Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 105 (Ballydesmond Polka)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Polka32AABBD Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Ballydesmond Polka
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording SatG (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Ballydesmond Polka / Ballydesmond Polka No. 1 / The Ballydesmond (1) / Donncha Lynch's (1st in set The Ballydesmond Polkas on SatG and in JOL; mislabeled as Knocknabowl on ItS; 2nd in set Ballyfin Polkas on Ch W)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd Discography

Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune		 [Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
~19699#1[SatG] Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford. The Star above the Garter. Fiddle music from Kerry, played by Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford. Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle).View album details
~197711#2[ItS] various. In the Smoke. View album details
~19966#1[BC] Séamus Begley and Stephen Cooney. Meitheal. Séamus Begley (accordion, vocals), Stephen Cooney (guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, ditjeridú).View album details
~19976#1[CBt] various. Celtic Beat. Traditional Music from Ireland. Neil Martin (pipes, whistle), Davy Maguire (flute, whistle), Brian McAteer (fiddle), Breandan O'Hare (flute, whistle), Jason O'Rourke (concertina), John McSherry (pipes), Ray Gallen (bodhrán).View album details
200014#2[Ch W] The Chieftains. Water from the Well. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle, accordion), Derek Bell (harp, harpsichord, piano, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

On page 126 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #20#1 in volume 2 of [AW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle.
As tune #57 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As polka #2 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #34 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. [available]
As polka #3 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]

If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1969
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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