Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1254 (McFadden's)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of McFadden's
 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 MGm (2nd time) (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):
McFadden's / McFadden's Favorite / McFadden's Favourite (also in A)
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
193623#1[BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle).View album details
~19572.15#1[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
19839#2[FG 2] Frankie Gavin. Croch Suas É. Up and Away. Frankie Gavin (flute, fiddle, whistle, accordion).View album details
~19871#1[MM 3] Matt Molloy. Stony Steps. Matt Molloy (flute).View album details
~199510#2[Arc 2] Arcady. Many Happy Returns. Johnny McDonagh (bones, bodhrán, triangle), Nicholas Quemener (guitar, flute, whistle, vocals), Patsy Broderick (piano, keyboards), Conor Keane (accordion), Brendan Larrissey (fiddle), Niamh Parsons (vocals).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.

As tune #1492 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #716 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 149 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 35 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. [available]
As tune #208 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. [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): 1903