Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#172 (Blackthorn Stick)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MC (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | D Major |
Blackthorn Stick, The / The Real Blackthorn Stick / Blackthorne Stick / The Irishman's Blackthorn Stick / The Old Blackthorn / The Old Blackthorn Reel / The Auld Blackthorn Reel / The Blackthorn Reel / The Blackthorn / An Sean-draighneán / An Maide Draighin / An Bata Draighin / Jolly Clamdiggers / Jolly Clam-diggers / The Jolly Clamdiggers / Rising Sun / The Rising of the Sun / Strone Johnny / Fin's Favourite / Clear the Road / The Inch of Garth / Jack McGuire (1st in set The Real Blackthorn Stick on MC) (also doubled, also in Bb) (compare The Rising Sun #1678)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1924 | 2.7#1 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| 1927 | 16#1 | [IDM 2] Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. Flanagan Brothers: Joe Flanagan (accordion), Mike Flanagan (banjo). |
| ~1964 | 7#1 | [CmA 1] The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. Fred Finn (fiddle). |
| ~1969 | 6#1 | [FFurey] Finbar Furey. Traditional Irish Pipe Music. Finbar Furey (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (A whistle). |
| 1972 | 2#1 (0:27) | [JC] Joe Cooley. Cooley. Joe Cooley (accordion). |
| ~1978 | 6#1 | [MMlny 1] Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki), Eugene O'Donnell (fiddle), Joe McKenna (pipes, whistle), Patrick Sky (whistle), Shelley Posen (concertina, vocals, guitar). For this tune: Mick Moloney (banjo), Eugene O'Donnell (fiddle). |
| ~1997 | 14#2 | [PCny] Paddy Canny. Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler. Paddy Canny (fiddle). |
| 1999 | 2#5 (11:17) | [MH 4] Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill. Live in Seattle. Martin Hayes (fiddle), Dennis Cahill (guitar). |
| 1999 | 7#2 | [Dnu 2] Danú. Think before You Think. Tom Doorley (flute, whistle), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki, mandola), Brendan McCarthy (accordion), Jesse Smith (fiddle, viola), Noel Ryan (guitar), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Ciarán Ó Gealbháin (vocals). For this tune: 1st time Jesse Smith (fiddle). |
| 2000 | 4#2 | [Ch W] The Chieftains. Water from the Well. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle, accordion), Derek Bell (harp, harpsichord, piano, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute). For this tune: with Barney McKenna (banjo). |
| ~2003 | 13#1 | [KitRec] Seán O'Driscoll and Larry Egan. The Kitchen Recordings. Seán O'Driscoll (banjo, bouzouki), Larry Egan (accordion). |
| ~2003 | 6#1 | [MatH] Brendan Bulger, Marty Fahey, Kathleen Gavin. Music at the House. Brendan Bulger (fiddle), Marty Fahey (accordion, piano), Kathleen Gavin (piano). |
| ~2003 | 2.19#3 | [WFO 2] Wooden Flute Obsession 2. Joe Skelton (flute). |
| ~2007 | 9#2 | [PHGH 2] Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. The Merry Love to Play. Peter Horan (flute), Gerry Harrington (fiddle). |
| ~2008 | 7#1 | [RossBr] Ben Lennon and Tony O'Connell. Rossinver Braes. Ben Lennon (fiddle), Tony O'Connell (concertina). |
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 #136 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 106 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #155 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As reel #210 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #1 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #157 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
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): 1924