Included here are short biographies and the familial connections among the singers recorded by Hugh Shields for Shamrock, Rose & Thistle.  For photographs of the performers see the accompanying image gallery.

Tom Anderson

Lower Road, Clooney; born in the last years of the nineteenth century, recorded 1969, 1975 in Deighan’s lounge. His wife Nelly also sang (Index: ‘Banks of the Bann’, ‘Distressed maid’, ‘Mary Acklin’) and his daughter is Annie Sweeney. Tom sings a variety of songs in good traditional style – often convivial ones, and some fairly modern sentimental songs. His style is vigorous and distinctive, with marked and often unusual phrasing, notably in ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ (no 70), a fragment learnt from Sarah Sweeney. Nos 17 (frag.), 30, 32, 60, 64, 70, 71M.

Charlie Begley

Magilligan; briefly met and recorded in Eddie Butcher’s house in 1961; then in his late fifties, unmarried, now dead some years. A singer with, probably, a small repertory, modest in style, using some progressive rallentando and occasional glottal vibrato. No 14.

Eddie Butcher

Aughil Crossroads; first met in circumstances described above. Born 1900, married about 1933: see Gracie Butcher. Died 1980. Their two sons and three daughters are all married and live in Magilligan, Limavady, Articlave and Coleraine; they do not seem to sing Eddie’s traditional songs, but for mention of Eveline see Gracie Butcher. John, the younger son, is married to a daughter of Mick and Lizzie O’Hara. Eddie had a big repertory, contributed thirty-six of our eighty published renditions and sang me full or partial versions of twenty-four of the forty-four others. In 1953-4 regularly and in 1955 briefly I noted about sixty song texts and melodies in MS sung in his house mainly by himself. I recorded him there and in Downhill in 1961; at home, 1964; at home and in Dublin, 1966, 1968; at home, 1969, 1970, 1975; in Dublin, 1975; at home, 1977, 1979.

Eddie provided pertinent comment on song, and was an excellent guide to the district and its other singers. He had a robust voice produced with considerable tension, slurring, and fine control of pitch not only giving good intonation but allowing a change down to a lower key while singing if he found the high notes a strain (see p.28). He used moderate melodic embellishment, with expressive glottal vibrato, and introduced regular nasality by replacing or supporting plosives by nasals.

Eddie was a farm labourer in his youth and a road worker in later life. Some of his own compositions reflect his experience: Index, ‘Anglers on the Roe’, ‘Bureau’, ‘Concrete mile’, ‘Down by the drainside’ (a single verse), ‘Longfield bank’, ‘Magilligan Gaelic team’, ‘Myroe floods’, ‘New Mallard bar’, ‘New tractor’, ‘Point fair’, ‘Roe bridge’, ‘Smuggler’, ‘Walling of the men’. For text added to existing songs see ‘Carrowclare’ (no 13), ‘Close of an Irish day’ (no 14) and ‘The Trader’ (no 68).

From 1966 he sang frequently on radio from Dublin and Belfast and his songs have been published on discs: Butcher 1–4, Folk ballads. Nos 1–3, 4B, 5D, 6–7, 8M frag., 10Z, 13B, 14B, 15H, 16A, 17, 19, 20Y frag., 21–4, 25A frag., 26–9, 30B, 32CD with others, 35 frag., 36, 37C frag., 38, 39A, 41, 42B, 43I frag., 44, 45F, 46, 48D frag., 50–1, 52D frag., 53–4, 56, 57D, 58, 59A, 60C, 61–3, 64D frag., 66, 67F, 68–9, 71, 73–4.

Gracie Butcher

Née Carr, Aughil crossroads; wife of Eddie (above). Gracie knows many of Eddie’s songs and has occasionally been prevailed on to sing in special circumstances: our examples show her in duet with Eddie (no 23) and, illustrating a children’s game song (no 65D), with her daughter Eveline.

Jimmy Butcher

Near old Railway Station, Limavady; born 1913, married; recorded at his home in 1966. Youngest of the Butcher brothers, he seems to have a smaller repertory than the others. His eldest brother Robert (below) was perhaps a model for him; Jimmy’s voice is sweet and his style gentle, with moderate embellishment of melody, slurring, and marked syllabic on- and off-glides. Nos 5, 25B.

John Butcher Senior

Drumavally; recorded there in 1969 and at his brother Eddie’s home, 1966, 1969; died in 1973 aged about seventy. John’s wife Maria and his daughter Mary Ellen also sang for me (below) and I have recorded a snatch from his son Christopher (no 32G). John seemed to have a large repertory, including many of his father’s songs common to Eddie. He sang in a full voice with well-marked rhythm, fine intonation, and interesting and varied melodic embellishment. Nos 5F, 15–6, 30C, 32C with others, 39, 48, 53 with others, 57 with Eddie, 67, 71L; cf. 55,66.

John Butcher Junior

Ballysally, Coleraine; younger son of Robert (below), recorded in his uncle Eddie’s house, 1969; then in his late forties and living in Downhill, Dunboe. John has a powerful voice, with good intonation and little embellishment, somewhat influenced by popular music of the Thirties and Forties, which he prefers. The traditional song he contributes here dates only from 1935. No 4, 64H frag.

Maria Butcher

Drumavally; wife of John senior (above); recorded in Eddie Butcher’s house 1966, 1969. Maria died later in 1969 in her late sixties. She seemed to have considerable experience of traditional songs, but a certain hoarseness due to poor health made it difficult to appreciate her style properly. Nos 32C and 53 with others, 55 with her husband.

Mary Ellen Butcher

Dumavally; daughter of John and Maria (above); recorded 1969, then aged about twenty, since married. She sang in clear tones with light embellishment – suggesting her father’s influence – and some modern popular features such as chromatic slurring. I do not know whether Mary Ellen preserves much of her father’s repertory; her song below was learnt from her uncle Jimmy (above). No 25.

Robert Butcher Senior

The Boretrees, the Umbra; married, father of Robert, John, and Lizzie O’Hagan (all listed here). He died in 1966 aged about seventy; his house on the railway is now ‘tumbled’. I recorded Robert at Downhill in 1961 and also noted several texts and melodies in MS from him during the same visit at his own house (which lacked electricity for the recorder) and sang and recorded several of these melodies myself immediately afterwards (indicated in references thus: ‘6105 HS (RB)’). Robert was ailing in his later years and somewhat breathless. But the recordings reveal a quiet smooth style with interesting and varied melodic and syllabic embellishments. His repertory was evidently large, including many songs learnt from his father. Nos 3N, 9, 26K frag., 47, 49, 59, 69R frag.

Robert Butcher Junior

The Claymire, Duncrun; elder son of Robert (above), married; recorded in his uncle Eddie’s house in 1969; then aged about fifty. He has, perhaps not an extensive, but a varied traditional repertory. His father was an important influence on Robert’s singing, though the son uses less embellishment and makes unusual lengthening at cadences. Nos 13, 32D with his uncle Eddie, 33E, 64G frag.

Hugh Campbell

CAMPBELL, Hugh (see p.13), Magilligan; unmarried; author of ‘The Castle maid’ (‘I’m a decent farm labourer…’) and ‘Down with Georgie Lee’ – Index. He seems to have died in the 1920s, aged about seventy.

John Fleming

Bellarena; unmarried, lorry-driver; recorded in Brolly’s bar, Myroe, 1969, 1975. Born about 1930. John seems to have a moderate repertory of varied traditional songs, which he sings in a pleasantly hoarse voice often near breaking but with generally good intonation. Nos 33, 35 (disc: Folk ballads), 55B.

Mary Harte

Née Butler, a native of Derry city from whom I noted no 72 in 1954 and recorded several songs in 1961 when she was living with her married daughter Mrs McCloskey at Aughil crossroads. She died in the mid–Sixties aged about seventy. Her previous residence was at Benone where Henry noted his no 813 (= Index ‘Londonderry on the banks of the Foyle’) from her in 1939 (publ. 24 June). No 72.

Bob McCurry

McCURRY, Bob, Carrowmena, Myroe, born 1900, married; worked with Eddie Butcher for a road contractor until his retirement; recorded in 1969 at his home talking about his great–uncle Jimmy McCurry (below; 6913–4) and at Deighan’s lounge (6924, stories)

Jimmy McCurry

McCURRY, Jimmy, the Sea bank, Carrowclare, Myroe, unmarried, blind fiddler, singer and author of ‘Ballycarton ball’, ‘Carrowclare’ (no 13), ‘Coleraine regatta’, ‘The Myroe ploughing match’, ‘Sarah Jane’, ‘The star of Moville’ – Index. For mention of a seventh song by him: ‘Northern Constitution’ 10 Dec. 1932, p.8. Jimmy died about 1920 aged about seventy: see Bob McCurry (above). A full account of Jimmy and his songs can be found in the article by Hugh Shields,  ‘A singer of poems: Jimmy McCurry of Myroe’, Ulster Folklife 27 (1981) 1–18.

Lizzie O’Hagan

Née Butcher, daughter of Robert and Maria (above), aged about forty when recorded in 1966 at her home in Coleraine singing a song learnt from her father. Lizzie has a light voice and makes much use of melodic slurring. Her repertory seems small. No 10.

Lizzie O’Hara

Glack, near Limavady, wife of Mick (below) and mother–in–law of Eddie Butcher’s son John; born about 1915. Recorded in 1969, 1975, in her home singing a miscellany of songs, at times from a ballot. Nos 34 frag., 35K frag.

