Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1860 (Sweeney's Polka)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording Ch 2 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polka | 32 | AABB | A Major |
Sweeney's Polka / Sweeney's / Denis Murphy's / Kerry Polka / Bridge O'Leary's / Bridget O'Leary (1st in set Selection 1 on GCB 2; 1st in set Kerry Polkas in book LPTW) (also in G)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 13#1 | [Ch 2] The Chieftains. 2. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones), Seán Keane (fiddle). |
| ~1993 | 15#1 | [TDrty] Tom Doherty. Take the Bull by the Horns. Tom Doherty (accordion). For this tune: with Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Maureen Doherty Macken (flute), Mary Coogan (banjo). |
| 1995 | 4#2 | [JOL 3] Johnny O'Leary. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. Johnny O'Leary (accordion). |
| 2001 | 18#1 | [PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin). |
| ~2007 | 4#1 | [GCB 2] The Glenside. Take the Floor with The Glenside. Tom Flood (accordion), Johnny Duffy (banjo), Moyra Fraser (keyboard, vocals), Aidan Flood (drums). |
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 #73 in volume 2 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| As tune #23#1 in volume 1 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| As polka #13 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| On page 23 of [T] Fintan Vallely. Timber. The Flute Tutor. 2nd Edition. |
| As tune #282 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As tune #42 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. |
| As polka #13 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): 1969