Seán McGuire - Irish Traditional Fiddling (1969)

320 kbps



Seán McGuire, Roger Sherlock & Josephine Keegan - Irish Traditional Fiddling (Outlet - SOLP 1002 - 1969)

One of the vast numbers of recordings made by the Ulster fiddle maestro and innovator Seán McGuire, and re-released on CD shortly before the collapse of the Outlet label in 2004. Here he is accompanied by the wonderful composer and piano accompanist Josephine Keegan, and as an added bonus there are two tracks by the sligo flute player Roger Sherlock. McGuire's classically-inspired style is not for everyone, but it is difficult to be entirely unimpressed by the sheer virtuosity of his technical prowess, and both McGuire and Sherlock are masters of the unexpected variation, bringing lovely innovations and surprising intervals to well-known tunes. This rip was made from what was obviously a much-played LP and subsequently the sound quality has deteriorated somewhat, generating a small amount of distortion in the upper frequencies.

1. Speed the Plough/Tom Ward's Downfall [Reels]
2. Reavy's/The Ravelled Hank of Yarn [Reels]
3. Casadh an tSugain (Twisting the Hay Rope) [Air]
4. Slievenamon [Hornpipe]
5. The Duke of Leinster/The Duke of Leinster's Wife [Reels]
6. The Boy in his Pants [Jig]
7. The Dairymaid/The Holy Land [Reels]
8. Jackie Coleman's/Roger's Fancy [Reels]
9. The Gold Ring [Jig]
10. Se Fearr Mo Mhuire [Air]
11. Andy McGann's/The Humours of Scarriff [Reels]
12. Mama's Pet/Mama's Pet [Reels]
13. The Banks [Hornpipe]
14. The Humours of Ennistymon/Brendan Tonra's [Jigs]

Forthcoming digital re-release...

Cathal McConnell & Robin Morton - An Irish Jubilee (1970)

320 kbps



Cathal McConnell & Robin Morton - An Irish Jubilee (Topic - 12T290 - 1976)


An unusual album from two of the original members of The Boys of the Lough, recorded in 1969, about two years before the band was formed. Many of the ballads have their origins in Ulster, home of both McConnell and Morton, who are from Fermanagh and Antrim respectively. This album, with arrangements of flute, concertina, whistle, voice and bodhrán, will not be to everybody's taste, but there are a number of fine songs, as well as many lovely tunes, the most interesting of which is 'The Blue Angel', a composition of the Belfast pianist Liam King, and a tune which has in recent years re-emerged as a session tune under the title of 'The Flying Crowbar'.

1. Nil se 'na La (It's Not Yet Day) [Air]/The Humours of Winnington [Jig]
2. The Hiring Fair at Hamiltownsbawn [Song]
3. Three out of One [Hornpipe/Jig/Reel]
4. Matt Hyland [Song]
5. The Dusty Miller/McDermott's [Slip Jigs]
6. On the Banks of a River Near Blackwatertown [Song]
7. McNamara's (Connie O'Connell's)/The Blue Angel (King's Fancy) [Jigs]
8. The Gauger's Song
9. Gather Round the Fire/Brereton's [Reels]
10. Mary from Murroogh [Song]
11. Tiocfaidh an Samhradh agus Fairsing Feir (Summer Will Come with Plenty of Hay) [Air]/Planxty Reynolds [Waltz]
12. Thousands are Sailing to Amerikay [Song]
13. Caoineadh Ui Dhomnaill (Lament for O'Donnell) [Air]
14. The Irish Jubilee [Song]/The Glass of Beer/The Longford [Reels]

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Julia, John & Billy Clifford - The Star of Munster Trio (1977)

320 kbps



Julia, John & Billy Clifford - The Star of Munster Trio
(Topic - 12TS310 - 1977)

Recorded between 1964 and 1976 this album features fiddler Julia Clifford, sister of Denis Murphy, her husband John on accordion, and their son Billy on flute. Much of it was recorded around a single microphone in Eric and Lucy Farr's kitchen, so the sound quality isn't brilliant, but the quality of the music shines through, and Julia Clifford's playing is, as always, a thing of beauty.