Mick O’Hara

Husband of Lizzie (above), born about 1910; farmer. Recorded in his home in 1969, 1975, singing fragments in uncertain intonation. Nos 17 frag., 35K frag.

Mary Osborne

Née Somers, Bellany, Dunboe, formerly of Avish, Magilligan. Aged about 40 when recorded in 1969 at her home singing a few songs which though traditional do not suggest a large locally formed repertory. Her style is somewhat influenced by popular music of the Thirties and Forties. No 64.

Bill Quigley

Lower Road, Bellarena, husband of Tilly (below); recorded at his home and at Eddie Butcher’s home in 1969 when aged about sixty-five. Bill has a good repertory of songs mostly traditional and sings in slow deliberate style with frequent slurring, some pitch vibrato and strongly stressed attack. Nos 3Q, 11D frag., 18, 37, 45, 53 with others.

Tilly Quigley

Née Carr, wife of Bill and sister of Gracie Butcher (above); recorded 1969 at her home and Eddie Butcher’s home, when she was aged about sixty; she died in 1972. Tilly had a light singing voice, and a small but interesting repertory, including ‘The dark–eyed gipsy’ learnt from Sarah Sweeney (below) – disc: Folk ballads. Nos 20, 53 with others.

Charlie Somers

The Bog, nr Bellarena railway station; small farmer and widower born about 1900; recorded at his home in 1969, in Deighan’s lounge, 1969, 1975, died in 1976. Charlie had a good repertory of ballads and lyric songs, for which his mother was his chief source. His style is declamatory rather than strongly musical, but with generally good intonation; notes are held only when using effects of glottal vibrato; melodic structure is not always clear. Nos 3R, 8 (disc: Folk ballds), 31, 37M, 40, 43, 52.

Hugh Somers

Aughil; recorded in 1969 at Eddie Butcher’s house singing a fragment uncertain in intonation and melodic structure. Unmarried, aged about seventy at that time, he died a few years later. No 11 frag.

Annie Sweeney

Née Anderson; daughter of Tom (above); now living with her husband in Scotland. I had no opportunity to ascertain whether she had learnt her father’s songs when I recorded her in 1969; she was then aged about forty. She sang with progressive acceleration in strict rhythm and with obtrusive slurring and supplementary syllables on the vowel e. No 12.

Sarah Sweeney

SWEENEY, Sarah, married, whom I never met, was obviously an interesting singer (see Tom Anderson and Tilly Quigley above). She was brought up near the Point in an upturned boat, ‘the Scow’, and lived in her later years on the Point Road until the early Sixties, when she died at the age of about 104. In her late nineties, Sarah is said to have visited a dying man about ten years younger than herself and been asked to sing. ‘Just the same songs sung the same way as I heard her singing them eighty years ago,’ he said when she had finished.

ANON. MS texts from unidentified informants. (‘Anon.’ songs or spoken text in the Index, etc, comprise erotic, bawdy, or political items for which I have suppressed informants’ names.)

By Sophie Ryan

In May 2023, ITMA received Capacity Heritage funding from The Heritage Council of Ireland to support Rights and Public Access to ITMA collections online. As a Rights and Public Access Officer, I have been working on this project since August, alongside Rónán Galvin and Brian Doyle, with guidance from Maeve Gebruers, Adam Girard and Treasa Harkin who have been overseeing the project and supporting us throughout.

Coming towards the end of the project for this year, we have cleared rights for upwards of 150 musicians and recordists, which will allow us to make a huge number of non-commercial recordings available on our online media player.

Prior to commencing the project, we received training from Rights Consultant Barry Lynn, to become familiar with the legalities of copyrights and accessibility and the workflow. As a team, we met on a weekly basis to share our progress. A database was created and maintained. Here, we recorded diligent search work on rights holders to obtain contact information, detailing both our efforts and all correspondence, careful to ensure any access restrictions are reflected accurately in collection metadata and in archival systems. We also logged unsuccessful attempts to find rights holders. In such cases, the material will be considered ‘orphan works’; creative material that is protected by copyright, but where contact information for the rights holders or their next of kin cannot be found.

Using our online database, we compiled lists of all relevant non-commercial archival recordings for each rights holder, providing as much detail as was required. The lists were sent to the respective rights holders for reference. Often, musicians were delighted to hear that we had recordings of various specific performances from concerts or festivals a long time ago.

Naturally, a large portion of this work focused on speaking with the various rights holders to explain the project and discuss the various recordings we hoped to include. This was done through emails, phone calls, post and visits.

One of my highlights so far was meeting Bobby Gardiner and Seán Ó Sé.  I visited Seán and Bobby in October. Chatting about the material we had in the collections brought back lots of memories for both Seán and Bobby which were lovely to hear about. I spent another great morning with Rita O’Reilly, wife of the late Paddy Moloney speaking about Paddy and his music and listening to some of the recordings we had. I was privileged to speak with family of lots of other musicians such as Liam O’Flynn, Tony MacMahon, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and Chris Droney as well as Christy Moore, to name but a few.

It has been great to get a comprehensive insight into the vast amount of non-commercial material in ITMA, from music and song, to interviews and lectures. Having engaged with as much of this material as I could during my time working on this project, I can see the invaluable benefit in the preservation and accessibility of this material. It is wonderful to be able to make this material widely accessible. Similarly, in cases where musicians have passed away, many families have been delighted to hear that we have this material, which often include recordings they were not aware of and had not heard before. Rónán, Brian and I have each come across plenty of exceptional recordings across the collections we have been working on, as well as plenty of brilliant anecdotes from the musicians.

There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to this project from those we engaged with, and the goodwill of musicians and their families is something that has been evident since the project began. Many people we spoke to informed us that they had collections of music that they would love to donate to the archive. There were also many rights holders who were incredibly helpful in providing leads for individuals that we found difficult to track down otherwise.

Of course, this would not be possible without the co-operation and generosity of each of the musicians and families, for which we are very thankful. It has been a real privilege to engage musicians and their family members who were so willing to share their music.

We are really looking forward to making this material available to stream and continuing to work towards enabling greater digital access to valuable heritage.

On behalf of all at ITMA, I would like to extend a huge thanks to the Heritage Council for this funding. The value of this investment has been evident since day one and we are looking forward to having these recordings on our media player for musicians to access freely all over the world.

Written by Sophie Ryan, ITMA Rights and Public Access Officer, November 2023

From 1994 to 2001, Seán Corcoran worked as a freelance collector for the Irish Traditional Music Archive. In that time, Seán made a collection of over seventy field recordings, with musicians, singers and dancers from across the four provinces of Ireland.

ITMA’s Artist Liaison and Field Recording Officer, Alan Woods, has created a podcast in which he gives an overview of the field recording work done by Seán Corcoran for ITMA, and provides a snapshot of the collection through a selection of personal highlights.

This podcast has been created in conjunction with the Seán Corcoran Series, a yearlong series of events commemorating the life and work of Seán Corcoran, curated by Seán’s daughter, Rósa Corcoran.

Click the box below to listen to the podcast

Over the course of the coming months, the full series of field recordings made by Seán Corcoran for ITMA will be made available on the ITMA website.

With thanks to the Heritage Council who have funded the clearance of performers Rights in these recordings.

Home — Chapter One — Chapter Two — Chapter Three

Chapter Four — Chapter Five — Chapter Six — Chapter Seven

• Authors
• Interviewees
• Credits
• Special Thanks
• Additional Resources
• Bibliography
• Discography
• Donate to ITMA

Authors

Siobhán Peoples

“Throughout this project, I recall memories of my dad over the years and how I remember him both as a musician and a person. As his daughter, these were one in the same as you never experienced one without the other. Every experience he had as a person informed his musicianship.

Through the highs and lows of his life, I hear these times when he plays. From the heady days of the 1970s where you can hear the invincibility and excitement he had in his twenties all the way through to his last years of playing that were more considered and mature. His playing never stopped changing throughout his life bar one aspect, his musical voice. He always sounded just like himself regardless of what changed in his approach.

For me personally, the most exciting part of this project has been hearing the Breathnach recordings. I had never heard my dad play with a strong Donegal ‘accent’ before. Also in those recordings, you can hear where he has been learning rolls but only put them in to his own two compositions, ‘The Green Fields of Glentown’ and ‘La Casa Mulligan’. Interestingly, ‘La Casa Mulligan’ also had a different third part then to what we are now used to hearing.

As a musician, he loved to spend time with others of the same mind. From Donegal to Dublin, Dublin to Clare, Clare to Boston and the final journey home, he spoke of many that touched him. And if I may on his behalf and on the behalf of my family, thank all of those people who took time out to visit him and spend time with him. This was never as valuable as in his final years when he could no longer play. The time spent in the little house in Miltown or at his home in Kinnycally meant the world to him. Thank you.”

-Siobhan Peoples

Ciarán Ó Maonaigh

“When I first properly encountered the fiddle playing of Tommy Peoples, I was blown away by his genius. I was a young teenager when a copy of The Bothy Band 1975 was put in front of me in July 1997. I gobbled it up. I couldn’t get enough of it. By the end of that summer, I’d searched out as many of his recordings as I could and spent hundreds of hours attempting to break down, learn, emulate and consume this fiddle playing that I saw as an apparition.

