1. single jig/reel - mary brennan's favourite/ the white leaf (2:37)

trad.  arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada – fiddle

Two tunes played here in their raw state, the first played on the 1968 Gael Linn LP entitled "Seoda Ceoil" by the fiddler and concertina player John Kelly of Clare. Mary Brennan was in fact a grandmother of John Kelly's on his mother's side. The second tune was collected in Monaghan from a musician by the name of Jack Wade by Breandán Breathnach during the middle of the twentieth century. It is a version of the well-known reel, The Mason's Apron, in regard to which Wade is noted as saying: " This is the old way of playing it. It is played quite different now like many more."
 

2. reels - the top room/ the kerryman's daughter (2:43)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada and séamus quinn

oisín mac diarmada – fiddle
séamus quinn - piano 

A 1920's influence in evidence here, featuring a reel recorded by the great Sligo fiddler, James Morrison as part of a duet with accordion player, Peter Conlon. The Kerryman's Daughter which features on a recording by Michael Coleman from the same era, was also recorded under the title, The Fisherman's Lilt, by Morrison.
 

3. polkas - the merry/ girl/ charlie o'neill's (2:32)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada – fiddle

A further track influenced by the music of Sligo/Leitrim. The first tune was recorded by Leitrim flute player, John McKenna, along with banjo player Michael Gaffney in 1934 on the Decca label, while the second tune, named after the noted Tyrone fiddler Charlie O'Neill was first heard from the flute playing of Harry Bradley a number of years ago at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School. It featured under the name. Paddy Spillane's in a publication of the music of Kerryman, Johnny O'Leary.

4. jigs -jackson's morning brush/ the rambling pitchfork (3:25)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & john carty

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle
john carty - fiddle 

A change of texture here to a fiddle duet and a selection of jigs which were recorded by the legendary Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman on the Vacation label in May 1921
 

5. reels - the flannel jacket/ the maid that dare not tell (2:11)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & tristan rosenstock 

oisín mac diarmada - whistle
tristan rosenstack – bodhrán 

Beginning with a tune from the 19th century Roche Collection, this selection features a combination, that of whistle and bodhrán, which has been used to great effect by musicians such as Josie McDermot of Balyfarnon, Co. Roscommon. The second reel is an unusual setting which featured in the repertoire of the great uilleann piper, Patsy Touhey.
 

6. hornpipes - the cisco hornpipe/ walsh's hornpipe (3:56)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle

The Cisco Hornpipe is a tune which was played by Denis Murphy, the great Kerry fiddle player. It was through the piano accordion playing of Mary Crowley of Cork that I first gained exposure to this tune a number of years ago. The second hornpipe featured in the late 1970's on separate recordings by Jackie Daly and Kevin Burke on the Green Linnet label, though it is played in a contrasting key in this instance.
 

7. reels - the rainy day/ the trip to durrow (3:26)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & seán mcelwain

oisín mac diarmada – fiddle
seán mcelwain – bouzouki 

The Trip to Durrow appears to have been first recorded by Paddy Moloney on the uilleann piping compilation album The Drones and the Chanters in 1971. The Rainy Day is a reel that con be heard on recordings by Seámus Ennis from 1977 and by The Bothy Bond in 1975.

8. slow air – bean a'leanna (3:56)

trad arranged by oisín mac diarmada

 oisín mac diarmada – fiddle

One of the first songs recorded on the Gael Linn label by Joe Heaney, noted sean nós singer from Carna, in the Gaeltacht area of Galway
 

9. reels - the maids of mount kisco/ johnny henry's (2:25)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle

Two reels here which ore associated strongly with Sligo music. The Maids of Mount Kisco relates to an areo in upper New York state, and was first recorded in 1937 by Paddy Killoron, the famous fiddle player from Ballymote in Co. Sligo. Incidentally. Poddy Killoron is also suspected of having had a strong hand in the composition of this tune. The second tune relates to another highly-regarded Sligo fiddler, Johnny Henry, who came from Doocastle on the border of Sligo and Mayo.
 

