Irish Music

This section is about traditional Irish music. Below are some tunes in MIDI and gif format. It's the dance music that has been handed down aurally for four hundred years or more.

Traditional Irish music has fared rather better than the Irish language in surviving the English. Not only is it still played as a matter of daily life, it is still evolving and being written. I suppose traditional, in this case, refers to style and not age. This music is meant to be sung and meant to be danced. It is the dance music that carries the bulk of the tradition.

The music has several types based on time signature and rhythm. The major ones are Reels (4/4), Jigs (6/8), Hornpipes (2/4), Polkas (also called single reels, 2/4) and Slides (also called single jigs, 6/8). There are other types, not as common (though not necessarily less popular) such as Slip Jigs (9/8), Airs (songs), Waltzes (3/4), Set Dances (4/4), Planxtys and Mazurkas. So far as I've heard, the oldest forms tend to be the air and jig. The reel is a relative late comer, deriving from the French Quadrille.

Irish Music Midi

You may wish to see the picture only or the sound only list. For more about the technology used to web-enable music, try my list of ABC and MIDI resources. You may also download the abc files for the following music.

REELS

• Andy McGann's #42 Bunratty Reel - I learned this from a recording of Andy McGann. Classic McGann sort of tune.
• Bobby Casey's #1 - This really nice tune comes from Bobby Casey.
• Bobby Casey's #2 - Not far from Rock 'n Roll, if you ask me.
• Dowd's Favorite - This MIDI was made by Harold Doolan.
• Fahy's #1 - I first learned this from Kathleen Collins. Then I heard a recording of Paddy Fahy playing his original setting and adopted most of it.
• Fahy's #2 - I got this one from a recording of Paddy Fahy.
• Jenny's Chickens
• Kerry Reel - I think I learned this from Brian Conway.
• Merry Blacksmith
• Roll Out the Barrels - This driving reel comes from the playing of Paddy Canny and P. J. Hayes. It is often played with the Tap Room. Some think they are the same tune.
• The Tap Room - This tune is often played with Roll Out the Barrels, above. It comes from Paddy Canny and P. J. Hayes. This setting was influenced by the playing of Kathleen Collins.
• Timour the Tarter - This MIDI was made by Harold Doolan.
• Tuttle Reel - This moody setting comes from Bobby Casey. I usually pair it with Mother's Lament.
• Up To Your Knees In Sand - This also comes from Bobby Casey.
• Woman of the House

JIGS

• Carmen's Amber - I learned this from a recording of Andy McGann
• Castlecomer - This wistful tune came from Paddy O'Brien by way of Maureen Glynn. According to Maureen, he was dying in the next room and this was in a stack of handwritten sheet music on his kitchen table.
• Clare Jig - From Kathleen Collins. Smooth Clare tune.
• Connaught Man's Rambles - This MIDI was made by Harold Doolan.
• Cook in the Kitchen - I got this from Jimmy Devine who got it (I think) from Tim Britton the piper.
• Crehan's #83 - Junior Crehan is a great tune-smith from Coor in Clare. I had the privilege of sitting in with his band at a place called The Crosses of Annaugh not far from Coor in 1978.
• Grouse on the Hill - Another Paddy O'Brien tune, found by Maureen Glynn on O'Brien's kitchen table.
• The Kerry Jig - A nice lilting sort of tune.
• Mist Covered Mountain - I learned this from Junior Crehan, in the original key.
• Morrison's Jig - I think I first learned this from Jim Collins. The setting has changed over time.
• The Orphan - Parts one and three of this overcast tune come from Kathleen Collins, the sister of Dan Collins who started Shanachie Records. Play it behind Kevin Burke's six part Strayaway Child and your audience will be either in tears or asleep.
• In Search of Love - The mood suggests it was a long search.
• Washerwoman - From several sources, mostly from a tape of Paddy Fahy.

SLIP JIGS

• Comb Your Hair and Curl It - From the Chieftains. I love this one.
• Boys of Ballysodare - I learned this from Katherine Collins. Bright and perky. This is sometimes called a hop jig.
• The Butterfly - It does sound like the flight of a butterfly. Written by Tommy Potts but learned from a Bothy Band album.

HORNPIPES

• Fairies' Hornpipe
• Staten Island Hornpipe - This MIDI was made by Harold Doolan.

POLKAS

• Battle of Aughrim - This MIDI was made by Harold Doolan.

SLIDES

• Cat's Rambles to the Child's Saucepan - This perky slide comes from a recording of Johnny Cronin
• Leprechaun - From the same recording as the Cat's Rambles by Cronnin.