Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1803 (Speed the Plough)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | D Major |
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 KF (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Speed the Plough / O'Keeffe's Plough / O'Keeffe's 'Speed the Plough' / O'Keeffe's / Charlie Mulvihill's / Mulvihill's / Mulvihill's Reel / Paddy Cronin's Reel / Cronin's Fancy / Johnny Cronin's Fancy / Cronin's Fancy Hornpipe / Cronin's Reel / Cronins / Ríl Uí Chróinín / Tom Billy's / The Doon / Doon Reel / The Kilfenora / Tierney's (4th in set The Lady's Choice Set on BCB 2) (compare The Magpie's Nest #3767 and compare 2nd part with 2nd part of Peg McGrath's #4505)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | 3#2 | [KF] Padraig O'Keefe, Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford. Kerry Fiddles. Padraig O'Keefe (fiddle), Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle). |
| ~1973 | 7#1 | [Ch 3] The Chieftains. 3. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones). |
| ~1974 | 12#2 | [KCB 3] [The Kilfenora Ceili Band]. [The Kilfenora Céilí Band]. |
| 1975 | 4#1 | [Chi] various. Traditional Irish Music in America. Chicago. |
| 1977 | 7#1 | [MBP] Matt Molloy, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples. Matt Molloy. Paul Brady. Tommy Peoples. Matt Molloy (flute), Paul Brady (guitar, vocals), Tommy Peoples (fiddle). |
| 1977 | 14#2 | [JOL 1] Johnny O'Leary. Music for the Set. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra. Johnny O'Leary (accordion). |
| ~1977 | 14#1 | [SE 4] Séamus Ennis. Forty Years of Irish Piping. Seamus Ennis (pipes except where whistle or vocals noted). |
| ~1999 | 8#4 | [BCB 2] The Bridge Céilí Band. Sparks on Flags. Tom Ahearne (fiddle), Robert Gleeson (fiddle), Karen Gavigan (fiddle), Carthage Daly (fiddle), Catherine McHugh (fiddle), James Kinsella (accordion), Fionnuala Gleeson (flute), Eugene Nolan (flute), Pat O'Meara (piano, synthesizer), Liam McCormack (drums, bodhrán). |
| 2001 | 15#1 | [PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin). |
| ~2002 | 3#3 | [SN 3] Sliabh Notes. Along Blackwater's Banks. Matt Cranitch (fiddle), Dónal Murphy (accordion), Tommy O'Sullivan (guitar, vocals). |
| ~2002 | 2.6#2 | [MSCB] Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton (accordion), Caroline Tubridy (fiddle), Pat Curtin (flute), Brian Morgan (flute), Ralph Morgan (banjo), George Byrt (piano), Martin Garrihy (drums). |
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 58 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #41 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| As tune #14 in volume 3 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| As tune #93 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As tune #150 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As tune #9 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 61 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 100 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #315 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As reel #214 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
| As tune #100 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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): 1952