10. jigs - the lark in the morning/ tony kenny's/sheila's jig (3:19)

tony kenny's composed by tony henny
sheila's jig composed by brendan tonra
trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & john blake

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle
john blake – guitar

One of two chief versions of the Lark in the Morning which is associated with the playing of Séamus Ennis, begins this set of jigs. The remainder of the set comprises tunes of more recent origin, the first composed by a fiddler, Tony Kenny of Ferbane, Co. Offaly, with whom I made acquaintance many years ago.
The last jig was written by Brendan Tonra, the composer of many fine tunes, who though living in Boston at present, was brought up near Charlestown on the Mayo/Sligo border.
 

11. reel - the morning thrush (2:50)

composed by James Ennis
trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle

Composed by James Ennis, father to the legendary piper Seámus Ennis, this tune has become synonymous with the piping tradition in particular. According to Seámus, it was inspired by the sound of a thrush which sang each morning outside his father's bedroom window. It won first prize in the 1913 Dublin Feis Ceoil competition for newly composed tunes, a fact which is all the less surprising, upon hearing the tune.
 

12. hornpipe/ schottische - peter wyper's/ the killarney wander (2:49)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & john carty 

oisín mac diarmada- fiddle
john carty - fiddle              

A return to the fiddle duet texture, and to a hornpipe which John heard from the accordion playing of PJ Hernon. The name, Peter Wyper's, comes from the Scottish melodeon player who recorded it first in 1912. It has since been recorded by Seámus Walsh on Ceol Chois Fharraige (GTD c. 1985) and by Máire O'Keeffe ond Pout McGrattan on Kevin Conneff's The Week Before Easter (Claddagh, 1988). This first tune subsequently flows into a schottische which appeared on a 1924 recording by Michael Coleman on the New Republic label.
 

13. single jigs - larry mcdonagh's/ cock up & c & c (3:06)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle 

The first of these single jigs comes from the playing of Larry and Michael Joe McDonagh from Ballinafad, Co. Sligo, two brothers with a most distinctive rhythmic style of playing. A recording of the McDonagh brothers, based on field recording undertaken by Poddy Ryan in the late 1960's, has been released bu Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in recent times. The second tune is an interesting inclusion from the 19th century Goodman Collection, the first volume of which has been published as part of the significant work of the Irish Traditional Music Archive.
 

14. reels - the tinker's frolic/ mary of the grove (2:45)

trad arranged by oisín mac diarmada, damien stenson & seán mcelwain 

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle
damien stenson - flute
seán mcelwain – bouzouki

A solitary fiddle and flute duet here featuring two attacking reels. The first tune is a further contribution from the Goodman manuscripts, while the second reel, a tune in somewhat more widespread circulation, can be found in the Roche Collection
 

15. jig - the strayaway child (3:52)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle

A track here comprising but a single tune. composed by Margaret Barry and associated with the playing of Michael Gorman, a fiddle player from near Tubbercurry in South Sligo. Best known as the source of the reel, The Mountain Road, Gorman spent much of his musical life in London. The Strayaway Child featured in a recording by the Bothy Bond from the late 1970's, and also on a track from an archival compilation album released by the Coleman Heritage Centre in Gurteen, Co. Sligo. The track in question features the fiddle playing of Sligo musician, Joe O'Dowd.

16. flings - money musk/john-joe gannon's (2:18)

trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & séamus quinn

oisín mac diarmada- fiddle
seámus quinn - piano

A return to the 1920's-style piano accompaniment of Séamus Quinn and two flings, the first of which featured in on early recording by the James Morrison Orchestra. An accordion player, John-Joe Gannon from Streamstown, Co. Westmeath provided the source for the second tune, which is a version of the well-known reel, Drowsy Maggie
 

17. reels - aughamore/ hughie's cap (2:32)

composed by ed reavy.
trad. arranged by oisín mac diarmada & seán mcelwain

oisín mac diarmada - fiddle
seán mcelwain - bouzouki 

A set of compositions by Cavan fiddler, Ed Reavy, who spent much of his life in the US city of Philadelphia. The second of these two reels brings on unusual change of key and the introduction of bouzouki accompaniment.