That sound that he created; the fiery crackle of his triplets; the lilt, lyrical and almost grammatical nature of his phrasing; the tone and intonation that were always excitingly on edge; his emotion filled ‘Hector the Hero’, ‘Kitty O’Shea’s’, ‘Port na bPucaí’ and the fire in his belly on ‘Farewell to Erin’, ‘Tom Billy’s’, and the many other dance tunes that he made completely his own captivated my musical soul, left me in awe and journeying with the possibilities of the fiddle ever since.

I was fourteen years old back then, I had been lucky to have been taught by Siobhán for three days at what was my first Willie Clancy Summer School. I was just about able to play, at the right age, and that week had developed a monstrous interest to go at this fiddle playing thing properly. I was well aware of who Tommy was before this. His legend transcended into almost every primary school age instrument owner’s minutia of accompanying musical knowledge at that time. In my own case being from a musical, fiddle loving family from Donegal, that was multiplied tenfold. Our own family played ‘Jackson’s’ and ‘The Oak Tree’ as a core, staple set of reels that, before I could play the fiddle, I knew were from the playing of Tommy Peoples. At that time I made a habit of coupling ‘The Green Fields of Glentown’ and ‘La Cosa Mulligan’ onto the front of them and took pride in my ability to play these really hard reels. They gained praise from my teacher and grandfather Francie and other elders who were coaxing and guiding me along this formative journey.

A magical memory in my mind is the first time I heard The Iron Man. My aunt Mairéad and Dermot Byrne had the LP and put it on when I was in Dublin visiting around this time. The sound that Tommy and Daithí Sproule had together, the sets of tunes and in particular ‘Kitty O’Shea’s’ blew my mind. I thought it was some sort of musical perfection. That’s the kind of hold Tommy Peoples and his music had on me before I ever met him.

They say never meet your heroes – they couldn’t be more wrong in Tommy’s case. I was a fawning bumbling fan (fanatic most definitely in my case) and over the following 20 years I got to meet, to hear, to play with, to work with, to teach alongside and to broadcast on radio and tv with him. My teenage self would never believe that I just wrote that sentence. Although I would never say that I got to know him too well I can say that every time our paths crossed, he was nothing other than courteous, kind hearted, generous, respectful and there was a knowing kinship between us that spoke the languages of fiddle, gaelachas and Donegal with the unspoken mutual knowledge of each of us having a spark of fiery madness, lightly hidden from plain sight just under the bonnet.

To have been invited to work alongside Siobhán and Conor on this project has been a privilege and an honour and I hope its publishing stokes the embers of Tommy’s vast musical legacy, output and influence. I’m very grateful to Liam O’Connor and all at the Irish Traditional Music Archive for enabling this to happen, asking us to do this and then getting out of the way and allowing us to do it our way. ITMA’s focus on how Irish traditional music, song and dance are living and breathing things as opposed to something to be put in a glass case to gaze at, is fostering a depth and strength in our music. That takes courage and leadership and I thank the Arts Council for funding our involvement in the project and supporting ITMA’s work in this way.

The material that we present to you in this collection is atypical. Tommy as a man and as a musician was unique and we have taken our lead from aspects of his personality and music in what we present here. There was a tourism Ireland advert for Donegal that stated, ‘Up Here It’s Different’. Tommy was different and so is this collection.”

– Ciarán Ó Maonaigh

Conor Caldwell

“There has never been anyone quite like Tommy Peoples in the Irish traditional music community. He was one of our greatest stylists on the fiddle, one of our greatest composers and one of our greatest teachers. It is rare that someone masters even two, let alone three of these skills. I’m sure that I heard his music as a child, whether on the radio at dinner time or on mixtapes during those seemingly endless car journeys around the west of Ireland to visit relatives or to embark on rain-soaked holidays. While I can’t remember exactly which recordings of Tommy’s were mixed in amongst Christy Moore, A Woman’s Heart, Woodie Guthrie and numerous contemporary acts which, with the benefit of hindsight, my parents would probably prefer me not to reveal, I know his music was there and starting to influence my own tastes.

As I developed an interest in the fiddle I started attending festivals for classes around the country and I remember properly encountering the ‘idea’ of Tommy Peoples from the Altan’s album Island Angel.  ‘Tommy Peoples’ Reel’ was the first tune that I managed to recognise being played in a session (by Tara Connaghan of Glenties), and little did I know that all these years later this project would get to the bottom of its origins (spoiler – it was not written by Tommy).

I first saw him in person at the Gleann Cholm Cille Fiddle School in 1998. I arrived halfway through the week and was enrolled in the second from bottom class. The place was in a state of utter excitement. Tommy’s imminent arrival for the recital slot on the Thursday created the type of hysteria that I had only seen outside Croke Park on a big match day.  ‘You know Tommy’s coming, don’t you?’ said literally everyone that I met. Tommy – he was one of those few people in Irish music who required no further introduction or context than the utterance of his Christian name.

My reference point for his music by August 1998 had extended to a recording of numerous Donegal fiddlers from Cork in 1991 entitled Fiddlesticks. I knew Tommy was different because he was the only person granted a solo. I had started learning the reel ‘The Boys of Ballisodare’, which he played on the recording, and I was attracted to the mood he created by taking it down a step and letting what Tommy Potts would have called the ‘sadness’ of the tune emerge. Of course, I didn’t understand any of the nuances yet, but I knew what I liked, and I liked Tommy’s music. His arrival in a place like Gleann Cholm Cille would bring people out of the woodwork that wouldn’t have countenanced attending a session or performance by anyone else.  Many of these people didn’t really like fiddle music – but they also knew what they liked, and Tommy was it. There were so many people at the event that it was difficult to hear much of what said, but the music was incredible and having managed to tape the occasion for posterity, it gave me many hours of learning over the winter months at home.

A few years later I attended a workshop that he gave in county Armagh. Thirty or so students were squeezed into the backroom of a restaurant, completely undifferentiated in ability. Some were skilled traditional players already, many were classical players with a curiosity about Tommy or his music; others, like me. were enthusiastic but only beginning their journey as fiddlers. I remember him rolling a cigarette before he would begin writing out a tune on the board for the class to read. As someone who was learning classical music at the time I was delighted, as it meant I could learn a little faster than by ear. But as the tune, ‘The Gortree Jig’, revealed itself from the tip of his marker, I realised that the notes would be of little help and that this was a piece which was going to take more than the day’s session to learn. It is a beautiful three-parter, in true Peoples style, written in the key of E and a tune which offers continuous challenge to the fiddler. Not having known that notation would be offered at the workshop, I had not brought a notebook, so I borrowed a pen and carefully copied the tune down in the back cover of former Ireland captain Mick McCarthy’s autobiography – I’m sure Mick would have been delighted! Over the coming months I struggled with the tune time and time again until my technique improved and eventually I could make my way through it.

There was a pattern emerging by this time for me – Tommy’s music was not like the other tunes in my books or classes which could be much more easily conquered in an hour or so – this music required hard graft and commitment to properly learn. This lesson was refreshed for me some years later when I went back to ‘The Gortree Jig’ having heard the Monaghan fiddler Dónal McCague’s setting. I soon discovered that one couldn’t count on simply dusting down Tommy’s tunes from the musical shelf in your brain. To stop practising his tunes was to forget them, just as I have since forgotten how to play Bach or Brahms. His music demands respect and must be continuously worked on and practised.

While I was greatly aided by my transcription of that jig, it was not until I began working on this project that I realised how intrinsic the written note was to Tommy’s musical identity. His early lessons were from manuscript at home in St Johnston where, as Séamus Gibson explains, one was not considered a musician without the ability to read music. Upon moving to Dublin he would be seen by others, such as Paddy Glackin, transcribing tunes from music collections in the library to take home and learn. As he told Kevin Glackin in interview material included here, he rarely composed with the fiddle in hand, instead coming up with new pieces at his leisure and would write them out before attempting to play them. In the Cathal McConnell tapes, we see that Tommy was sight reading tunes from Ryan’s Mammoth Collection for his friend, altering them on the spot and creating new repertoire as he went. Arguably his greatest achievement of all was the publication of his life’s work in book form, with all – or at least nearly all – of his compositional output reproduced in his own hand. His use of the written note is something that makes him stand out from almost all other traditional musicians of his generation, and is an intriguing part of his musical legacy.

Around 2002 I again encountered Tommy in Skerries at weekend organised by my friend Aidín Ní Mhaonaigh and her family. It was hard to believe that they had managed to procure his services to teach a small group of us teenagers for two days, as well as join us for a session on the Saturday night. Tommy’s generosity shone throughout the weekend, and he generously invited us to start tunes at the session and talked about his music throughout the workshops. This was probably the only time that I had a chance to talk to him at any length. He seemed genuinely interested in hearing about members of my family whom he had known, including my aunt Rosemary who had been a piano player with the Coleman Country Ceilidh Band at one point.

In hindsight, I wonder just how many people had asked him through the years if he remembered their aunt, or uncle or neighbour or some local musician, all of whom I am quite sure claimed Tommy as a ‘great friend’. Perhaps there was good reason that they should think so. Even though such people may have only had limited interaction with him – maybe a brief chat or two at a festival or concert – his recordings gave people a chance to feel, not just as though they were listening to him, but as if they were spending real personal time with him. Like all good works of art, his recordings demand multiple listens to even begin to scratch the surface, and it’s important to say that Tommy Peoples’ music is not always easy to understand. Like him as a person, it is complex, multi-layered, even sometimes flawed, but it is always compelling.

