I learned “The Cordal Jig” from my good friend Sami Koenig, a wonderful fiddle player from Switzerland, during one of his visits to Ireland. Cordal is a village in North Kerry.
X:1
T:Cordal (The)
M:6/8
R:Jig
K:D
|:BAF E2E|FEF DFA|BAF EFA|B2A Bcd|
BAF ~E3|FEF DFA|def edc|B2A Bcd:||
|:d2e fed|c2c ecA|dcd fed|f2e fga|
d2d fed|c2c ecA|dcB cBA|B2A Bcd:||
I learned The Kilnamona Barndance from the playing of Gerdie Commane, in a video published by Custy’s Music Shop on their website a good few years back. John Williams, a great accordion and concertina player from Chicago who spent a lot of time in Doolin, also recorded this tune on one of the first albums of the band Solas.
“I Will if I Can” is a jig that I associate with the village of Kilfenora, and fiddle James Devitt in particular. I learned it through various sessions in North Clare and it is quite a popular tune in the area.
“John McHugh’s Jig” is a very common session tune here in Doolin. I learned it at one of the Super Sunday sessions in O’Connor’s Pub with Noel O’Donoghue, Sean Vaughan and Hugh Healy. It is part of one of my favourite set, which is associated with the Kilfenora Ceili Band.
2 thoughts on “Cordal Jig (The)”
When did this tune originate? What year?
Hi Greg! Thanks for leaving a comment 🙂 It is a very old tune, dating back to the late 1700s at least. It is mentioned in James Aird book “Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 3”, published in Glasgow in 1788. It is also present in James Goodman’s collection in the mid 1800s and both books have it under the name “Jackson’s Bouner Bougher” or “Jackson’s Banner Banogher”. I hope that helps!