Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1376 (Murphy's)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Hornpipe64AABBCCDDD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Murphy'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 MC (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):
Murphy's / Murphy's Hornpipe / Cornphíopa Uí Mhurchadha / Cornphíopa Uí Mhurchú / Murphy's Fancy (also without 3rd and 4th parts)
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
19352.8#1[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).View album details
~196611#1[TMC] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Michael Coleman. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano).View album details
~197710#1[FG 1] Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, whistle), Alec Finn (bouzouki).View album details
~199310#1[JKn 2] James Keane. That's the Spirit. James Keane (accordion).View album details
19953#1[JOL 3] Johnny O'Leary. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).View album details
2001[0] various. Alan's personal digital recordings.
~200714#1[PHGH 2] Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. The Merry Love to Play. Peter Horan (flute), Gerry Harrington (fiddle).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 #213 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
On page 119 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
On page 200 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 34 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. [available]
As hp #37 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): 1935