Amongst his iconic catalogue of work, it is the Molloy Peoples Brady recording of 1977 (released the following year on the Mulligan label) that has perhaps underpinned my entire understanding of Irish traditional music. Everything about the record is exquisite, from the flute playing of Matt Molloy to Paul Brady’s genre-shattering setting of the song ‘The Shamrock Shore’. That said, I often joke that it is one of the great injustices of modern Ireland that only one solo track from Tommy made it on to the record, while Molloy and Brady got two each! The raw power, energy and creativity expressed through his playing of ‘The Trip to Athlone’ and ‘The Rambling Pitchfork’ see two otherwise mundane and now overplayed jigs transformed into testing showpieces which defy learning or imitation. His pathway through the second jig in particular is spellbinding and is the perfect showcase for the dynamism of the ‘Peoples’ triplet’, which is discussed in detail in this project. The repeats allow him to demonstrate his full arsenal of ornamentation as well as his ability to change emphasis in a phrase at will. Sometimes he hovers unexpectedly on what is normally an eighth note/quaver, toying with the listener’s expectation. In the final repeat he reaches for an F natural in the second phrase of the A part, developing the melody further. For me, the crowning achievement of this arrangement is the final phrase of his B part, again showcasing his hallmark triplet in a rapidly ascending sequence. He brings a sense of urgency to this phrase before unwinding it in the final repeat to ease the piece to a close. In listening again (and again) to this recording I am reminded of Reverend Richard Henebry’s famous line about the Galway piper Patsy Touhey, when he said, ‘The Homeric ballads and the new Brooklyn Bridge are great, but Patsy Touhey’s rendering of ‘The Shaskeen Reel’ is a far bigger achievement.’

I came across Tommy several other times in my adult life. He had returned to Ireland at this stage and was performing regularly around the country. I had remembered his shyness from the session in Skerries, but had not fully understood how this impacted him when having to give a concert. I recall two occasions in quick succession around the year 2004, one in Belfast and one in Donegal, when he asked musicians who had filled the support slots to join him for his set as he was making his way to the stage. Of course, he always played magnificently regardless and eased the accompanists into his groove. I don’t wish to make light of Tommy’s nervousness, which was undoubtedly  a difficulty for him to carry, but knowing that perhaps the greatest of them all felt the pressure before a gig has always given me a degree of comfort in my own darkest moments of self-doubt!

The morning I heard of Tommy’s sad death I was packing up my car at the end of the Gleann Cholm Cille Fiddle Week. It was just almost twenty years to the day since I had first seen Tommy play in person, barely 200 yards from where I heard the news. The sun was shining brightly and the birds chirping as we sat in a pensive melancholy overlooking the waves rolling in and out on the shore below. There was a palpable feeling that something had changed in the world. It was difficult to put this loss for Ireland’s musical community – and moreover Tommy’s family –  into words. Eventually the fiddles slipped out of their cases and the first few notes of ‘Hector the Hero’ sounded as we remembered Tommy in the only way we knew.

I never really knew Tommy Peoples, but I treasure the memories of the few days and hours that I spent in his company. I hope that this project offers something for readers of all backgrounds, be that aficionados of Tommy’s music, musicians from other styles and traditions, listeners and those being introduced to his music for the first time. Whether you are here to learn a little about Tommy as a person, or whether you want to unpack his fiddle style in detail, I hope that you will discover multiple pathways through the website and get as much joy out of doing so as we did in curating the material.”

– Conor Caldwell

Our Interviewees

As part of this project, we interviewed six fiddle players who knew Tommy and his music. The interviewees give a broad range of perspectives on his music, and include family members, his contemporaries, those who learned from him and those who played with him. These individuals come from a range of professional backgrounds, including broadcast, the media, teaching and performance.

We recognise that valuable contributions could have been gathered from additional interviewees, but given the limited time-frame in which we had to complete this project, we felt that this cohort of interviewees offered a wide range of perspectives on Tommy’s music.

The interviewees are:

Siobhán Peoples

Siobhán Peoples is a well-known fiddle player and teacher. Born in 1971 to Tommy and his wife Marie, she is based in Ennis and teaches fiddle at the University of Limerick. Siobhán played regularly in duet with Tommy from the 1980s and her interviews reveal deeply personal memories of their relationship. As well as being one of the editors of this website, Siobhán speaks as a family member. These feature throughout the project and specifically in Chapter Seven.

Siobhán was featured as part of ITMA’s Saothar series and nine of her compositions can be found here – https://www.itma.ie/features/notated-collections/siobhan-peoples-compositions

Séamus Gibson

Séamus Gibson, a nephew of Tommy’s from St Johnston in east Donegal, is now based in Letterkenny. He is a well-known fiddle player and teacher in the northwest and in the 1990s had a regular Irish traditional music programme on Highland Radio which was very popular. He recorded some sets of music alongside Tommy which are on a CD entitled Fiddlesticks which was recorded at live concerts in Cork in 1991. Séamus was featured as part of ITMA’s Saothar series and twenty-two of his compositions can be found here – https://www.itma.ie/blog/saothar/seamus-gibson

Paddy Glackin

Paddy Glackin is one of Ireland’s best known fiddle players. He shot to prominence as a teenage prodigy in the late 1960s. Being from Dublin, he was mixing in the same circles as Tommy Peoples after his arrival in the capital. Paddy was the original fiddle player with The Bothy Band, and was replaced by Tommy when they decided to go professional in 1975. Paddy is a well-known broadcaster of Irish traditional music most notably presenting The Long Note on RTÉ Radio and The Pure Drop on RTÉ Television. Paddy compered a tribute concert to Tommy at the Willie Clancy Summer School in July 2018, less than a month before Tommy passed away and also gave the eulogy at Tommy’s funeral in Ennis Cathedral the following month.

Bríd Harper

Bríd Harper is originally from Castlefin, near Tommy’s homeplace in east Donegal. A child prodigy who came to national prominence as a fiddle player in the late 1970s, Bríd is renowned for her technical ability and interpretation of some of Tommy’s repertoire. She won a hat-trick of fiddle competitions in 1988, the Senior All-Ireland Fiddle, The Fiddler of Dooney and The Fiddler of Oriel. Now living near Dungannon in Co. Tyrone, Bríd is an internationally renowned teacher and performer of traditional music and she performed at Tommy’s funeral mass.

Danny Meehan

Danny Meehan is a renowned fiddle player from Drumarone, near Mountcharles in Co. Donegal. He moved to London as a teenager and was part of the genesis of the pub session scene which has defined Irish traditional music over the following decades.

He played on the seminal Paddy in the Smoke recording in the late 1960s and with the band Le Chéile. Whilst in London he became a legendary character due in no small part to his musical ability. Meehan and Peoples first met on a trip to the Fleadh in Listowel in 1973, beginning a life-long friendship.

Like Tommy, he moved home to Donegal in the mid 2000s and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Gradam Ceoil by TG4 in 2012. Danny and Tommy, along with James Byrne (Gleann Cholm Cille), were known as great fiddle players whose musical camaraderie brought joy to themselves and those lucky enough to see them play together.

A larger-than-life fiddler who is now one of the elder statesmen of Donegal music, Danny’s wit, charm and knowledge of Irish traditional music make him a magnet for many music lovers.

Martin McGinley

Martin McGinley is a fiddle player from Raphoe in east Donegal who has extensive connections with the Peoples family. Tommy and Martin were second cousins, through their great aunt Julia Devine, herself the subject of one of Tommy’s compositions.

His mother, Kathleen, also a celebrated fiddler, learned initially from Tommy’s relation, Bob Peoples. She made the most extensive collection of fiddle music from east Donegal in the twentieth century. This collection was donated to ITMA after her death and forms the basis of Martin’s own MA research.

Martin has been one of the leading lights of Donegal fiddle playing over the last several decades and recently published an extensive account of fiddle playing in east Donegal on the Cairdeas na bhFidléirí website.

He was the first fiddle player with the group Dervish, and he presented the seminal Irish traditional music programme The Pure Drop on RTÉ television. He was the editor of a number of local newspapers in the northwest and was a BBC journalist for a period in the early 1990s.

Tommy Peoples: A Portrait of an Artist was compiled and curated by Siobhán Peoples, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh & Conor Caldwell, with support from the Arts Council.

We would like to give credit to and thank the following who helped to make this happen:

Filmed Interviews

Interviewers – Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Siobhán Peoples & Conor Caldwell,

Interviewees – Paddy Glackin, Siobhán Peoples, Séamus Gibson, Martin McGinley, Bríd Harper & Danny Meehan

Additional Interviewee – Cathal McConnell

Camera – Victor Tzelepis

Location Sound – Adam Girard

Sound Mix – John Blake

Bríd Harper & Cathal McConnell interviews recorded and interviewed by Alan Woods, Iarfhlaith Ó Domhnaill & Kyle Macaulay

Archival Footage – TG4, RTÉ & Scoil Trad

Lead on Filmed Interviews — Ciarán Ó Maonaigh

Website credits

Curation and Research – Siobhán Peoples, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh & Conor Caldwell

Editors — Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Conor Caldwell

Layout, Design and Copy Editing — Robert Mackenzie

Project Co-ordinator — Treasa Harkin

Artist Liaison and Additional Research — Alan Woods

Lead on Written Materials — Conor Caldwell

Lead on Transcriptions — Siobhán Peoples

Executive Producer — Liam O’Connor

Special Thanks

The Peoples Family

Julie Costello Pichilis

All the staff at ITMA

Conor Malone & The Balor Theatre, Ballybofey

Eoin Ó Riabhaigh, Kevin Glackin & Conal Ó Gráda

Emmet Gill

Gearóid Ó Maonaigh

Maurice Bradley

Dermot Byrne

Rab Cherry

Packie Keeney

Damien Ó Dónaill

Áine Ní Bhreisleáin

Clare Friel

Tony Kearns

Caoimhín Mac Aoidh

Niamh Ní Bhaoill

Philip King

Nuala O’Connor

Breandán Ó Beaglaoich

Caitlín Nic Gabhann

Sarah Caldwell

Libby McCrohan

Additional Resources 

There are several resources beyond this website that will be of interest to the reader and which will help to shed further light on Tommy Peoples’ life and music. These include tune collections, general survey books on Irish traditional music, online resources and more specialist texts on regional styles and musicians. We have attempted to capture all of these in an extensive bibliography that is included in this collection, but it is important to highlight some of the more prominent pieces at this stage.

