Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1830 (Star of Munster)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | A Dorian |
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 MGm (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Star of Munster, The / Star of Munster / Star Munster / The Bright Star of Munster / Birds in the Bushes / Kitty's Wishes / The Greenfields of America / The Eight O'Clock Train (2nd in set O'Dowd's Favourite Reel Medley on IDM 1) (also 2nd part or both parts singled, also in G Dorian or E Dorian or G Mixolydian)
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.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 3#3 | [JKm] John J. Kimmel. John J. Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. John J. Kimmel (accordion). |
| 1922 | 4#2 | [IDM 1] various. Irish Dance Music. |
| 1926 | 8#2 | [LR 1] Leo Rowsome. Classics of Irish Piping. Leo Rowsome (pipes). |
| 1937 | 6#2 | [MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. |
| ~1956 | 2#2 | [Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals). |
| 1964 | 2.1#1 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). |
| 1966 | 18#2 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| ~1967 | 20#1 | [PKlly] Patrick Kelly. Patrick Kelly From Cree. Fiddle Music. Patrick Kelly (fiddle). |
| 1971 | 9#1 | [TPtts] Tommy Potts. The Liffey Banks. Tommy Potts (fiddle). |
| ~1971 | 12#2 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| ~1976 | 1#2 | [KClns 1] Kathleen Collins. Traditional Music of Ireland. Kathleen Collins (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 4#2 | [FG 1] Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, whistle), Alec Finn (bouzouki). |
| ~1978 | 5#1 | [KB Cap] Kevin Burke. If the Cap Fits. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| ~1978 | A.7#2 | [MMu] Martin Mulvihill with Mick Moloney. Traditional Irish Fiddling from County Limerick. Martin Mulvihill (fiddle). |
| ~1978 | 12#3 | [IT 2] The Irish Tradition. The Corner House. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Andy O'Brien (guitar, vocals). |
| 1980 | 4#2 | [FtE] Dolores Keane and John Faulkner with Eamonn Curran. Farewell to Erin (Farewell to Éirinn). Instruments not specified: Dolores Keane (vocals, etc.), John Faulkner (vocals, etc.), Eamonn Curran (pipes, etc.). |
| ~1980 | A.1#1 | [Boys 8] Boys of the Lough. Regrouped. Aly Bain (fiddle), Cathal McConnell (flute, whistle, vocals), Dave Richardson (concertina, mandolin, cittern), Tich Richardson (guitar). |
| ~1986 | 16#1 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| ~1991 | 8#1 | [BT] Baal Tinne. . . . About Time. Noel Rice (flute, whistle), Kevin Rice (bodhrán, percussion), Cathleen Rice (fiddle), Matt Sundstrom (guitar), Paul Cienniwa (piano, keyboards). |
| 1992 | 5#1 | [MH 1] Martin Hayes. Martin Hayes. Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1994 | 11#6 | [NMCMM] various. The Northern Meeting. Celtic Music in Milwaukee. |
| 1995 | 8#3 | [EI 2] Eileen Ivers. Wild Blue. Eileen Ivers (fiddle), John Doyle (guitar), Tom 'T-Bone' Wolk (organ, accordion, guitar, bass), Ben Wittman (drums), Kimati Dinizulu (percussion). |
| ~1997 | 8#3 | [GL1] various. The Dance Music of Ireland. Jigs and Reels. |
| 1998 | 1#3 | [CFF 2] Kevin Burke / Johnny Cunningham / Christian Lemaître / Soïg Siberil. Celtic Fiddle Festival Encore. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Johnny Cunningham (fiddle), Christian Lemaître (fiddle), Soïg Siberil (guitar). |
| ~1998 | 17#2 | [MMR 2] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Old Fireside Music. Mike Rafferty (flute, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, whistle). |
| 1999 | 3#3 | [JWh 2] John Whelan. Celtic Roots. John Whelan (accordion). |
| 1999 | 12#1 | [GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (fiddle). |
| ~2004 | 6#2 | [JK 4] James Kelly. Melodic Journeys. James Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~2010 | 11#1 | [GMrphy] Gráinne Murphy. Short Stories. Gráinne Murphy (fiddle). |
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 #1218 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #495 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #136 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #49 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| As tune #64 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| On page 99 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 265 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| On page 10 of [TP] Tommy Peoples. Fifty Irish Fiddle Tunes. |
| On page 6 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. |
| As tune #44 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 62 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 62 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 103 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #318 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #5 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): 1903