Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1471 (Old Woman of the House)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording AL (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Old Woman of the House, The / The Woman of the House / Lady of the House / The Lady of the House / Máistreás an Tí / The Mistress of the House / Pádraig O'Keeffe's 'Woman of the House' / O'Keeffe's 'Woman of the House' / Old Maids of Sligo / Old Leitrim / The Cows Are A-Milking / Walsh's (compare #2082)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1951 | 21#1 | [AL] World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: Ireland. Seamus Ennis (C# pipes). |
| 1988 | 8#3 | [GFA] The Green Fields of America. Live in Concert. Mick Moloney (banjo, mandolin, guitar, tres, vocals), Robbie O'Connell (guitar, vocals), Jimmy Keane (piano accordion, synthesizers, vocals), Eileen Ivers (fiddle), Seamus Egan (pipes, flute, whistle, bodhrán, tres). |
| 1993 | 5#4 | [CTL 4] Cherish the Ladies. Out and About. Joanie Madden (flute, whistle, vocals), Mary Coogan (guitar, banjo, bouzouki), Maureen Doherty Macken (accordion, whistle), Winifred Horan (fiddle), Siobhan Egan (fiddle, bodhrán), Cathie Ryan (vocals). |
| ~1993 | 15#3 | [MB 2] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin 2. Mary Bergin (whistle). For this tune: with Joe McKenna (pipes). |
| ~1993 | 2.2#4 | [GL20] Green Linnet Records. The Twentieth Anniversary Collection. Cherish the Ladies. |
| ~1994 | 15#1 | [CmA 1] The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. Tom McGowan (fiddle). |
| 1995 | 13#2 | [JOL 3] Johnny O'Leary. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. Johnny O'Leary (accordion). |
| 1996 | 6#3 | [TF] Martin Dowling, Christine Dowling, Daithi Sproule. A Thousand Farewells. Martin Dowling (fiddle), Christine Dowling (flute, vocals), Daithi Sproule (guitar). |
| 1998 | 17#2 | [Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals). |
| 2002 | 15#1 | [HB 2] Harry Bradley. As I Carelessly Did Stray
. Harry Bradley (flute, whistle). For this tune: (flute), with Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle). |
| ~2002 | 9#1 | [Fns] Feenish. Rabharta. P.J. Hernon (accordion), Marcus Hernon (flute, whistle), Don Stiffe (vocals, guitar, whistle). |
| ~2011 | 12#3 | [DdBzz] Mick O'Brien and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. Deadly Buzz. Aoibhinn Crónán. Mick O'Brien (pipes, whistle, flute), Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (hardanger fiddle, fiddle, whistle). For this tune: (hardanger fiddle), (Bb pipes). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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 #1300 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #565 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #71 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #210 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
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