General Surveys

The former RTÉ radio producer PJ Curtis noted, in his book Notes from the Heart (1994), that ‘there are few traditional fiddle players who are more respected or as widely acclaimed as is Tommy Peoples.’ A short chapter is dedicated to Tommy in this book which gives an informative overview of his life and music (p. 87-94).

Tommy’s name appears in all of the most well-known surveys of Irish traditional music, including Fintan Vallely’s Companion to Irish Traditional Music 2^nd Edition (2011, p. 539), The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland (2013, p. 828), The Rough Guide to Irish Music (2001, p. 351-353) and industry publications such as Fiddler Magazine.

Specialist and Academic Texts

Caoimhín Mac Aoidh’s Between the Jigs and the Reels, recently republished by Walton Music, contains a seven-page foreword from Tommy, written in May 1993. This gives insight particularly into his early life and schooling. The same publication features Mac Aoidh’s own commentary on Peoples (p. 217-221) in the context of the wider musical traditions of east Donegal.

Kerry fiddle player Eoghan Neff has also written extensively about Tommy’s style and technique, citing him amongst what he calls an ‘avant-garde’ in Irish fiddle music. His 2012 PhD thesis, containing a full chapter on Tommy, is entitled ‘At the Vanguard of Antiquity: Seeking the Avant-Garde of the Irish Fiddle in C20th Performance Practices’ (p. 355-390).

Tommy is mentioned several times in passing in Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin monograph on the music of county Clare, Flowing Tides (2016) in the context of his status as an important musicians in the region.

Tune Collections

Tommy released a well-known fiddle tutor book in 1986 through the music company Walton’s. 50 Irish Fiddle Tunes was published in Dublin and New York: Waltons 1986/2003

Online Resources

Furthermore, we would like to point readers in the direction of other important sources which will further contextualise the musical tradition of east Donegal. Martin McGinley’s interactive musical map of the region on the Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí Website offers an insight into dozens of fiddler players who have called east Donegal their home, and offers a counterbalance to the historical focus on music in the southwest of the county.

Television and Radio

Tommy’s story was more often told through the medium of television and radio, particularly in his later years as he became more comfortable looking in retrospect at his life and achievements. Here we give some examples of more substantial contributions that he made to television and radio.

Tommy featured in the TG4 documentary Canúinti Ceoil (2007), which explored the concept of regional styles in Irish traditional music. However, the license for this programme has now lapsed and it is not in the public domain. Here he discussed his youth, growing up in east Donegal and his own musical style with Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.

‘Sé Mo Laoch is a TV series on Irish traditional music heroes that has been broadcast on the Irish language channel TG4 since 2001, made by Sibéal Teo and in recent years Aniar TV. In an episode about Tommy in 2008, he commented in-depth on his life and music. Others who contributed the episode include Matt Molloy, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Siobhán Peoples, PJ Curtis, Peter Browne, Ciarán O Maonaigh, Tony Linnane, Antóin Mac Gabhann, Michelle O’Brien & Danny Meehan. 

In December 2007, Highland Radio featured an in-depth interview with Tommy, hosted by Packie Keeney.

In 2011, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcast a two-part interview with Tommy on his life and music, presented by Áine Ní Churráin.

Following his death in 2018, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcast a tribute to Tommy as part of the series Siúlach Scéalach, presented by Ian Lee.

Other

An extensive list of newspaper articles

Peoples, Tommy. 50 Irish Fiddle Tunes. Dublin and New York: Waltons, 1986/2003.

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Bibliography 

Further Reading on Tommy Peoples 

Meade, Don. ‘Kitty O’Neil and Her “Champion Jig”: An Irish Dancer on the New York Stage’ in New Hibernia Review Volume 6, Issue 3, Fómhar/Autumn 2002. pp. 9-22 

Neff, Eoghan. ‘Chapter 6 – 1999: Tommy Peoples: Fluxing Structures’ in At the Vanguard of Antiquity: Seeking the Avant-Garde of the Irish Fiddle in C20th Performance Practices. PhD Thesis. University of Cardiff, 2012. pp. 335-390 

Obituaries 

Maguire, Stephen. Sadness at Passing of Renowned Donegal Fiddler Tommy Peoples https://www.donegaldaily.com/2018/08/04/sadness-at-passing-of-renowned-donegal-fiddler-tommy-peoples/Donegal Daily 4 August 2018 

Daly, Michael. Donegal fiddle legend Tommy Peoples has died 

https://www.donegallive.ie/news/news/327991/donegal-fiddle-legend-tommy-peoples-has-died.html Donegal Live 4 August 2018 

Schofield, Derek. Tommy Peoples Obituary https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/22/tommy-peoples-obituary The Guardian 22 August 2018 

Donaghy, Gerard. ‘A legend’ – Renowned fiddler and composer Tommy Peoples passes away at the age of 70. The Irish Post 4 August 2018 https://www.irishpost.com/news/legend-renowned-fiddler-composer-tommy-peoples-passes-away-age-70-158096 

Ricketts, Ken and Marya Parker Tommy Peoples – An Appreciation https://www.mustrad.org.uk/enth82.htm  MUSTRAD 10 August 2018 

Tommy Peoples Obituary The Times 19 October 2018 

Trad Connect. Legendary Irish fiddler Tommy Peoples dies aged 70 https://tradconnect.com/profiles/blogs/legendary-irish-fiddler-tommy-peoples-dies-aged-70-1?overrideMobileRedirect=1 4 August 2018 

Obituary Tommy Peoples https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/obituary-tommy-peoples-37252288.html  The Independent 26 August 2018 

Quinn, Toner. Remembering Tommy Peoples https://journalofmusic.com/focus/remembering-tommy-peoples 7 August 2018 

Stokes, Niall. Former Bothy Band Man Tommy Peoples Has Died https://www.hotpress.com/culture/former-bothy-band-man-tommy-peoples-died-22751096 4 August 2018 

Donegal fiddler who played with unbending integrity https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/donegal-fiddler-who-played-with-unbending-integrity-1.3599550  The Irish Times 18 August 2018 

Tommy Peoples, great Irish fiddler – obituary https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/08/22/tommy-peoples-great-irish-fiddler-obituary/  22 August 2018 

O’Laoire, Lillis. Tommy Peoples: Rí Éigeas na nGael in aimsir na hAiséirí. Tuairisc.ie https://tuairisc.ie/tommy-peoples-ri-eigeas-na-ngael-in-aimsir-na-haiseiri/ 10 Lúnasa 2018   

Quinn, Michael. Tommy Peoples – Remembering The Bothy Band Fiddler https://www.songlines.co.uk/news/tommy-peoples-remembering-the-bothy-band-fiddler 13 September 2018 

Kelly, Aoife. Traditional music great Tommy Peoples dies at age of 70 https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/traditional-music-great-tommy-peoples-dies-at-age-of-70-37187169.html 6 August 2018 

Tributes paid after death of renowned Donegal fiddler Tommy Peoples https://www.thejournal.ie/tommy-peoples-rip-4165101-Aug2018/ 4 August 2018  

Ring, Evelyn. President leads tributes to ‘influential’ fiddler player Tommy Peoples The Irish Examiner 6 August 2018 https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30860235.html 

Reviews 

Wallis, Geoff. Tommy Peoples Discography and Reviews Irish Music Review http://www.irishmusicreview.com/tpeoples.htm Accessed 6 April 2022. 

Wallis, Geoff. Fiddler’s Fancy: Fifty Fiddle Tunes Collected and Performed by the Irish Fiddle Legend https://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/peoples.htm 15 July 2011 

Interviews with Tommy Peoples 

Smith, Sean. Looking around, legendary fiddler Tommy Peoples says this: ‘If music is played as it could or should, it’s got everything’. Boston Irish. https://www.bostonirish.com/arts/looking-around-legendary-fiddler-tommy-peoples-says-‘if-music-played-it-could-or-shou 29 June 2017 

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Selected Discography 

Tommy Peoples, Peter Browne, Matt Molloy, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill and Liam Weldon. 1691. Arfolk, 1973.   

The Kilfenora Céilí Band. The Kilfenora Céilí Band. Transatlantic, 1974.  

The Bothy Band. 1975. Mulligan, 1975. 

Tommy Peoples and Paul Brady. The High Part of the Road. Shanachie, 1976. 

Tommy Peoples. An Exciting Session with one of Ireland’s Leading Traditional Fiddlers. CCÉ, 1976.  

