Hooper's Jig & The burdett

Two jigs goes together well!

Dennis Murphy's Polka

Carrickfergus

A beautifull song, here brought by Jim McCann and The Dubliners.

From this song I made a transcription for bouzouki

The hills of Greenmore & Cailin rua

Two songs, performed by Dervish

One fine winter's morn my horn I did blow

To the green fields of Keady for hours we did go
We covered our dogs and we searched all the way
For none loves this sport better than the boys in the Dale.
And when we are rising we're all standing there
We sit up by the fields, boys, in search of the hare

We didn't get far till someone gave the cheer
Over high hills and valleys this sweet puss did steer
As we flew o'er the hills, 'twas a beautiful sight
There was dogs black and yellow, there was dogs black and bright
Now she took to the black bank for to try them once more
Oh it was her last ride o'er the hills of Greenmore

In the field fleet stubble this pussy did lie
And in growing chary they did pass her by
And there well we stood at the top of the brae
We heard the last words that this sweet puss did say:

"No more o'er the green fields of Keady I'll roam
In touch of the fields, boys, in sporting and fun
Or hear the long horn that your toner does play
I'll go home to my den by the clear light of day"

You may blame ?our right man? for killing the hare
For he ?said his o.k. first? this many a year
On Saturday and Sunday he never gives o'er
With a pack of strange dogs round the hills of Greenmore.

Bonaparte crossing the Rocky Mountains

a slow reel, used for the song 'The Irish Pub' (see post december 2010)

The Bog Down in the Valley

One well-known Irish Drinking Song

The Bellaghy Fair (swaggering jig)

A story at the Fair of Bellaghy

Off She Goes

It's a Long way to Tipperary

Jack Judge was a music-hall entertainer, and composer of popular songs. He was born in 1872, and died in 1938. He achieved his main fame for being the composer of the world famous song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", which he wrote in 1912. This song was adopted by the 7th. Battalion of the Connaught Rangers Regiment of the British Army. The Rangers were mostly Irishmen, and the regiment had connections with Tipperary Town. No doubt the 7th. Battalion taught the song to their comrades who were transported from Ireland to England in 1914 to muster before The Connaught Rangers went to France at the start of 'The Great War' in August 1914. From the battlefields of France & Belgium, the fame of the song spread far and wide, and it is still known and sung today. It is the main thing for which the town of Tipperary is known worldwide.

Richard Conan

On my trip to Brittany, last week, I visited Richard Conan in his workshop in Carhaix-Plouguer where I could try some of his mandolines and his bouzoukis.

Mrs Anne Mc Dermoet Roe (O'Carolan)

A tune by O'Carolan in 2/4

Princess en mains tenez

A song from Brittany, known by Tri Yann.
Here you have a partition with 3 voices

Mrs Judge (O'Carolan)

Another O'Carolan tune, here played on piano

Roddy Mc Corley

McCorley, the son of a miller, participated in the rebellion in Duneane, County Antrim. Some sources indicate that Roddy was a young Roman Catholic Defender, while others claim that he was a United Irishman of the Presbyterian faith. He and his family had been evicted from their farm before the rebellion owing to the execution of his father for stealing sheep, a charge thought to have been politically motivated. After the rebellion, Roddy went into hiding for almost a year, joining a company of soldiers who had deserted to the Irish cause, who were excluded from the terms of "surrender and protection" for fugitives. This company was called the "Archer gang" by their enemies. During an attempt to flee to the United States, McCorley was betrayed, captured by British soldiers and court-martialed in Ballymena. The trial and subsequent execution, where he is named "Roger MacCorley", is given in a contemporary issue of the The Belfast News-Letter issued in March, 1800.
He was executed on 28 February 1800 in the town of Toomebridge "near the bridge of Toome" which had been partially destroyed by rebels in 1798 to prevent the arrival of reinforcements from west of the River Bann. His body was then dissected by the British and buried under the Belfast–Derry road until the mid-19th century, when he was exhumed by a nephew working on road development and given a proper burial in an unmarked grave in Duneane churchyard.
His great-grandson, Roger McCorley, was an officer in the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921

Three Sea Captains

A lovely tune, also used for Irish tapdancing, here plpayed on a mandoline