Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1410 (Bells of Tipperary)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Bells of Tipperary
 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 AMPR (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):
Bells of Tipperary, The / Bell of Tipperary / Belles of Tipperary / The New Policeman (compare The Belles of Tipperary / Braes of Auchtertyre in book RM, in C Major, included here; compare 2nd part with 2nd part of An Ceolchumann #2911)
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
~19769#1[MM 1] Matt Molloy accompanied by Dónal Lunny. Matt Molloy. Matt Molloy (flute).View album details
~197612#1[AMPR] Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paddy Reynolds (fiddle).View album details
~19866#1[HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals).View album details
~19888#2[NH 1] Noel Hill. The Irish Concertina. Noel Hill (concertina).View album details
~199512#2[KC 1] Kevin Crawford. 'D' Flute Album. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhrán).View album details
~19969#2[SBw] Folan and Davey. Skin and Bow. Declan Folan (fiddle), Junior Davey (bodhrán).View album details
20026#3[EGrs 1] Eliot Grasso. Standing Room Only. Eliot Grasso (pipes).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 94 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
On page 48 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #40 in [P] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels.
As reel #229 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
In [L] Alan's private loose music.
As reel #243 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #49 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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): 1971
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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