Tommy Peoples. A Traditional Experience with Tommy Peoples: A Master Irish Traditional Fiddle Player. Release Records, 1977. 

Matt Molloy. Paul Brady. Tommy Peoples. Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples. Mulligan, 1978. 

Tommy Peoples and Dáithí Sproule. The Iron Man. Shanachie, 1985. 

Tommy Peoples. Fiddler’s Fancy: Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes Collected and Performed by the Irish Fiddle Legend. Walton’s, 1986.  

Tommy Peoples, Siobhán Peoples, Andrew McNamara, Kevin Crawford P.J. King, Páraic Mac Donnchadha, Pat Marsh, Joe Bane, John Maloney, Séan Mac Donnchadha. Maiden Voyage. Live Traditional Irish Music Session from Pepper’s Bar, Feakle, Co. Clare. Celtic Music, 1991. 

Tommy Peoples, Séamus Gibson, Ciaran Tourish, Dermot McLaughlin, Séamus Glackin, Kevin Glackin, Prionsias Ó Maonaigh, Máiréas Ní Mhaonaigh, Paula Doohan, Liz Doherty. Fiddle Sticks. Irish Traditional Music from Donegal. Nimbus, 1991 

Tommy Peoples (feat. Siobhán Peoples). Traditional Irish Music Played on the Fiddle. Trad Ireland, 1993. 

Tommy Peoples. The Quiet Glen / An Gleann Ciúin. Self-published, 1998. 

Tommy Peoples. Waiting for a Call. Shanachie, 2003.  

Tommy Peoples. Recorded at Fiddler’s Hearth. Self-published, 2016. 

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An Binsín Luachra  [The Little Bunch of Rushes]

This is a well-known lyrical love-song, typical of Irish song tradition. It presents images of nature in an expression of deep emotion. A young farmer laments his poor state. His clothes are threadbare and worn and he is in debt.  He asks the young girl of the rushes to come away with him. She  regrets that she has been enticed by him and says that she would rather gather rushes than carry his child on her shoulders.

[NFC 1280: 212-214]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis noted in Irish on the music transcription that it is ‘slow’. He explained the asterisk over the second bar on the fourth line in English writing ‘This bar should probably be written 4/4 giving the first D double its duration.

During the month of July in 1943 Séamus Ennis made regular visits to Maínis to Dudley an Phortaigh [Dudley of the Bog] [Darach Ó Clochartaigh] Cloherty whom he called ‘the man with the tunes’ noting that Dudley had ‘old tunes that he inherited from his father’s lilting and from travelling musicians long ago’. Séamus Ennis transcribed a good number of pieces from Dudley including this slip jig. A variant of Hardiman the Fiddler, it can be found in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland (No. 412) and in The Dance Music of Willie Clancy (No. 127). A version of this slip jig was published in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 4 ( No. 39) with the title The Swaggering Jig although it is pointed out in the notes that this is a different tune to the slip jig of the same title found in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland. (No. 413).

Séamus Ennis was always made to feel welcome by Colm Ó Caodháin and his family. In his diary 26.6.43 he noted ‘of all the people I have ever met, Colm Ó Caodháin is the person I most enjoy working with’. Described by Ennis as ‘a very kind man and always inclined to laugh’ (26.5.43), Colm Ó Caodháin provided a rich store of songs and tunes for Ennis and he collected extensively from him during his time as collector of music and song with the Irish Folklore Commission. This jig, transcribed from Colm, is a variant of ‘The Bridal Jig’ which was published in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland (No. 310) and in the 1883 publication Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (p. 112). It can be found in Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra (No. 311) and was also included in Allan’s Irish Fiddler. 

This jig is the fourth in a group of tunes lilted by Colm Ó Caodháin and transcribed by Séamus Ennis. In notes on the transcriptions to the tunes Ennis labels them ‘Sean phoirt béil ó Cholm Ó Caodháin’ [Old Tunes lilted by Colm Ó Caodháin]. The tunes included a reel he titled ‘Port na Giobóige’ [The Tune of the Unfortunate Woman], a jig he named ‘Port na Sióige’ [The Fairy Jig] and a tune he called ‘Titse Miller’. While the tune ‘Titse Miller’ is known as ‘Dusty Miller’ and played widely, the other tunes in the group appear to be local tunes. Séamus Ennis often sang songs and played tunes that he had collected in Conamara when he visited Donegal. ‘I was asked to sing and I sang ‘Fill, Fill a Rúin Ó’ [Return, Return, Oh My Darling] (Spidéal). It raised the roof….that is a great reflection on Conamara songs’. (18.8.43) 

An Cóta Mór Stróicthe  (The Big, Torn Coat)

Ennis wrote that two men, one whose surname was Mac Donncha and the other de Búrca, both from east Galway,  were in pursuit of the same woman whose surname was Ní Mháille. Having refused a dance to de Búrca, she accepted a dance from Mac Donncha. De Búrca insulted her using a bad name and  Mac Donncha took an iron bar and killed him. He spent a year and a day in Leitreach Ard, hiding from the police. The man for whom he worked during this time had the fugitive fined by the police in court after this time. He then went home to Dubh Leitir. He left the ‘big torn coat’ after him, following a week of poitín drinking. The woman he fancied was about to marry another, but when she heard that Mac Donncha had returned she went along with him.

The song was around a hundred years old in the 1940s according to Seáinín Choilmín Mac Donncha. He reminisces about happier times. His mother is heartbroken as her husband has died and her son is roaming the countryside. He says that he will never engage with young women again as he has seen his darling being kissed by another man.

The song is the story as told by Mac Donncha as he wanders the countryside in a sorry state, he is sore and weary from constant walking.

[ from NFC 1280: 251-253]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote in Irish ‘easily’ above the music notation.

Cailín Deas Crúite na mBó  [The Pretty Girl Milking the Cows]

Ennis wrote that a woman was singing a bawdy song while milking cows. A priest passing by heard the singing and ordered the girl, in reparation, to come to church the following Sunday, wearing a long white sheet, with a piece of a bone of a horse in her mouth and to stand at the church door so that everyone entering the church would spit on her and she agreed to this. A friar lived near her and he sent for her. She went to him and he asked her if she could learn a song quickly. She said she could and did so.

The song exhorts people to repent of their sins and to live a good life. It asks the Virgin Mary for protection and states that the Day of Judgement will arrive. It exhorts people to attend mass.

The girl sang the song at church the following Sunday and the priest said that whoever had taught her the song, taught her well.

[from NFC 1280: 135-137]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote in irish, in brackets ‘(From the same person)’ [Vail Bheairtle Ó Donncha] on the music notation.

In December 1942 Séamus Ennis was in Carna where, on the afternoon of 14.12.42, he ‘recorded two tunes from Micheál Choilmín Mac Fhualáin’, a fiddle player whom he had met previously in November when he attended ‘a great night’s music’ with five musicians.  This jig was likely among the tunes transcribed and in his notes to the transcription Ennis indicates that Mac Fhualáin believed this to be a very old tune. The jig was published as ‘The Angry Peeler’ in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (No. 1041). Breandán Breathnach suggested that it is related to ‘Carraig an tSoip’ [The Rock of the Bundle of Straw?]  in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1 (No. 3). The Kilfenora Céili Band recorded a version which they titled ‘Brodie Kierce’s’ while concertina player, Chris Droney, recorded another variant with the title The Clogher Rose.

Ennis noted on the music transcription for the two tunes written from Maidhcil Choilmín on this occasion, by means of an asterisk * ‘These are both c# although the inclination would be to play c natural – may be the performer’s own whim.’

Referring to the fiddle player Maidhcil Mac Fhualáin from whom Ennis transcribed other tunes, the collector wrote in Irish: ‘He never heard it anywhere else apart from that district. December 1942.’

In his fieldwork, musicians provided tunes to Séamus Ennis in a number of different ways. Some played instruments, others lilted while still others whistled as was the case with Peait Canavan, the piper from An Aird Mhóir in Carna. Ennis noted that ‘his whistling was sweet and tuneful’ (21.5.43). According to Séamus Ennis, in his notes on the transcription of this reel, Peait heard this tune being lilted by older people in his neighbourhood when he was growing up. In another transcription of the same tune Ennis comments on an old piping trick referring to the second last bar of the B part of the tune where three high B notes and three high A notes are played. The reel has been recorded with the title ‘Ceo na gCnoc’ by a number of pipers including Tommy Keane (The Piper’s Apron) Jimmy O’Brien Moran (Seán Reid’s Favourite) and Conor, Gay and Seán McKeon (The Dusty Miller). 

Ennis wrote that Affey Gibbons, a  priest, was on the run during the time of the Fenians. There was a price on his head. He asked for a bed for the night in a house in Iorras Mór, and  when people in the house agreed to this he took two pistols from his suitcase. The family then suspected his identity and they reported him to the police. The police suggested they remove the pistols, which they were able to do as the priest was exhausted and sound asleep. The priest was arrested and hanged. His brother composed the song in his memory.

The song expresses grief over the betrayal and death of the priest and the fact that Affey’s family or friends were not present to  lament him when he was laid out. How they would have rallied round. Nature is in tune with the deep grief caused by the priest’s death. The blackbird, the cuckoo and the thrush are silent, the gulls are lamenting and the swans on Lough Erne cannot swim. Trees cannot bear fruit and  there is no sunlight.

