Browse Content (297 total)
- Subject is exactly "Folk dance music--Ireland"
Night Above the Abbey, The
A tune composed by Sean Gavin when he was nineteen years old. The tune is in honour of good musical times that were had at the famed Abbey Pub in Chicago, a traditional music hub for many years. Sean plays his creation on flute (he is a…
David Grady's
I love slip jigs and I enjoy playing them. Patrick W. Joyce collected this one from David Grady, a flute player from Ardpatrick in County Limerick, but he did not get the tune's name. 'David Grady's' sounds good to me. Mr. Joyce's collection was…
Molly, Put the Kettle On
Joanie Madden gives us her interpretation of a tune I first learned from Larry Gavin. It also appears in O'Neill's 1001. I temporarily mislaid the recording Joanie made for me, so the tune almost didn't make it into this collection. I'm glad I found…
Johnny McGreevy's Own
A happy reel given to me in the early 1970s by Johnny McGreevy. Johnny told me it was the only tune that he composed and that he did not think too much of it. Brendan Bulger from Boston, Marty Fahey from Chicago, and Kathleen Gavin from Balbriggin…
Seán Óg
Another composition of Larry Nugent, who plays a reel named for one of his twin sons, Seán. The contribution of the boy's father and his grandfather, Sean Nugent Sr., to Irish music and culture will have a lasting impact. Let's hope that…
Laurel Martin's Jig
My musical colleague and friend Laurel Martin made this lovely tune. Laurel did not think highly of her composition, nor did she think it good enough for this collection. Laurel, I love your jig, as do many others who have heard it. Thanks for…
Green Mountain Boys, The
I first fell in love with this tune when I heard fiddle master supreme Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald from Cape Breton playing it on a recording. I had in my collection a tape of my friend, pianist Barbara MacDonald Magone, playing the jig in two…
Terry's Jig
Here we have another melody composed by the Grand Lady of New Brunswick fiddle music, Mrs. Matilda Murdoch. Its performer on this track, who once again gives Matilda's music a genuine Irish flavour, is none other than Maeve Donnelly.
Henry Savage's Favourite
I first heard this tune on a long-playing record titled Music from the Glens, featuring the musical Quinn family from New York. Mr. Louis Quinn, father of this talented family, was a fiddle player who came to America from South Armagh. Mr. Quinn…
Raven's Wing
This track comes to us through the generosity of its composers, fiddle player Donna Hébert and guitarist Max Cohen. It is track number two on their CD In Full Bloom. Donna writes: 'My father passed away in early March 2008 while our band was…
West End, The
I recorded Mrs. Galvin playing this hornpipe at a concert over fifty years ago in County Clare. Jerry O'Sullivan plays it on this track with a slightly different arrangement. This tune is sometimes attributed to the nineteenth-century Newcastle…
Tureencahill Polka
Another track from fiddle player Máire O'Keeffe. Her title for this tune refers to an area near Rathmore, County Kerry, famous for its music. Máire learned this polka from Sonny Riordan.
Ballina Lassies, The
I can picture Jimmy Noonan with his eyes closed and his shoulder going up and down as he plays this tune with accordionist Dan Gurney. When Jimmy moves like this playing his flute, it is a visible sign that he is 'in the groove', giving the music the…
Don't Get Me Anything
My friends from Winnipeg, Canada, Alice Bérubé and her sister Jeannine, visited with Sandy and me a few years ago. Both of them play fiddles and they enjoy getting together to talk, laugh, and play music. They meet once a year, as Alice lives on…
Johnson State Jig, The
Another tune that Eric Eid-Reiner played for me during that early morning recording session in Gasson Hall on the Boston College campus. Eric told me that he wrote the jig after listening to a lively session at Johnson State College in Vermont. The…
Vermont Jig, The
Another composition from the multi-instrumentalist Eamon Flynn from Mountcollins in County Limerick. Eamon moved from Boston to The Green Mountain State, Vermont, in 1987. His memories of the hills and fishing brooks of this beautiful state in New…
Old Wheels of the World (Johnny McGreevy's version)
Some of the lovely variations in Shannon Heaton's playing of this reel came from Johnny McGreevy, the Chicago fiddle master. They were given to Shannon by the one and only Liz Carroll, who also comes from that City by the Lake.
Bottle of Cop-On, A
An expression in Ireland when I was growing up was, 'Ah, cop-on', which means something like 'get with it'. Damien Connolly, my nephew, remembers the saying too, and he suggested the above title as a name for the composition which he plays on this…
Barney's Jig
This track comes to us courtesy of Kathleen Boyle from Glasgow. Kathleen recorded it in Donegal in 2011 in the county where her grandfather, the great Néillidh Boyle, lived. Kathleen carries on her grandfather's tradition of composing as she…
Just Because It's You
My dear friend Cindy Polo wrote this lovely tune in memory of her Dad. In her own words she tells us how it came to be: 'My first attempt at Irish fiddle playing was at a music camp in 2008, a violin novice, where I had the opportunity to learn from…