Browse Content (35 total)
Ah, a Simple Little Yoke
When I visited the accordion master Finbarr Dwyer at his home in County Clare, he played this jig, which he had composed when he was about ten years old. Finbarr did not think too highly of the tune: he can be heard on the recording describing it…
Bird's Nest, The
Tina Lech, a former fiddle instructor at Boston College, performs this tune for all of us to hear. Tina learned the reel from a tape I gave to her of Larry Redican, the Dublin fiddle player who lived in New York. The tune's title was given to me by…
Bonnie Lass of Headlake, The
I first heard this tune played as a hornpipe by Paddy O'Brien with The Lough Gowna Céilí Band in the early 1960s. In fact, the tune was originally composed as a four-part march by Gordon MacQuarrie of Cape Breton. MacQuarrie, a noted…
Brian O'Kane's
I have a tape of a wonderful evening of music in the home of the Gavin family of Balbriggan, County Dublin, which includes this hornpipe played by Jimmy Keane from Chicago. I wanted to include the tune in this collection, so I phoned Jimmy to ask…
Bridge at Newtown, The
'The Bridge', as it was affectionately called, was home to Dinny O'Brien, concertina and fiddle player. It was also the home of accordionist Paddy O'Brien, my musical colleague in the 1960s and '70s. The bridge in question is on the road between…
Carraigín Ruadh
Another composer of fine tunes was fiddle and flute player Brendan Tonra from County Mayo, who immigrated to Boston around 1959. Brendan played this tune, one of his compositions, on a recording made in 1979 by the Boston branch of Comhaltas…
Celtic Lamb, The
This track comes from the CD To The Dance Floor, released in 2006 by a Rhode Island-based group called The Gnomes. Among its members is Phil Edmonds, the composer of this beautiful tune. Phil and I went to the same school in Killaloe, where we…
Con Cassidy's
This tune bears the name of noted fiddle player Con Cassidy, and it may well have been played as a single jig in his native County Donegal. There was no doubt about West Limerick accordion player Donie Nolan's interpretation of it as a slide. He…
Cornboy, The
When we were traveling throughout America on the first Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann tour of champion musicians, singers, and dancers in 1972, I had the great pleasure of playing this reel with fiddle player Paddy Glackin. Paddy…
Dan Sullivan's
America's foremost uilleann piper, Jerry O'Sullivan, learned this and a number of other tunes from recordings of Dan Sullivan and his band that I sent to him. Jerry recorded the tunes with the engineering expertise of Gabriel Donohue, himself an…
Danny Meehan's
Master fiddle player Danny Meehan from Donegal lived in London for many years. During his time there, Danny worked by day in the building trade. At night he would do what he liked best: he played his fiddle with his friends and colleagues, and in a…
Dunboyne Straw-Plaiters
The reel played here by Jerry O'Sullivan is another tune from the music of Boston's Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band. Nicky McAuliffe told me that the tune is in P.W. Joyce's collection, Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. Nicky, you are a walking…
First Slip, The
On that night in Ennis in the home of my brother Martin and his wife Pauline (see ‘John Egan’s’), I thought I had captured Kevin Crawford playing a slip jig called 'What Care I For The Minister?' However, in the confusion,…
Fly by Night
I first heard this hornpipe in the early 1960s, played by Mr. Kieran Kelly, a wonderful accordionist from near Athlone, County Westmeath. The tune has been recorded by a number of musicians and has been given different titles, including 'The Low…
Frank Quinn's
Accordion player, fiddle player, and all-around entertainer Frank Quinn lived in New York and recorded for a number of record companies in the 1930s. I heard this reel played by him on an old 78 RPM recording. Jimmy Noonan plays flute on this…
Going Home
I have known and admired the music of Eamon Flynn since 1957. Eamon, like myself, lived in Boston for many years, and we often played music together. When Eamon decided to move to the state of Vermont he began to compose some smashing tunes,…
Grandfather's Thought
This hornpipe from Julia, John, and Billy Clifford is played here for us by Shannon Heaton on flute. The tune may be found on an LP that the Cliffords recorded during their years in London, England, entitled The Star of Munster Trio, Music from…
Harvest Field, The
I had a scratchy old 78 RPM recording of a band from Boston and could barely identify the tune they were playing. I believe the person playing the accordion on the track was Billy Caples, a well-known Boston accordion player and teacher. I sent it to…
Humours of Ballyhaunis
The 'goings on' or happy and fun times in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, give this slip jig its name. I first heard the tune played by the talented musical Quinn family from New York. A version of the tune may be found in O'Neill's great collection of…
Jack Rowe's
Recorded by Seán Maguire, the celebrated master fiddle player, with Josephine Keegan on piano, as well as by Maeve Donnelly and Peadar O'Loughlin on their CD The Thing Itself. A version of this tune was given to Breandán Breathnach by…