Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1820 (St. Mary's)

RhythmBarsMode
Polka32G Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of St. Mary's
 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 Ch 1 (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):
St. Mary's / Saint Mary's Polka / St Mary's Polka / The Ballymote (3rd in set Ballyfin Polkas on Ch W; 1st in set Selection 2 on GCB 2)
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
~196311#1[Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán).View album details
~199716#1[KHe] Kevin Henry. One's Own Place - A Family Tradition. Kevin Henry (flute, whistle, pipes, vocals).View album details
200014#3[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).View album details
~200720#1[GCB 2] The Glenside. Take the Floor with The Glenside. Tom Flood (accordion), Johnny Duffy (banjo), Moyra Fraser (keyboard, vocals), Aidan Flood (drums).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 #72 in volume 2 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As tune #322 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As tune #73 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. [available]
As polka #33 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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): 1963
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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