This reel came about just before Halloween in 2009 when I was playing the fiddle, alone in my grandparents’ house in Aill na Brún, Iorras Aithneach, Connemara. It was a very windy and stormy night.

An Bhinn Bhuí is the name of the hill near the house in that townland. It roughly translates to “yellow summit”, which I think refers to the yellow gorse flowers that bloom on it abundantly each autumn.

This tune was inspired by the playing of Jacqueline McCarthy on concertina and Tommy Keane on pipes, in particular when they play in B flat tuning. I really like listening to them and was also hoping to compose a tune that might sound like a piping tune with a particular atmosphere.

Note: The tune was recorded in F. It could be played in G or A, but it was written to be played in a lower key.

I started humming the first part of this tune one summer, sometime between 2010 and 2014, while looking at Croc Mordáin (Mordán’s hill), whilst out walking on the bog near Aill na Méaracáin, near Cill Chiaráin, Connemara. I added the second part when I got home. Mordán, according to local folklore, was a druid who had the hill named after him. Croc Mordáin is the highest hill in south Connemara and has great views from every side on a clear day.

The title is a mixture of the two placenames, so it became “Méaracáin Mhordáin” – Mordán’s foxgloves.

Note: The tune was recorded in C, but could be played in any key.

Both this tune and Port Muireann Anna were composed on the piano on the same day in June 2018. They’re dedicated to my siblings Eoghan and Muireann (I also put their middle names in the titles).
I can’t remember many details about what was happening but it was an improvisation, loosely based on what I perceived to be the general way they might have been at the time!

Both this tune and Port Eoghan Páraic were composed on the piano on the same day in June 2018. They’re dedicated to my siblings Eoghan and Muireann (I also put their middle names in the titles). I can’t remember many details about what was happening but it was an improvisation, loosely based on what I perceived to be the general way they might have been at the time!

Ríl an Ghoirt/Ríl Ghort Inse Guaire – This reel was inspired by some of the many fantastic sessions at the Cooley-Collins traditional music festival in Gort, Co. Galway.
It’s dedicated to the musicians I met and played with there over several years, especially the ones who were still playing and singing until all hours!
Note: This tune was recorded in C but could be played in D.

This is a tune I composed in 2014, following Éigse an Spidéil. It was the first time I had attended the festival and I was really inspired by the fantastic musicians, singers and dancers there, as well as the lovely atmosphere. The concert was a particular highlight.

Note: This tune was recorded in C, but could be played in D.