Séamus Ennis collected the song from Seán Geary [Ó Gaora] on two occasions. The collector noted (p.596) that he had previously collected some of the song from him. Seán then got additional verses from Maidhcil Foley(33), Aill na Brón. Maidhcil had got  some of it from Éamonn de Búrca and some from Séamus Cheannabháin, Cora na gCapall.

[from NFC 1280: 347-348, 595-596, 616]

Ennis noted ‘the singing of Colm Ó L[ochlainn]’ which may refer to the air of the song. He also noted that Seán Ó Gaora got the song from Pádraig de Búrca a brother of the storyteller Éamon de Búrca. Pádraig had died, aged 51, eight years before Ennis collected the song from Seán. It is likely that Pádraig got the song in An Aird Mhóir.

It is a lovesong in which the man is distraught at the fact that his darling is married to another man.

[From NFC 1280: 102-104]

Séamus Ennis visited the home of Néillidh Boyle in Cró na Sealg, An Clochán Liath numerous times on his various collecting trips to Donegal. Often they just played music together and chatted but invariably Séamus Ennis would come away having written some tunes from the fiddle player. ‘The Castlefinn Reel’ was one of two reels that Ennis transcribed from the playing of Néillidh Boyle in early March 1944. More commonly known with the title ‘The Humours of Castlefinn’ it can be found in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1 (No. 186). The tune was recorded as ‘Egan’s Reel’ on one of the first LPs of Irish traditional music, All Ireland Champions Violin (1959) featuring Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Peadar O’Loughlin and Bridie Lafferty. It is also very much associated with the playing of Tony MacMahon and Noel Hill who recorded it as the opening track of the album I gCnoc Na Graí (1985).

Ennis wrote in Irish along with the transcription, ‘Two reels I wrote from Niall Ó Baoill (c.50), a fiddle player, An Clochán Liath. (unnamed) (Castlefinn Reel) 3.3.44 when I visited him again’.

Séamus Ennis was a great admirer of Néillidh Boyle’s fiddle playing noting in his diary (8.3.44) “he is an excellent fiddle player and has an ability that no more than three other fiddle players have, as far as I know”. This reel, transcribed by Séamus Ennis from Néillidh’s playing, is a version of a tune found in many parts of Ireland. It was published in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland as ‘The Curragh Races’ (No. 1276).  According to the collector, Breandán Breathnach,  ‘The Maid in the Cherry Tree’ published in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1 (No. 103) is a variant of ‘The Curragh Races’. The reel is also related to ‘The Humours of Knockaney’ included by the county Limerick collector Francis Roche in his Collection of Irish Airs, Marches and Dance Tunes Vol. 3 (No 83). 

Hughie Bonar  was a popular and highly regarded fiddle player in his locality of Fál Chorb, An Machaire in Donegal. Séamus Ennis described him as ‘a small, quiet, strong man, thickset, stocky and quite a good fiddle player’. Ennis transcribed nine tunes from Hughie Bonar when he spent the day with him on the 10th of March 1944 including this unusual reel ‘The Blackbird among the Berries’. The tune is also known as ‘The Camber Lasses’ and was recorded by Séamus McGuire and John Lee on their 1990 album The Missing Reel.

While ‘The Morning Dew’ is the title given by Séamus Ennis in the transcription, this tune is one of a number of jigs in Donegal that all have the title ‘The King of the Pipers’ even though they are different tunes. Another version of ‘The King of the Pipers’ can be found in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2 (No. 45). Brendán Breathnach recorded it from John Doherty in 1966 and commented that the same name was on other tunes but they were not related to Doherty’s version. ‘The King of the Pipers’ published in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (No 702) has a number of parts similar to this version transcribed by Séamus Ennis from the fiddle playing of Hughie Bonar in March 1944. 

A very popular tune in many parts of Ireland as evidenced by its inclusion in so many collections, this jig appeared as early as 1858 when R. M. Levey published it in his first collection of The Dance Music of Ireland. The tune was also included by Captain Francis O’Neill in his 1907 publication The Dance Music of Ireland 1001 Gems and by the Cork collector, Francis Roche, in his first collection in 1912.  While the jig is commonly played in the key of D, the version transcribed by Séamus Ennis from Hughie Bonar’s playing is in the key of C. As well as collecting from musicians and singers Séamus Ennis often joined in with them on a variety of instruments. There are several references in his diary to playing the fiddle in Donegal such as on the night in early March 1944 when Ennis recorded this tune from Hughie Bonar he mentions that ‘three or four young men gathered in and three of us spent the evening taking turns at Hughie’s fiddle’. Ennis wrote in Irish on the transcription for this particular tune that this was the last of the nine tunes he transcribed from the fiddle playing of Hughie Bonar. 

Léiríonn nóta san athscríobh gur shíl Séamus Ennis go mb’fhéidir gur ríl Albanach an chéad ríl agus gur chreid Frank Cassidy go bhféadfadh sé gur ‘Bean an Tí ar Lár’ a theideal. Tugtar ‘The Nine Points of Roguery’, coitianta air agus freisin tugtar ‘The Black Mare of Fanad’ nó ‘The Black Fanad Mare’, air. Díol spéise go bhfuil an-chosúlacht ag leagan Frank Cassidy le leagan ar a dtugtar ‘The Kiltyfanad Reel’ a sheinn Francie Dearg, fidléir ó Chill Charthaigh trasna an uisce ó theach Frank Cassidy i dTeileann. Sa leabhar The Northern Fiddler (Feldman/O’Doherty), in agallamh le Con Cassidy, thug Con faoi ndeara go raibh cónaí ar Francie Dearg an taobh eile den uisce ó Theileann agus go dtagadh sé go rialta i mbád thar uisce ar cuairt chuig Frank. Thugadh sé ceolta nua leis chuile chuairt. Thug Ennis faoi ndeara nach raibh ainm ag Frank ar an dara ríl agus ar an athscríobh is é an t-ainm a d’úsáid Ennis an t-ainm a bhí ag a athair féin, an píobaire James Ennis, ‘The Pinch of Snuff’ .

Scríobh Ennis, i nGaeilge, os cionn an chorda sa dara barra ón deireadh ‘le críochnú, fantar ar an nóta seo’.

In September 1943 Séamus Ennis made his initial visits to Frank Cassidy. From the outset he  was very highly impressed with Frank Cassidy’s fiddle playing and noted in his diary on 17.9.43 that ‘if he were to play the fiddle from now until the end of the week, I would not put a foot outside the kitchen’. This jig, which Séamus Ennis didn’t have a title for, is known in Donegal as ‘Australian Waters’ and is associated with the playing of Jimmy Lyons (1903-1977), a contemporary of Frank Cassidy and his cousin, Teileann fiddle player, Con Cassidy. Jimmy Lyons was known as a sweet fiddle player and learned much of his music from the lilting of his father John, who was also a great source of tunes for Frank Cassidy. 

From when he first met him, Séamus Ennis was very taken with Dudley Cloherty, his music, his lilting and his personality. In his  diary on 1.7.43 he described Dudley as ‘an old man, a little over 70 years of age’ with ‘a very sweet voice’. According to Ennis, Dudley liked to make people laugh… ‘you would die laughing at his antics’ which included using a walking stick to imitate the fiddle and whistle with his most comical trick being the way he raised his left foot over his right knee in imitation of piping. This slip jig transcribed from Dudley is a variant of the slip jig ‘The Silvermore’ in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (No. 1141) and is closely related to ‘The Humours of Whiskey’ in Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1 (No. 66).  

Mo Chúranán

The meaning of the title is unclear, but it is most likely a term of endearment.

Ennis wrote “Donnacha got this lullaby from a woman from Co. Antrim one night when there was music in the hotel in Gort an Choirce. He did not recall her name or her address. Seán Ó hEochaidh tells me that he often heard this air in Teileann, Donegal but these were not the words that accompanied it. He could not recall the words, however. I have transcribed the entire lullaby from Donncha.”

[From NFC 1282:33]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote the following above the music notation of the song:

Music from Donnacha Ó Baoighill from Leitir Chatha, Clochán Liath, Tír Chonaill.

‘Mo Chúranán’ lullaby

‘Slowly, in a regular fashion’. He wrote ‘ralle[n]tando’ [gradual decrease of speed] over the final line of the notation.

Fuígfidh mise’n baile seo (I will leave this place)

Ennis noted that Dinny got the song from his father.

In the song, a woman laments the fact that she is married to someone who won’t let her go to mass and won’t buy her a drink or have a drink with her at the ale-house. And he does not press  her to his heart as a young man would.

[NFC 1282:31]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote, in Irish, the words ‘Lighthearted, lively’ above the music transcription.

An Draighneán Donn (The Blackthorn Bush)

This is one of the best-known and most widely sung love songs in Irish.  Ennis noted that Dinny got this version from his father. The song is an unhappy song as is the case with many of the love songs in Irish. The girl is compared to the blossom of the blackthorn and references to the rowan tree, to the dew and to berries occur throughout. In the final verse in this version the girl addresses Páidí asking him whether it matters to him that she is pregnant.

[NFC 1282:73-74]

Amhrán Pheadair Bhreathnaigh [Peadar Breathnach’s Song]

Ennis wrote from Dinny Ó Baoill that this was what the song was called by the old people. It was composed by Peadar Breathnach.  Dinny thought that he was a tailor and recalled that his grandfather spoke about him, saying that he spent some of his life in Leitir Mhic an Bhaird in Na Rosann and that is where he was when he composed ‘Snath na Báiríona’ [The Queen’s Thread]. He spent the last part of his life in Mín na Gualann in the parish of Inis Caoil. He was wanted because of his debts at this time and he avoided them by going to the islands.

