Michael Dwyer - Traditional Music of Ireland (1975)

320 kbps



Michael Dwyer - Traditional Music of Ireland
(Silver Hill Records - PSH 102 - 1975)

Recorded on his brother Finbarr's Silver Hill label, this is a lovely EP of Irish music played on the simplest of instruments by Michael Dwyer, and accompanied very tastefully by Kevin Taylor on piano. There was considerable wear on the record, so there are some intrusive artefacts here and there, but this is a lovely recording of a great player, and it's well worth a listen. Sadly Michael died tragically a number of years ago, and there is very little of his sweet whistle playing left behind. There is a short clip of Michael's playing which you can watch here.

1. Richard Dwyer's/Seán Sa Cheo [Reels]
2. The Sunshine [Hornpipe]
3. The Flax in Bloom/The Castle [Reels]
4. The Laurel Tree/Speed the Plough [Reels]
5. The Kid on the Mountain [Slip Jig]
6. The Heather Breeze/The Chattering Magpie [Reels]

Paddy Cronin - The Rakish Paddy (1975)

320 kbps



Paddy Cronin - The Rakish Paddy (Fiddler Records - FRLP 002 - 1975)

Recorded by Frank H.Ferrel in September 1975, this is an exceptionally rare (and now ridiculously expensive) recording of the famous Sliabh Luachra fiddler and flute player Paddy Cronin. He is joined on the record by Mary Irwin, who provides unexceptional vamped piano accompaniment, in accordance with the standards of the day. Nonetheless, it's a nice record, with solid fiddling from an exceptional player. The highlight of the album for me is probably Paddy Cronin's unique rendition of the Maid Behind the Bar, which he calls the Haymaker Reel. It's closely related to the variant of the Maid commonly played in C major, which is known as Jimmy McBride's. There is a nice clip of Paddy playing the East Kerry reel, The Girls of Farranfore, which you can watch here, and another where he plays The Girl Who Broke my Heart here.

1. Lucy Campbell [Reel]
2. The Humours of Ennistymon [Jig]
3. Eleanor Kane's/The Teetotaller [Reels]
4. Jenny's Welcome to Charlie [Reel]
5. The Glen Allen [Reel]
6. The Ballydesmond/Denis Murphy's [Polkas]
7. The Haymaker [Reel]
8. Drops of Brandy [Slip Jig]
9. The Drunken Sailor [Hornpipe]
10. The Green Fields of America/The Short Grass [Jigs]
11. Killaghbeg House [Reel]
12. The Bunch of Keys/The Steampacket [Reels]
13. Scully Casey's [Jig]
14. The Girls of Farranfore (The Game of Love ) [Reel]
15. The Congress [Reel]
16. Reavey's/The Old Maid at the Spinning Wheel [Jigs]
17. Crabs in the Skillet [Jig]
18. Tobín's Favourite [Jig]
19. Rakish Paddy [Reel]
20. The Gold Ring [Jig]
21. The Braes of Auchtertyre [Reel]

Lucy Farr - Heart and Home (1991)

128 kbps



Lucy Farr - Heart and Home (Veteran - VT 123 - 1991)

A very tasteful unaccompanied recording of the brilliant Ballinakill fiddle player Lucy Farr, released to coincide with her 80th birthday. She is joined on several tracks by a concertina player, probably Roly Brown, who recorded the album. He also wrote a long and interesting article describing Lucy Farr's life and musical influences, which you can read here.

There are also a number of interviews with Lucy Farr which have been preserved in the Sound Archive of the British Library, which you can listen to here.

Reg Hall recorded Lucy Farr playing a number of tunes, which are also preserved in the British Library Sound Archive. They can be downloaded as a single file here. Many thanks to BS for putting this together (and, of course, the hard-working and wonderful people at the Sound Archive itself).

1. Within a Mile of Dublin [Reel]
2. John Naughton's/John Blessing's [Jigs]
3. Sliabh Aughty [March]
4. The Fisherman's Lilt (The Kerryman's Daughter) [Reel]
5. The Regent (The Boys of the Town)/The Killimor [Jigs]
6. Paddy Fahey's [Reel]
7. Packie Byrne's [Jigs]
8. Gan Ainm [Fling]
9. The Kilnamona [Barn Dance]
10. Frank Downey's [Hornpipe]
11. Stepping Stones/McShane's Rambles [Jigs]
12. Lucy Farr's [Reel]
13. Paddy Fahey's [Jig]
14. The Pullet and the Cock (Drag Her Round the Road) [Reel]
15. The Ballinakill [Polka]
16. Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine/Tomgraney Castle [Hornpipes]
17. Andy Davy's [Reel]
18. Pat McMahon's [Jig]
19. The Hunter's Purse/The Hare's Paw [Reels]
20. Sonny Comer's [Fling]
21. Terry Teahan's/Gan Ainm [Polkas]
22. McGovern's [Reel]
23. Martin Kirwan's [March]
24. Pat Burke's [Jig]
25. The Ragged Hank of Yarn/The Maids of Mitchellstown [Reels]

Once again I have used a piece by the wonderful painter Jane Ridout for the album cover. Her paintings of a number of traditional musicians are quite exceptional, and they are available to view here.

