Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#191 (Bonnie Kate)
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 | 32 | AABB | D Major |
Bonnie Kate / Bonny Kate / Cáit Bhóidheach / Cáit Bhreá / Cáitín Ghleoite / The Bonny Lass of Fisherrow / The Bonny Lass of Fishirron / The Boys of Limerick (wide range of settings, including singled or in C Major) (composed by Donald Dow?)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 3#1 | [JKm] John J. Kimmel. John J. Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. John J. Kimmel (accordion). |
| ~1919 | 36#1 | [PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). |
| 1929 | 7#1 | [IDM 1] Irish Dance Music. "K. Scanlon". |
| 1929 | 10#1 | [MG] Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. "K. Scanlon" (fiddle). |
| 1934 | 2.15#1 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| 1940 | 1#1 | [SE 6] Séamus Ennis. The Return from Fingal. Séamus Ennis (pipes, vocals). For this tune: (pipes). |
| 1951 | 25#1 | [IFM] Past Masters of Irish Fiddle Music. Michael Gorman (fiddle). |
| 1953 | 7#1 | [FCssdy] Frank Cassidy. Níl Gar Ann! Frank Cassidy (fiddle). |
| 1954 | 1.1#1 (0:32) | [JV] John Vesey. Sligo Fiddler. John Vesey (fiddle). |
| 1957 | 1.5#1 | [SltSdt] Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. Tommy Reck (pipes). |
| ~1959 | 1.24#1 | [SRyan C] Seán Ryan. A Collection of His Own Compositions and His Versions of Well Known Traditional Tunes. Seán Ryan (fiddle). |
| 1960 | 34#1 | [FCssdy] Frank Cassidy. Níl Gar Ann! Frank Cassidy (fiddle). |
| ~1967 | 1#1 | [PKlly] Patrick Kelly. Patrick Kelly From Cree. Fiddle Music. Patrick Kelly (fiddle). |
| 1968 | 2.7#2 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1971 | 15#1 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| 1973 | 11#1 | [KB SD] Kevin Burke. Sweeney's Dream. Fiddle Tunes from County Sligo, Ireland. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| ~1973 | 11#1 | [JB 2] Joe Burke with Charlie Lennon. Traditional Music of Ireland. Joe Burke (accordion), with Charlie Lennon (piano). |
| 1974 | 9#1 | [JD 3] John Doherty. The Celebrated Recordings. John Doherty (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1974 | 24#1 | [JD 5] John Doherty. The Floating Bow. John Doherty (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 4#1 | [AM] Andy McGann and Paul Brady. It's A Hard Road to Travel. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paul Brady (guitar). |
| ~1989 | 2.1#1 | [JK 1] James Kelly. "Capel Street". James Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~1993 | 13#1 | [JCnly 1] Johnny Connolly. An tOileán Aerach. Johnny Connolly (melodeon). |
| 1995 | 11#1 | [JDr 2] Joe Derrane. Return to Inis Mór. Joe Derrane (accordion). |
| ~1997 | 3#1 | [KCB 5] The Kilfenora Céili Band. Set on Stone. Aidan McMahon (fiddle), Anne Marie McCormack (fiddle), Anne Rynne (fiddle), Garry Shannon (flute), Anthony Quigney (flute), Conor McCarthy (accordion), John Lynch (banjo), Tim Collins (concertina), Fintan McMahon (piano), Sean Griffin (drums), Paul O'Driscoll (double bass). |
| 1998 | 2#1 | [KB IC] Kevin Burke. In Concert. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| ~1998 | 9#2 | [TP 7] Tommy Peoples. The Quiet Glen / An Gleann Ciúin. Tommy Peoples (fiddle). |
| 2002 | 10#2 | [HB 2] Harry Bradley. As I Carelessly Did Stray
. Harry Bradley (flute, whistle). For this tune: (Eb flute). |
| ~2004 | 9#2 | [DF] The Dunne Family. Legacy. Mickey Dunne (pipes, fiddle, whistle), Niamh Dunne (fiddle, vocals, viola), Brid Dunne (fiddle). For this tune: Niamh (fiddle), Brid (fiddle), Mickey (fiddle). |
| 2006 | 15#1 | [TAM] Joe Burke, Brian Conway and Felix Dolan. A Tribute to Andy McGann. Joe Burke (accordion), Brian Conway (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). For this tune: Joe Burke (accordion). |
| 2008 | 3#5 | [StGrmm 2] Stanley & Grimm. Another Round
. Nicole Engstrom aka Nikki Engstrom (fiddle), Sean Brennan (guitar, vocals). For this tune: with Susan Gedutis Lindsey (flute). |
| ~2008 | 15#1 | [BCw 2] Brian Conway. Consider the Source. Brian Conway (fiddle). |
| 2011 | 13#3 | [HDvls 2] The House Devils. Crossing the Ocean. Matt Fahey (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, resonator guitar), Mat Walklate (harmonica, flute, vocals, whistle, pipes), Andrew Dinan (fiddle), Anthony Haller (double bass). |
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 #1277 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #545 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #182 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #183 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| On pages 50-51 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #44 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| As tune #174 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #175 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #176 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 53 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| As tune #141 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| On page 3 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 3 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #18 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #22 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 49 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
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