The song tells of his being on the run on the islands. He met a girl and asked her where he could get a drink that would raise his spirits. Some of the song is in the form of a conversation between the man and the girl and he describes how he began to sing and the young people gathered in.

[from NFC 1282:15-16]

An Cailín Rua (The Red-Haired Girl)

Ennis noted that Dinny got this song from his father Páidí (Duncaí) who was from Loch an Iúir. The song tells of a man who was in love with a red-haired girl. He describes her beauty,  and praises her. She, however, takes what he gives her and then goes off with a rogue of a shop-boy.

[NFC 1282:71-72]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote in Irish ‘lively’ above the music transcription.

Ennis noted that Dinny got this song from Pádraig Ó Dónaill from Loch an Iúir. Pádraig was around 65 years of age in the mid nineteen forties when Ennis was collecting from Dinny. Ennis noted that the background to the song is on p.100 of  Céad de Cheolta Uladh.

[NFC 1282:23-25]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote ‘easily’ in Irish, above the music transcription.

A number of accounts in the Schools’ Collection of the National Folklore Collection of the late 1930s describe the Great Drowning at Bruckless in 1813.  On the 12th of May of that year large crews of fishermen including men from Teelin and Kilcar, were out on Bruckless Bay fishing for herring. A storm blew up without warning, all the boats capsized and over eighty men were drowned. According to Peadar Ó Beirn, speaking to Séamus Ennis about the tragedy, a piper was heard on that night playing this tune which has been known since as ‘Báthadh Phroclaisc’ ‘ The Drowning at Bruckless’.  A version of this tune with the title ‘Carbray’s Frolics’ can be found in O’Neill’s The Dance Music of Ireland No. 407.

This is a version of a tune known as ‘Maggie Pickins’ which has been variously described as a strathspey, barndance, highland or hornpipe. In Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2 (No. 63) a version was notated in 12/8 time with the title ‘An Chearc ar Fad is an tAnraith’ [The whole hen and the soup]. It was collected by Breandán Breathnach from Sliabh Luachra fiddle player Denis Murphy who called it ‘Charming Lovely Nancy’. It was also published in Allan’s Irish Fiddler as a hornpipe with the title ‘Maggie Pickens’.  A dance to this tune with the name ‘Maggie Pickins’ has long been popular in Donegal. The full title given by Ennis is ‘Tóg do chionn ’sná bíodh ort brón, ’S iomaí cor san óige’ [Raise your head and don’t be sad, Youth takes many a turn].  In his notes to the transcription of Peadar Ó Beirn’s lilting, Séamus Ennis suggests that it was played in polka time.  Ennis also marked with an asterisk, in the final bar of the first and second parts, ‘another version from Peadar’.

Cuach mo Londubh Buí. [?]

A man and his wife are returning from a wake when they meet a young man who asks the man for his wife. She accompanies the young man who is uncouth. After three seasons she returns home.

Ennis noted, in Irish, on the music transcription that it was slightly slower than jig time. Unusually, he did not include lyrics under the staff notation.

[See also Óró Londubh Buí]

[See NFC 1282:115-116]

Bríd Bhán Ní Eochaidh

Ennis wrote that Máire [Ní Bheirn] gave him the song.

Bríd Bhán Ní Eochaidh lived in the middle of Rann na Cille to the left of the main road, in the southern part of Teileann and opposite the house in which Pádraig Eileann Ó Gallchóir is living [1940s] and she was as fine a woman as a man ever laid eyes on. A churlish schoolmaster came from Mín an Bhainne in the parish of Glenties, a remote mountainy place that grew only sedge and decayed mountain grass, when he met a beautiful woman and fell in love with her. It was said that she did not love him a great deal. Nonetheless, they married and he brought her home. When she saw where she was to remain, she became homesick and began to compose the song. The man composed the second verse and she responded in the final verse.

(Seán Ó hEochaidh [the folklore collector] gave me [Ennis] the background to the song.)

[from NFC 1281:113-114].

Note to music transcription:

On the music transcription, Ennis wrote, in Irish, that the song was sung in a slow, regular style. He also indicated that the second note of the second bar was slightly extended.

Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair  [The Green Autumn Stubble]

Ennis entered information in relation to Síle Mhicí on the standard label issued by the Irish Folklore Commission, Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann.  He gives information regarding Síle’s address, occupation, age and date of collecting this and other songs. He also noted that due to her age her singing was no longer exact.

Ennis wrote from Síle that the song is about a man who was on the green stubble fields of autumn and he saw this girl.

[from NFC 1282:245-246]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote in Irish with the music transcription of this song (‘slowly, sweetly’) and in Italian ‘Con anima’ [in a lively fashion]. He explained the two asterisks as sliding from ‘C’ to ‘F’ in each case.

Under the music notation for this song he wrote that this was the final song of the six songs he transcribed from the singing of Cití Ní Ghallchobhair (21).

Goidé Sin Don Té Sin?  [What does it matter to anyone?]

This is a lighthearted song by a man who enjoys life. He says he is sought after by women. Whatever he does, it shouldn’t  matter to anyone.

[See NFC 1282:293]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote the words  ‘Lighthearted, regular’, above the music transcription.

Séamus Ennis first heard of Colm Ó Caodháin in late August 1942 when he was recommended to Ennis as a good singer from Glinsce, north of Carna. In December of that year on a return visit to Conamara he made an effort to meet with Colm Ó Caodháin but bad weather forced him to abandon the visit. It was to be 25 May 1943 before Séamus Ennis would meet Colm and discover that he had ‘a vast store of tunes and songs’ including this jig.  This first part of this tune is closely related to the first part of ‘Rory O’Moore’ as recorded by Mary Ellen Conlon in New York in 1923 on the Gennet label. Mary Ellen, from Milltown in North Galway, was a sister of P.J. Conlon, one of the first Irish-born melodeon players to record commercially in America. ‘Rory O’Moore’ was composed by Dublin native Samuel Lover as part of a comic opera in 1837. It was published as a jig in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (p. 120) and in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland (No. 116). 

Ennis wrote that Dinny got the song from his mother.

This is a lighthearted courting song describing the exchange of messages between the couple in question.

[NFC  1282:32]

Note to music transcription:

On the music transcription Ennis wrote in Irish: ‘At reel tempo’ and the word ‘Chorus’ is written above the music. In the centre of the music transcription he wrote the word ‘Verse’ and at the end of the notation he wrote ‘Chorus again’.

Óró Londubh Buí (Óró, Yellow Blackbird)

Ennis wrote that this version from Dinny is the Gaoth Dobhair version of the song. He got it from Mairéad, Bean Uí Ghuibhir, 30 years earlier [c. 1914], (she was around 60 at the time), Gaoth Dobhair.

A man and his wife are returning from a wake when they meet a young man who asks the man for his wife. She accompanies the young man who is uncouth. After three seasons she returns home.

[See also ‘Cuach Mo Londubh Buí’]

[See NFC 1282: 20-23]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote ‘easily’ in Irish, above the music notation.

An Mhaighdean Mhara [The Mermaid]

Ennis wrote that the song is about a mermaid called Méirí Shinídh. It concerns a man who went out fishing one day and the mermaid came to the stern of the boat and she had a cloak (that was what was keeping her on the surface). He stole it from her and she came home with him. He hid the cloak in a stack of oats. They married and had two children Máire Bhruinnil and Pádraig Bán. One day, the daughter saw this beautiful cloak in the stack of oats and she told her mother about it. The mother went to the stack, took the cloak and returned to the sea. She was very close to her daughter and she would come every day and would comb the girl’s hair and the song is the conversation that took place between them.

Ennis wrote the account from Síle Mhicí.

[ from NFC 1282:250-252]

Note to music transcription:

Ennis wrote the following note at the start of the music notation of Síle’s songs:

Music from Gaoth Dobhair

From Síle (Mhicí ) Ní Ghallchóbhair (82), Dobhar Láir, Donegal. She is not a pure singer now – she does not sing the notes accurately and so I wrote the following six songs from Cití Ní Ghallchobhair (21) (v. the manuscript with lyrics). I wrote the music of the songs from number seven onwards from Síle.

He wrote in Irish ‘slowly’ above the music notation of ‘An Mhaighdean Mhara’.

He also wrote in Irish : ‘ The words ‘ádha’, ‘sámh’ and ‘snámh’ pronounced as in the English word ‘bough’.

This is a lighthearted song in which the composer is compelled by the force of love to celebrate it in song.

Ennis noted on the music transcription that Máire sang it sadly and he wrote ‘easily’ in Irish above the music. He also noted that this is how it is said ‘Doe do ó didle ó’.

This tune was transcribed from the playing of Néillidh Boyle (Niallaí Ó Baoill) of Cró na Sealg, An Clochán Liath. Séamus Ennis was good friends with Néillidh and collected a considerable body of music from him on his collecting trips. He noted in his diary (8.3.44) that one of the things he found most interesting about Néillidh Boyle’s material was the fact that he ‘got it all from the lilting of his mother’, Neansa Nic Suibhne, who was originally from Cruit. This was also noted on the transcription of ‘Seán sa Cheo’ which was the second of two tunes he wrote down from Néillidh Boyle’s playing in early March 1944. A popular tune among Donegal fiddle players, it is particularly suited to octave playing which remains an important element of Donegal fiddle music.