| Rhythm | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hornpipe | 32 | AABB | D Major |

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording 1 (Pat Cloonan) (details in the Discography below).
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). | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 1.21#2 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). | |
| ~1966 | 5#2 | [TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). | |
| 2000 | 13#3 | [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). | |
| ~2000 | 11#2 | [DH 3] Dan Herlihy and John Drew. The Ballydesmond Polka. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra Played By Dan Herlihy and John Drew. Dan Herlihy (accordion), John Drew (mandocello). | |
| 2002 | 13#1 | [1] various. Alan's personal session tapes. | |
| ~2005 | 6#2 | [JCt 5] John Carty. I Will If I Can. John Carty (banjo, guitar, fiddle). |
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.
| As tune #1655 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| On page 118 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #106 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| As tune #299 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. |
| On page 186 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As hp #31 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| On page 118 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
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?