1. Dublin Porter/The Mountain Lark [Reels]
2. The Lark in the Bog [Jig]
3. The Mountain Road/Paddy Cronin's [Reels]
4. The Ballydesmond/The Knocknaboul [Polkas]
5. Boil the Breakfast Early/Bunker Hill [Reels]
6. The Red-Haired Boy [Air]
7. The Crooked Road to Dublin/The Clare [Reels]
8. Bill Black's/O'Donovan's [Hornpipes]
9. John Mahinney's (Old Joe's)/The Leitrim Fancy [Jigs]
10. Grandfather's Thought/Madam if you Please [Hornpipes]
11. The Chicago [Reel]
12. Napoleon's Retreat [Set Dance]
13. Connie the Soldier/The Humours of Glin [Jigs]
14. The Palatine's Daughter [Air]
15. Jim Mac's [Hornpipe]
16. Cherish the Ladies [Jig]
17. The Harlequin [Hornpipe]
18. The Old Bush/Within a Mile of Dublin [Reels]

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Mick Hanly - As I Went Over Blackwater (1982)

320 kbps



Mick Hanly - As I Went Over Blackwater (Green Linnet - SIF 3007 - 1982)

The second solo album from Mick Hanly, once again excellently produced by Dónal Lunny, and featuring a number of very well-known musicians from the traditional music scene of the 1970s and 1980s, including Andy Irvine (hurdy-gurdy & voice), Seán Hanly (bodhrán), Matt Molloy (flute), Noel Hill (concertina), Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Declan Sinnot (electric guitar), and Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, synthesizer & voice). It is, if possible, even better than Hanly's first album, and his voice is absolutely magnificent. Several songs are taken from the Penguin Book of Folk Ballads, while the melodies are Hanly's own, as is the well-known 'Jessica's Polka'. The jewel of the album, however, is Hanly's epic version of 'The Dewey Dens of Yarrow'. He recorded a version of this with Mícheál Ó Domhnaill on 'Celtic Folkweave', later made famous by the Bothy Band, but this shorter version makes little sense, and as a story is entirely meaningless. Hanly took a number of versions of this song from Child, and collated them to create a meaningful narrative, put to his own music. With Matt Molloy's lovely flute accompaniment, this is a hauntingly beautiful song, as is Hanly's version of 'As I Went Over Blackwater', learnt from his grandmother, whom, he says, 'still launches into this and other assorted fragments the minute the sherry bottle is taken from the press to make the Christmas cake'. On this track Declan Sinnot's slide guitar points the way towards Hanly's evolution into a successful American folk and country artist, and the move away from traditional Irish music altogether that came shortly after this album.



1. Jack Heggarty
2. The Guerriere and the Constitution
3. Every Circumstance
4. The Dewey Dens of Yarrow
5. Miss Bailey/Jessica's [Polka]
6. I Wish My Love Was a Red, Red Rose
7. Off to California/The Plains of Boyle [Hornpipes]
8. The Scourge of the Nation
9. As I Went Over Blackwater

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John McGreevy & Séamus Cooley - McGreevy & Cooley (1974)

320 kbps



John McGreevy & Séamus Cooley - McGreevy & Cooley (Philo - 2005 - 1974)

Séamus Cooley, brother of the better-known South-East Galway box player Joe, travelled with the Tulla Céilí Band in 1958 to Chicago, where he decided to remain, becoming a key figure in the Irish musical community of the city. There he met and played with Chicago-born John McGreevy, with whom he was to collaborate on this lovely unaccompanied album, recorded in 1974. There are a number of North Connaught tunes, and several sets from the 78 era, but the style of playing is more akin to the flowing sound of South-East Galway and North-West Clare than it is to the fiery and staccato style of Coleman country. The sound quality is impaired slightly by the hiss of the tape from which the rip was made, but on the whole it is reasonably good, and McGreevy's absolutely lovely playing in particular shines through.

1. The Broken Pledge/Julia Delaney [Reels]
2. Seán sa Ceo/Michael Preston's [Reels]
3. Jimmy Neary's/Jim Ward's [Jigs]
4. Down the Broom/The Gatehouse Maid [Reels]
5. Sliabh na mBan/Mo Bhuirnin Ban [Airs]
6. Seán Ryan's [Hornpipes]
7. Ginny's Favourite/The Bird in the Bush [Reels]
8. The Reel of Bogie
9. The Crooked Road to Dublin/The Moving Bog [Reels]
10. The Skylark/Roaring Mary [Reels]
11. The Plains of Boyle/The Boys of Bluehill [Hornpipes]
12. McGreevy's/Father Kelly's 2 [Reels]
13. The Lilting Banshee/The Butcher's March [Jigs[
14. Ownie Davy's/Money in Both Pockets [Reels]
15. Tim Maloney's/Cooley's [Reels]
16. The Chicago/Reidy's [Reels]
17. The Trip to Vermont [Hornpipe]

