Browse Content (338 total)
Gracie M. Parker, The
Sung here by Edward and Ruth Fitzgerald from Prince Edward Island in Canada, this song tells the story of a ninety-one-ton, two-masted schooner built in Massachusetts in 1869. According to Edward, the boat was based in Tignish, PEI, and it was…
Tigh an Cheoil
My good friend Ann Mulqueen, one of Ireland's wonderful traditional singers, composed 'Tigh an Cheoil'. Tigh an Cheoil, the great pub in An Rinn in County Waterford, should be on everyone's list of places to visit when looking for a good pint, great…
Savage Seas, The
I first heard this song many years ago, sung by Ed and Ruth Fitzgerald from Kildare, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The song tells the story of the seas surrounding the Island. Ed composed the song for a competition on the Island, but forgot about it…
Eochaill
My dear friend Ann Mulqueen, formerly of Castleconnell, County Limerick, and now living in An Rinn, the Gaeltacht area of County Waterford, is the singer on this track. Ann travelled throughout Ireland competing at Fleadhanna Ceoil, and she was much…
Old Man in the Hob
In this song, the old man sitting by the fireside calls his sons together to relate to them what it was like living and surviving in days gone by: true stories of tough times. Running somewhat parallel with the words of this song are words spoken to…
Lurgy Stream
The beautiful singing voice of All-Ireland Champion Rita Gallagher is once again heard on this track. The words of the song, and the others that she sang for the miscellany, appear courtesy of Rita. Thank you, my friend. More wonderful singing from…
Spancilhill
Spancilhill in east County Clare gives its name to this song which I first heard around 1958, sung by Robbie McMahon, who was himself from that very same neighbourhood. Robbie gave us his updated rendition during a wonderful afternoon of singing in…
O'Brien the Blacksmith
Another song from the pen of Robbie McMahon. I first heard him sing it at a County Clare Fleadh Cheoil over fifty years ago, and it has stayed with me down through the years. Robbie sang it again for me the afternoon that I visited his home in 2009,…
Mhaighdean Mhara, An
All-Ireland champion harpist and singer Pádraigín Caesar attended Boston College as a Fulbright Scholar, and we became great friends. When Sandy and I lived in Groton, Massachusetts, 'Paudi', as we called her, visited us on a number of…
Fleadh Down in Ennis, The
In 1956, Robbie McMahon from Spancilhill in County Clare composed this song about the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil held in Ennis that year. When it is sung today, it is a wonderful piece of musical history, as it is also a litany of the names of…
Gentle Mother
During those trips Mulhaire's Céilí Band made to Lixnaw and other towns in County Kerry in the 1960s (see 'Tart ar an Ól'), ballad singer Josephine McNamara was another artist who made the long journey – in her case from…
Shores of My Native Land
Rita Gallagher from County Donegal recorded this song for me in her own inimitable style over twenty years ago at an All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil. I have loved the song and Rita's masterful interpretation of it.
Sitting in the Window
When my wife Chrysandra worked in Washington, DC, we lived across the Potomac in Alexandria, Virginia. During the summer months while she was working I would play my fiddle all day. I wish I had that same energy now! The tune that I play on this…
West Limerick
Another tune recorded the evening that Sandy and I traveled to Ardagh, County Limerick, to Peadar's Pub to record the exciting music of accordionist Donie Nolan. This is also a tune that Donie played in concert during our musical tour of Australia in…
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…
Ned and Dan O'Connor
Another tune from the playing of Máire O'Keeffe. Ned and Dan O'Connor, two musicians from the Scartaglen area of Sliabh Luachra, were often heard playing this slide.
Maurice O'Keeffe's
I will be forever grateful to Máire O'Keeffe, the County Kerry-style fiddle player, for her enthusiastic response when I told her about the project I was about to undertake. Máire's reaction was loud and clear: she said to me, 'Come on…
Blue-Eyed Rascal, The
A tune not often heard is this set dance. I am grateful to Mr. Larry Redican Jr. for giving me permission to present his father's performance of it in this collection. I have fond memories of Larry Sr. playing it for me in my home when I lived in…
For Denis Moynihan
Dancing master Denis Moynihan, as he was known before he officially changed his name to its Irish version, Donncha Ó Muineacháin, was a popular teacher of Irish dance. He was known throughout Ireland for his choreography and repertoire…
Queen of the Faeries
I learned this set dance from the playing of Larry Redican. Its first few measures seem to be related to the melody of an old tune – also a set dance – called 'The King of the Fairies'. And so, 'here's me' (an old Irish expression)…