John Egan from County Sligo lived in Dublin, and he had a distinctive West of Ireland style of playing the flute. He and his musical colleagues formed a music club in that city, made up mostly of fiddle and flute players. John Egan's repertoire was much admired and he was most generous in passing these tunes to some of the younger musicians who played alongside him.

The reel played on this recording is named for him. It is played by flutist Kevin Crawford. Kevin had spent a few hours recording tunes for me in the home of my brother Martin and his wife Pauline in Ennis, County Clare. The tea was made, and we all sat down to listen to the recordings Kevin had just completed. Somehow, unfortunately, the digital recorder had been unplugged before the tracks could be saved (the electric kettle of course had needed to be plugged in and the water boiled!) with the sad result that every tune that Kevin had recorded was erased. I was so upset at the time, but the wonderful person that Kevin is just said, 'What harm, we'll do them again', and he did! Thanks, Kevin, for being so gracious and understanding.

P.S. It has come to our attention that the composer of this reel is Sligo flute player James Murray.

Crawford, Kevin (flute) 71291044

Séamus Connolly

Boston College Libraries

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