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Tommy Peoples - An Exciting Session with one of Ireland's Leading Traditional Fiddlers (1976)

320 kbps



Tommy Peoples - An Exciting Session with one of Ireland's Leading Traditional Fiddlers (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann - CL 13 - 1976)


Tommy Peoples' first commercial album, recorded live between October 1974 and January 1976. On several tracks there is a very quiet guitar accompaniment, provided by Finian de Brun, but much of the music is entirely unaccompanied, except for occasional outbursts from an understandably excited audience. The playing is truly magnificent, and while several sets will be familiar from other recordings Tommy made in the 1970s, the sheer exuberance and technical precision is rarely matched on any of his other albums. Particularly excelllent here are the versions of 'The Green Hills of Tyrol' and 'The Green Fields of Glentown', while 'Jenny's Welcome to Charlie' is an absolutely superb rendition, played with all the Donegal fire and brilliance for which Tommy Peoples so rightly became famous. Yet another wonderful recording that has yet to be re-released on CD. Unfortunately, due to spindle wear on the LP there is a small amount of tonal distortion on the last tracks of this rip.

1. Jackson's/The Oak Tree [Reels]
2. Port na bPúcaí [Air]
3. The Salamanca/Lucy Campbell [Reels]
4. Doctor O'Neill [Jig]
5. The Green Hills of Tyrol [Reel]
6. Mulqueeney's [Hornpipe]
7. Jenny's Welcome to Charlie [Reel]
8. Farewell to Ireland [Air & Reel]
9. O'Callaghan's/Galway Bay [Hornpipes]
10. The Green Fields of Glentown [Reel]
11. Bovaglies Plaid [Air]/The Highlander's Farewell [Strathspey]/The Boyne Hunt [Reel]
12. The Bank of Ireland/The Shaskeen [Reels]
13. The Geese in the Bog [Jig]
14.McCahill's/Danny Meehan's [Reels]

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The Mountain Top (1976)

320 kbps



The Mountain Top (Comhaltas Ceoltórí Éireann - CL14 - 1976)

Bobby Gardiner – Accordion
Roger Sherlock – Flute
Geordie Hanna – Voice
Vincent Broderick – Flute
Paddy Fallon – Bodhrán
Cáit Ní Chuis – Fiddle
Jim McGreevy – Accordion
Anne Mulqueen – Voice
Jim McKillop – Fiddle
Peter Carbery – Pipes
Kevin Taylor - Piano

A recording made by the musicians on the CCÉ tour of the USA in 1976. Unfortunately the production is entirely inadequate, and considerable wear on the LP from which the rip was made compounds the existing sound quality issues. However, there are some interesting selections, including three Vincent Broderick compositions played by the East Galway flute player himself, and a nice version of 'The Maid Behind the Bar' played by Antrim fiddler, Jim McKillop.

1. Bobby Gardiner – The Mountain Top/Sporting Nell [Reels]
2. Roger Sherlock – Tripping to the Well/The Kiss Behind the Door [Polkas]
3. Geordie Hanna – Caroline of Edinburgh Town [Song]
4. Vincent Broderick & Paddy Fallon – The Rainbow's End/The Crock of Gold [Reels]
5. Cáit Ní Chus – The Lament for Staker Wallace [Air]
6. Jimmmy McGreevy – The Musical Priest/The Concert [Reels]
7. Roger Sherlock & Paddy Falon – The Dairymaid/The Old Blackthorn/O'Keeffe's Plough/Callaghan's [Reels]
8. Jimmy McGreevy – The Old Grey Goose [Jig]
9. Céilí Band – Down the Broom/The Gatehouse Maid [Reels]
10. Anne Mulqueen – My Blue-Eyed Mountain Queen [Song]
11. Jim McKillop – Jimmy McBride's [Reel]
12. Vincent Broderick & Paddy Fallon – The Spider's Web [Jig]
13. Peter Carbery – The Chattering Magpie/Gerry Commane's Favourite [Reels]

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Mick Hanly - A Kiss in the Morning Early (1976)

320 kbps



Mick Hanly - A Kiss in the Morning Early (Mulligan - LUN 005 - 1976)


This is the first solo album from Mick Hanly, in my opinion one of the best and most under-rated interpreters of traditional songs of the entire 1970s Irish revival. All the songs are taken from Colm Ó Lochlainn's second book 'More Irish Street Ballads', with the exception of Hanly's own cracking little composition 'The Reluctant Pirate'. Hanly's sweet tenor is well reproduced with the aid of Dónal Lunny and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill's admirably crisp production, with his skill as a traditional singer made particularly apparent on the unaccompanied track 'Song of Repentance'. He is joined by a number of musicians crucial to the 1970s Irish revival, including Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Triona Ni Dhomnaill (harpsichord), Rick Epping (concertina), Peter Brown (pipes), Matt Molloy (flute), and of course Dónal Lunny (bouzouki).