Fluters of Old Erin (1990)

48 kbps



Various Artists - Fluters of Old Erin: Flute, Piccolo & Whistle Recordings of the 1920s & 30s (Viva Voce - 002 - 1990)

1. John McKenna & Michael Gaffney
2. Gardiners' Sligo Traditional Trio
3. Tom Morrison & John Reynolds
4. Tom Morrison & John Reynolds
5. Stephen Moloney & Tommy Whelan
6. Tom Doyle & Michael Cashin
7. Peter Guinan
8. Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band
9. The Rosaleen Quartet
10. William Cummins
11. Paddy Finlay & Michael Coleman
12. The Fingal Trio
13. John Sheridan and His Boys
14. John Sheridan and His Boys
15. Tommy Breen
16. Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band

A series of 78 recordings from the 1920s and 1930s, put together and released on cassette by Harry Bradshaw in 1990. Unfortunately, the bit-rate here is ridiculously low, so modern compression artefacts detract from the already technologically limited sound quality. Nonetheless, it's a valuable recording, and a great source for anybody interested in the sound of traditional Irish music in the United States during this period. There is some lovely playing here, and great techniques that have long-since ceased to be used by most traditional Irish musicians. Be prepared for typical 1930s piano accompaniment...

The cover features an old photograph of John McKenna and Michael Gaffney.

1. The Five Mile Chase/The Duke of Leinster [Reels]
2. The Cork/The Quarrelsome Piper [Hornpipes]
3. The Sweet Flowers of Milltown/The Boys from Knock [Schottisches]
4. The Dunmore Lassies/The Manchester/The Castlebar Traveller [Reels]
5. The Pipe On The Hob [Jig]
6. The Kerry/The Shannon Shores [Reels]
7. Off To California/The Liverpool [Hornpipes]
8. My Darling Asleep/Yesterday Morning [Jigs]
9. The The Newport Lass/The Hag With The Money [Jigs]
10. Dwyer's [Hornpipe]
11. Lord McDonald/Miss McGuiness [Reels]
12. Brian Boru's/The Return From Fingal/Brian the Brave [Marches]
13. Bradley's Favourite [Reel]
14. The Black Rogue [Jig]
15. Eileen [Set Piece]
16. The Blackberry Blossom/Bonnie Kate [Reels]

Joe Heaney & Gabriel O'Sullivan -Joe & the Gabe (1979)

320 kbps



Joe Heaney & Gabriel O'Sullivan - Joe & the Gabe: Songs and Music of Galway
(Green Linnet - SIF 1018 - 1979)

Recorded by Peter Bellamy in 1979, this raw, unaccompanied album features songs by Joe Heaney (Seosamh Ó hÉanaí) and tunes by Gabriel O'Sullivan, known affectionately as the Gabe, on whistle, flute and fiddle. The Gabe was from Headford in East Galway, and he first learned his music from Tommy Coen, a fellow East Galway musician, when he went to work in Galway City. He later became interested in the Ballinakill style of flute playing, listening to 78s of the Ballinakill Céilí Band, and the flute playing of Tommy Whelan ('the greatest flute player of all from Ballinakill') and Stephen Maloney in particular. Gabe's flute playing, with its punchy, breathy attack, contrasts dramatically with the unbroken flow of the music of Paddy Carty, who might be considered the most famous exponent of the East Galway style of flute playing. The Gabe's personal style seems to have come from the old Ballinakill players:

Indeed it was the flutes that made them so special. Their breath control, their fingering, their timing, but above all they employed a very hard way of blowing, which, honest to God, the modern players now haven't a clue about. They always blew a very, very hard low D and went up to their tune from that, and the living echo of that hard D was right through their music. There's very few people outside of East Galway I've heard able to do this, and indeed nobody these days even tries. So that's it - the music shaped my being. It's my whole reason for existing.

Joe Heaney, or Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, came from Carna in West Connemara, a place where few could afford musical instruments, and where music was more often expressed in song. Heaney learned many of his English songs from his father, also a fine singer, and his Gaelic songs from his cousin Colm Keane, from whom Séamus Ennis is said to have collected no less than 280 songs.

