I learned the jig “Donnybrook Fair” from the playing of concertina player Dympna O’Sullivan. It is a common session tune, which was also recorded by Josephine Marsh on the album “To Meet A Friend” with Cyril O’Donoghue.
X:1
T:Donnybrook Fair
R:Jig
M:6/8
K:G
|:G2G AGA|Bee dBA|BAB GAB|AGE EDE|
GFG AGA|B2e dBA|BAB GAB|1 AGF G2D:|2 AGF GBd||
gfe fed|ege dBA|Bee dBA|Bed e2f|
g2g fed|ege dBA|BAB GAB|AGF GBd|
gfe fed|ege dBA|B2e dBA|Bed e2f|
g2g aga|bge dBA|BAB GAB|AGF G2D||
I learned “Jenny Picking Cockles” from Terry Bingham, who recorded it with Dermot Byrne on his album “Traditional Irish Music from Doolin, Co. Clare”. I also associate this tune with my good friend Paolo Cerato.
“The Limestone Rock” is a common session tune here in North Clare and the name is actually a reference to the Burren. This reel appears in O’Neill’s book as “Tit for Tat”. It is very often followed by “The Humours of Loughrea”, another great reel. I learned this set from Noel O’Donoghue.
“The Glen Road To Carrick” is a great reel from Donegal which I learned from the playing of James Cullinan and Dermot Byrne. They played an amazing concert at the Corofin Trad Fest back in 2013, and I learned this tune afterwards. They actually recorded it a good few years ago (1987!) for a TG4 program (see the video).
