Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1690 (Rocky Road to Dublin)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Slip jig16ABA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Rocky Road to Dublin
 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 SE 2 (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):
Rocky Road to Dublin, The / Rocky Road to Dublin / Black Burke / Black Rock (also with various 3rd parts, also doubled, also in A Mixolydian)
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
~194824#1[LR 1] Leo Rowsome. Classics of Irish Piping. Leo Rowsome (pipes).View album details
~19736#2[SE 2] Seamus Ennis. The Pure Drop. Seamus Ennis (pipes).View album details
~19975#1[CBt] various. Celtic Beat. Traditional Music from Ireland. Neil Martin (pipes, whistle), Davy Maguire (flute, whistle), Brian McAteer (fiddle), Breandan O'Hare (flute, whistle), Jason O'Rourke (concertina), John McSherry (pipes), Ray Gallen (bodhrán).View album details
19988#1[Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals).View album details
~200713#2[Hmdgr] Paul Brock and Enda Scahill. Humdinger. Paul Brock (accordion), Enda Scahill (banjo, mandolin).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 #1116 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #411 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #257 in volume 2 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #36 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 79 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 49 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. [available]
On page 233 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 221 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As slipjig #19 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #301 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [available]
As tune #76 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. [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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