1. September '95

Reels

Sporting Nell
The Maid I Ne'er Forgot, 2' 37"

In Clare we love our traditional music, but we also love our hurling". Anthony Daly's speech on that historic
day in September 1995 lifted the hearts of musicians and hurlers alike

2. Saffron and Blues

Jigs

The South-West Wind, Garret Barry's, 2'39.

Clare's traditional colours, worn in victory and defeat by generations of Clare hurlers and footballers. Our arrival on the all-Ireland stage in the 1990s brought unprecedented colour and atmosphere to Croke Park.

3. The Mould Breakers

Air/Hornpi pe

Rahilly's Grave, An Caislean Oir 4' 48"

The second tune here, a lovely hornpipe composed by the late Junior Crehan from the football stronghold of
west Clare, reminds us that it was the Clare footballers who first made the breakthrough with their historic
Munster final win in 1992. The hornpipe is played by kind permission of the Crehan family.

4. Clare 250

 Reels

Stone in the Field, Martin Wood's Reel 2' 41"

The object of this CD is to generate funds for the Clare
250 Cancer Centre. It is entirely appropriate that John Dunne, the spearhead of this project, is himself a
former Eire Og and Clare hurler and a singer, who toured with a number of ceili bands in the 1960s.

5. The Influences

 Jigs

The Goat onthe Green, Bobby Casey's 2' 34"

Joe Ryan from Inagh and the late Paddy Murphy of Kilmaley were long-time friends of my late father, so I had the benefit of the best of musical guidance from an early age. Joe's other great interest is Clare
hurling...talking hurling gives him as much p(easure as playing music. Paddy Canny's haunting fiddle playing
has always been a strong influence upon me. Indeed, many of the tunes on this album are ones I was drawn to
by Paddy's unique way of playing them. And, of course,the late, great Paddy O'Brien of Newtown, Tipperary.
I had the good fortune of visiting him on a number of occasions in the 1970s. I got invaluable help from this
most modest of men; every visit to that friendly,hospitable house gave me a deeper insight into the
music, accordeon playing and...Tipperary hurling!

6. Against the Wind

 Set Dance

The Mount
Phoebus Hunt 2'33"

In 1996,Ollie Byrnes did Clare hurling a remarkable service by Compiling a comprehensive history of hurling in Clare. Mercier Press tells us. "Against the Wind is an authentic, riveting and lively account of a sporting tradition
as rich as Clare's musical heritage

Ollie is also a music reviewer for several publications which is hardly surprising, since the home of Ollie's parents, Bridie and the late Martin, housed many a good session
of music in days gone by

7. Earliest Memories

Reels

Tommy Coen's, Mother's
Delight 2' 42"

Most of my earliest memories are about someone in the family either playing music or hurling: my grandfather John playing his favourite tune on the concertina- I
discovered years later it was Rakish Paddy; my father Brudsie hurling with the Faughs in Cusack Park; uncles
Billy and P J Murphy with the brass band as they practised marching and playing on a quiet road outside
town; another uncle, Vincent, parading round town with the rest of the victorious Rovers team. P J and
Anthony, youngest of the Murphy family, were lifelong traditional musicians and an influence until their
untimely deaths.

8. The man from Ruan

Jigs

Down the Back Lane, Scully Casey's 2' 37"

Jimmy Smyth one of Clare's and Ireland's greatest ever hurlers; lover of traditional music and song; singer,
songwriter and authority on songs, poems, recitations of gaelic games in Munster. A recent publication is Ballads of the Banner-a remarkable collection of songs and poems of gaelic games in Clare.
Laoch den chead scoth

9. In Memoriam

 Air

Binchnoic Eireann 6 3' 27"

"Beyond this place of toil and tears, beyond this plain of woe, there is a bourne in paradise, where all the hurlers go,
And there in prime they're goaling, and race across the sod, and thrill our dead forefathers, on the level
lawns of God"
Brian McMahon.

10. The Young Bloods

Reels

The Cup of Tea, The Clogher Reel 3' 50"

Every team needs an injection of young blood to provide new energy and enthusiasm. Conor and Ann Marie have these in abundance

11.An Leaid Og

Jigs

The First Trout, Trip to Sligo 3' 14"

The first tune in this set is a lovely three-part jig composed by Conor McCarthy. I think it's safe to say
that without Conor's promptings, guidance and reassurance, this album would never see the light of
day. The second tune is an old Paddy Canny favourite.

12. An Buachaill

Air

An Buachaill Caol Dubh 3' 23"

I got this air from Niall Behan, an outstanding producer of scoraiochtai and seisiuin ceoil and a fount of
knowledge on the big songs of Munster. This unusual setting of An Buachaill Caol Dubh is one of two airs on this album that I got from Niall-the other is An Goirtin Eornan. It appears that An Buachaill Caol Dubh was
also a hurler:

"Agus deir gach aon fhear-'seo
chugainn a 'reice, Beidh baiire laochais anseo go foill'
Nuair is chucu leimeann an Buachaill Caol Dubh
Is a chaman gleasta ina ghlac chun spoirt"

13. The Blend

Reels

Killarney Boys of Pleasure, Egan's, Mary of the Grove 3' 55"

People who know hurling tell us you can't have a successful team without a good blend of youth and experience Here, Anne Marie provides the youth
while Mike Fitzgerald. Terry Moorehead and myself row in with the experience 

14. The Sponsors

Air

An Goirtin Eornan 2' 12"

The sponsors in modern-day hurling playa very big role in funding the running of club and county teams. The sponsors of this album play an equally important role in ensuring that the maximum funding goes to the cancer centre
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir

15. Final Whistle

Reels

Bunch of Keys, Eileen Curran 3' 39"

There could be no more fitting way to end this musical hurling game than the following quotation from the pen of Jimmy Smyth "Hurling is special, the body and soul of a people, surviving to speak of a past that is noble, distinctive and proud, with a game that is surely
unique"
I know that Jimmy would agree that these
sentiments, so well expressed, could equally be
applied to our traditional music and song.