Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#205 (Boys of Ballisodare)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording Ch 1 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slip jig | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Boys of Ballisodare, The / The Boys of Ballysadare / The Boys of Ballysodare / Boys of Balisadare / Liam Farrell's / Nora Criona (as 3rd tune Gan Ainm in set Bealtaine on Lu 1) (also in C, also with parts singled; on JCt 3, first as slip jig, then as reel)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1963 | 4#2 | [Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán). For this tune: 1st time Paddy Moloney (pipes). |
| 1990 | 19#1 | [MLIIA] The Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival - My Love Is in America. Martin Wynne. |
| ~1996 | 14#1 | [CmA 1] The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. Larry Reddigan (banjo). |
| 1997 | 5#3 | [Lu 1] Lúnasa. Lúnasa. Seán Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Mike McGoldrick (flute, whistle), John McSherry (pipes, whistle), Donagh Hennessy (guitar), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass). |
| ~1999 | 11#1 | [OMT] Billy McComiskey, Brendan Mulvihill, and Zan McLeod. One More Time. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), and Zan McLeod (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, bass). For this tune: Brendan, Billy. |
| ~2001 | 4#1 | [JCt 3] John Carty. Yeh, That's All It Is. John Carty (fiddle, guitar). For this tune: (tenor guitar). |
| 2008 | 1#2 | [RedW] The Red Wellies. The Red Wellies. Claudine "Beanie" Odell (fiddle), Duncan Wickel (fiddle, pipes), Vincent Fogarty (bouzouki). |
| ~2009 | 5#1 | [SMcK] Skip McKinley. Fairy Tales. Skip McKinley (flute). |
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 #1134 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #423 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #12 in volume 2 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| On page 81 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #33 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| As tune #89 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| On page 218 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As slipjig #2 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): 1903