Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1471 (Old Woman of the House)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Old Woman of the House
 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 AL (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):
Old Woman of the House, The / The Woman of the House / 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)
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
~195121#1[AL] various. World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: Ireland. View album details
19888#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).View album details
19935#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).View album details
~199315#3[MB 2] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin 2. Mary Bergin (whistle).View album details
~19932.2#4[GL20] various. Green Linnet Records. The Twentieth Anniversary Collection. View album details
~199415#1[CmA 1] various. The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. View album details
199513#2[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
19966#3[TF] Martin Dowling, Christine Dowling, Daithi Sproule. A Thousand Farewells. Martin Dowling (fiddle), Christine Dowling (flute, vocals), Daithi Sproule (guitar).View album details
199817#2[Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals).View album details
~20029#1[Fns] Feenish. Rabharta. P.J. Hernon (accordion), Marcus Hernon (flute, whistle), Don Stiffe (vocals, guitar, whistle).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 #1300 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #565 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
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. [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
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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