You can watch a short video of Heaney singing the comic song Cúnla here.

1. Jack Coughlin's Favourite [Reel]
2. The Gabe's Miss McLeod [Reel]
3. The Widow from Mayo [Song]
4. The Duke of Leinster/The Kylebrack Rambler [Reels]
5. My Blessing on the Big Jug and it Full [Air]
6. Amhrán Muiginse (The Song of Mynish) [Song]
7. Whelan's [Jig]
8. The Lady on the Island [Reel]
9. The Banks of the Sweet Dundee [Reel]
10. Mama's Pet [Reel]
11. The Pipe on the Hob [Jig]
12. Martin Wynne's 2 [Reel]
13. Skibbereen [Song]
14. The Shaskeen [Reel]
15. Dónal Óg [Air]
16. Badoinn Tir Niad (The Teer Nee Boatman) [Song]
17. The Carraroe [Reel]
18. The Belles of Tipperary (The New Policeman) [Reel]
19. The Bogs of Shanaheever [Song]
20. The Green Blanket [Jig]

Paddy Cronin - Kerry's Own (1977)

256 kbps



Paddy Cronin - Kerry's Own (Outlet - OAS 3002 - 1977)

Paddy Cronin: Fiddle
Shea Walker: Guitar
Gogey McCullough: Bodhrán

A classic recording from the Outlet Records stable, featuring Gneevegullia native and Boston immigrant Paddy Cronin, brother of Johnny Cronin. The bodhrán accompaniment is a little wild and obtrusive but, thankfully, it was recorded on a separate channel, so it has been possible to remove it from the mix. Therefore both the original recording, and a version without the bodhrán accompaniment, are available for download. The latter is a few cents lower in pitch than the original recording.

Many thanks to BS for providing the manipulated version of the recording.

1. The Girl Who Broke My Heart/Tom Steele [Reels]
2. The Frieze Breeches [Jig]
3. Biddy Mickey's/The Drunken Sailor [Hornpipes]
4. Apples in Winter/The Trip to Galway [Jigs]
5. Jenny's Welcome to Charlie [Reel]
6. This is My Love, Do You Like Her? [Single Jig]/The Pipe on the Hob [Jig]
7. Tom Billy's (The Ballydesmond)/Din Tarrant's [Polkas]
8. The Boys of Cunnamore/Billy McCormick's [Jigs]
9. The Bashful Batchelor/Reavy's [Hornpipes]
10. Dowd's 9/Kennaw's [Reels]
11. Farewell to Ballinahulla/The Kilkenny [Jigs]
12. The Mullingar Races/The Humours of Newcastle [Reels]
13. The Maids of Mount Cisco [Reel]
14. The Kid on the Mountain [Slip Jig]

Youtube Channel

The blog now has a related Youtube channel, where I'm uploading some video clips of traditional Irish music which haven't been posted previously. I'm also replacing a few of my favourite Youtube clips with slightly better quality versions than those already posted. The videos found in the Artist Index & Video Vault will also be featured in the channel's Favourites section.

Clips just added include:

Donncha Ó Brian: Ní ar Chnoc nó ar Ísleacht [Air]/Finbarr Dwyer's [Reel]

Conal Ó Gráda: The Eavesdropper/Strop the Razor [Jigs]

Tommy Peoples: The Laird of Drumblair [Strathspey]

Michael Gallagher: The Jug of Punch/The Blockers [Reels]

Con Curtin: Off in the Morning [Reel]

Arty McGlynn: Peter Byrne's Fancy/Creeping Docken [Jigs]

Conor Tully, Seán Casey & Frank Hogan: The Pigeon on the Gate/The Drogheda Lasses [Reels]

Francie & Mickey Byrne - Ceol na dTéad (1992)

320 kbps



Francie 'Dearg' & Mickey 'Bán' Byrne - Ceol na dTéad: Traditional Irish Music Played on the Fiddle from Donegal (Cló Iar-Chonnacht - CIC078 - 1992)

A raw blast of fiddle music from the Byrne brothers of Kilcar, County Donegal, probably recorded some time in the late 1970's, shortly before Mickey passed away. There are hardly any sets here, only individual tunes, and the sound quality is that of a field recording, not a studio album. A little gem of pure Donegal fiddle music from an earlier age.

You can watch Francie Dearg playing Dinky Dorrian's Reel with Peter Carr here.

Some of the names are a little suspect, and any help in identifying those that have gone astray would be appreciated.