1. Farewell Dearest Nancy
2. The Merchant's Daughter
3. My Johnny was a Shoemaker
4. Song of Repentance
5. Rosemary Fair
6. A Kiss in the Morning Early
7. An tSean Bhean Bhocht [Hornpipe]
8. The Verdant Braes of Screen
9. Cod Liver Oil
10. The Reluctant Pirate

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Paddy Carty & Conor Tully - Traditional Music of Ireland (1985)

Paddy Carty & Conor Tully with Frank Hogan - Traditional Music of Ireland
(Trad Ireland - TradCD 002 - 2009)

Although this doesn't technically qualify as a 'rare recording', it most certainly qualifies as ceol álainn. Originally released by GTD on cassette in 1989, this spellbinding album was recorded shortly before Paddy Carty's death, and it truly is one of the great flute and fiddle albums. Carty's flowing East Galway sound is perfectly complemented by Tully's rich and lyrical playing, and Hogan's mandola accompaniment is consistently tasteful and sympathetic. This really is an incredible recording of the rich, lonesome sound of East Galway, and I cannot recommend it enough.

You can listen to Carty & Tully play 'Molly Bawn & Ryan's Rant' on the Trad Ireland website, where you can also buy the album, direct from the manufacturers.

You can also hear them play 'Come West Along the Road', and buy the album from Custy's Music.

You can hear extracts from 'Ryan's Rant' and 'Brian O'Lynn' at Claddagh Records, where you can also buy the album.


In the USA it is possible to buy the album from Copperplate Distribution, and they provide extracts from the tunes 'Red Tom of the Hills', 'Dowd's Favourite', and 'Galway Bay'. Copperplate have also posted the CD liner notes, and reproduced a press review by Earle Hitchner, originally printed in The Irish Echo.

Another source to buy the album in the USA is Celtic Grooves, and you can also buy the album from Ossian USA.

Denis Doody - Kerry Music (1978)

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Denis Doody - Kerry Music (Mulligan - LUN 019 - 1978)

Denis Doody, born in Ballinahulla near Ballydesmond, was the grandson of the fiddler and contemporary of Pádraig O'Keeffe, Din Tarrant. He remembers hearing Pádraig O'Keeffe and Tom Billy play when he was a child, but it was the accordion that he picked up, largely teaching himself, and mostly playing alone. He emigrated to England when he finished school, settling in London until his return to Ireland in 1964, when he struck up acquaintance with Johnny O'Leary and Denis Murphy. These players were to influence his playing enormously as he returned to the music of his home region, though for ornamental intricacy and rhythmic deftness he is, in my opinion, unmatched within the old-style Sliabh Luachra accordion tradition. This absolutely cracking unaccompanied album speaks volumes of his sheer virtuosity and unrivalled lightness of touch.

1. Johnny Cope's/Din Tarrant's [Polkas]
2. The Glen Cottage/Baile an tSamhraidh [Slides]
3. Terry Teahan's/Cousins Delight [Polkas]
4. The Ballinahulla polkas
5. Nehyl's fiddle/O'Mahony's [Hornpipes]
6. The Scart/Going to the Well for Water [Slides]
7. The Priest/The Barna [Slides]
8. Denis Murphy's/Lacha Cross [Polkas]
9. The Munster/Kitty's Wedding [Jigs]
10. Well I Know What Kitty Wants/The Brosna [Slides]
11. The Tourniore Lass/Johnny O'Leary's [Polkas]
12. The Quarry Cross/Abbey's Green Isle [Slides]
13. The Lonesome Road to Dingle/The Man from Glauntaun [Slides]
14. The Green Cottage 1/The Munster Bank [Polkas]
15. Callaghan's/The Kaiser [Slides]
16. Johnny Cope [Hornpipe]
17. The Blackwater Polkas
18. The Gallant Tipperary Boys/This is My Love, Do You Like Her? [Slides]
19. Tureengarbh Glen/The green Cottage 2 [Polkas]
20. Box the Monkey/The House in the Glen [Jigs]
21. The Groves of Gneenveguilla/Jack Reedy's [Polkas]
22. Chase Me Charlie/Kiely Cotter's [Slides]
23. The Gullane/Jimmy Doyle's Favourite [Polkas]

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