[1] Mícheál Ó Domhnaill co-founded the popular Irish traditional group The Bothy Band in 1974, along with Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Matt Molloy (flute and tin whistle), Paddy Keenan (uilleann pipes and tin whistle), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, and production), and his sister Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (harpsichord, clavinet and vocals).

The ballad writers set the song in the context of a troubled dream by Lady Jane Franklin, Sir John's widow.

[4] "Ar A Ghabháil Go Baile Átha Cliath Domh" tells the story of a man whose wife is carried off by fairies who leave in her place a changeling.

[3] In contrast to the "propulsive power and bracing brinkmanship" produced by the Bothy Band, the duo set off on a different musical path that one reviewer from the Irish Echo called "soulful finesse".

[3] Ó Domhnaill's guitar playing and Burke's Sligo-style Irish fiddling achieved a "relaxed vitality" through "compelling melodies, pulsing Sligo rhythms, intricate variations, and vocal perfection".