“The Abbey Reel” is a popular session tune that I learned from a session with Terry Bingham, Yvonne Casey & Stéphane. It was actually one of the first reels I learned on the concertina, back in 2007.
X:1
T:Abbey Reel, The
R:reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Ador
A3B A2GE|A2GA BGdB|A2AB AGEF|G2GA BGdB|
A2AB AGEG|A2GA BddB|A2AB AGEF|G2GA BGBd||
e~g3 a2ab|gabg aged|e~g3 a2ga|bgaf gedg|
e~g3 agbg|agbg aged|e~g3 a2ga|bgaf gedB||
I first learned “Josephine Begley’s” many years ago from Terry Bingham’s album, on which he calls this tune “Mairtin O’Connor’s”. I only found out in February 2021 that this hornpipe was in fact a composition of Frankie Gavin. It is the great flute and concertina player from Laois Tommy Fitzharris who provided me with this information.
A very common session tune, “The Galway Rambler” was one of the first reel I ever learned. It was my friend Gilles Tabary who taught it to me in Switzerland. I associate this tune with flute player Adrian McMahon from Kilfenora, with whom I have enjoyed many good sessions these past few years.
The One That Was Lost is a jig I have known for a long time and is one of my favourite tunes. It is a composition of the great Paddy O’Brien from Tipperary and quite a common session tune.