1. Franc a'Phoill [Jig]
2. Donegal Castle [Hornpipe]
3. Seán Ó Laidin (Danny Meehan's) [Reel]
4. Ríl Sheáin Parnell/An Cailín Rua [Reels]
5. Dúlamán na Binne Buí [Highland]
6. Jenny Rocking the Cradle [Reel]
7. Máire Mhaitiú [Air]
8. Gan Ainm [Hornpipe]
9. Gan Ainm [Reel]
10. The Scolding Wife [Reel]
11. Toss the Feathers [Reel]
12. O'Rourke's [Reel]
13. Clúine Meallta [Air]
14. Lough Isle Castle [Reel]
15. The Gravel Walks [Reel
16. Ríl Phadaí 'n Atharaigh [Reel]
17. The Oak Tree [Reel]
18. Nell's [Hornpipe]
19. The Dublin [Reel]
20. Limerick House [Reel]
21. Master Crowley's (Miss Patterson's Slipper) [Reel]
22. Stirling Castle [Strathspey]
23. Agnes Campbell [Strathspey]
24. Dinky Dorrian's [Reel]
25. The Glory [Reel]
26. An Bunnán Buí [Air]
27. Hudi Gallagher's [March]

Download

Riches of Clare (2009)

320 kbps



Riches of Clare (Clare Arts Office - 2009)

Recordings from the 2009 Riches of Clare free lunchtime concerts, put together for a free CD which was handed out at the Riches of Clare concerts, and in libraries throughout County Clare earlier this year. It features brilliant playing, predominantly from Clare musicians, as well as a number of musicians from further afield. Hopefully recordings from the equally brilliant 2010 series will be available next year.

1. Maeve Donnelly, Geraldine Cotter, Charlie Harris & Conal Ó Gráda -
The New Mown Meadow/The Dublin/The Steampacket [Reels]
2. Chris Droney, Michael Kelleher, Francis Droney and Aine McGrath -
The Little Stack of Wheat/The Flowing Tide [Hornpipes]
3. Colm Healy, Eric Healy, Kieran Hehir and Seánie McGrath -
Martin Wynne's/Tom Ward's Downfall/The Silver Spear [Reels]
4. Kevin Griffin, Eoin O'Neill & Quentin Cooper -
The Green Mountain/The Humours of Westport/The Bucks of Oranmore [Reels]
5. Paul Madden, Maria O'Donnell, Sinéad Heagney & Eimear Howley -
Fergal O'Gara's/The Duke of Leinster/The Cameronian [Reels]
6. John Moloney, Elaine Hogan, Sheila Garry & John Kelly -
Kiss me Kate/Mayor Harrison's Fedora/Liz Carroll's [Jigs]
7. Shane Mulvey, Siobhán Peoples, Murty Ryan & Martin Dermody -
Pat Mahon's/I Was Born for Sport/The Miller's Maggot [Jigs]
8. Tony Linnane, Jim O'Connor, Mick Conneely & Johnny McDonagh -
The Wind that Shakes the Barley/The Reel with the Beryl [Reels]
9. Eimear Arkins, Damien O'Reilly, Brian O'Loughlin & Keith O'Loughlin -
The Enchanted Lady/The Shaskeen/The Sailor's Bonnet [Reels]
10. Seán Vaughan, David sanders, Eddie Moloney & Ian Lambe -
Lucy Campbell/The Green Gates/The Duke of Leinster's Wife [Reels]
11. Éamonn Cotter, Conor McCarthy, Oisín MacDiarmada & Padraic O'Reilly -
The Yellow Tinker/Tim Moloney's [Reels]
12. Kieran Kissane, Edel Vaughan, Brian Mooney & Liam O'Flanagan -
Jim Donoghue's/The Ashplant [Reels]
13. The Kilfenora Céilí Band - Ward's [Marches]
14. Pádraig Rynne, Noel O'Donoghue, Brian Mooney & Liam Murphy -
Connolly's/The Chattering Magpie/Martin Ainsboro's [Reels]
15. Karol Lynch, Cyril O'Donoghue, Samantha Morris & Mickey Dunne -
The Limerick Lasses/Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel [Reels]

Download

False Alarm...

Every day since I received my first takedown notice, I sent an email to IFPI requesting that they specify exactly which link generated the Copyright Complaint Notice so I didn't re-post it in ignorance and receive yet another blast of fiery denunciation from the upright folks at Blogger (the takedown notice is actually very polite). I received the following response:

'Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your emails. We have now investigated the matter internally and it appears that, despite our earlier good faith belief, the video does not infringe our members rights. We have informed Google accordingly.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Yours Faithfully

IFPI Notices'

Apology accepted gratefully. Thank you, nice IFPI people. It really is appreciated...

DR

(I did wonder why, of all the material I've posted, a link to a Youtube video should incur the wrath of those most legitimate opponents of the dubious right to copy...)