Isle of Innisfree" and other Dick Farrelly songs for President Michael D. Higgins at the George Bernard Shaw International Conference which took place in the National Gallery of Ireland . </P>

Who sang isle of innisfree in the quiet man
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