Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#206 (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 MC (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 24 | ABC | G Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Boys of Ballisodare, The / Boys of Ballisodare / The Boys of Ballisadare / Boys of Ballisadare / The Boys of Ballysodare / The Boys of Ballysadare / The Boys of Balisodare / The Boys of Ballisdare / The Dublin Lasses / Miss Roddy's / Miss Roden's Reel / Douse the Monkey / Last Night's Work / Galway Reel / A Galway Reel (for 2nd figure of Caledonian Set on JRSLCB 2; mislabeled as Galway Rambler on FTIM reissue) (also 1st part doubled or all parts doubled, also in F; also without 3rd part) (compare Dublin Lasses #4069 and compare 1st part with 1st part of Francie Byrne's #5019)
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 10 seconds.
to hear the first 10 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1922 | 1.14#2 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| ~1956 | 36#1 | [TDMI] Traditional Dance Music of Ireland. Michael Gorman, Margaret Barry. |
| ~1959 | 12#2 | [AIC1] Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin, Bridie Lafferty. An Historic Recording of Irish Traditional Music from County Clare and East Galway. Paddy Canny (fiddle), P.J. Hayes (fiddle). For this tune: with Peadar O'Loughlin. |
| ~1959 | 3#2 | [AIC2] Paddy Canny. Meet Paddy Canny. All-Ireland Champion - Violin. Paddy Canny (fiddle). For this tune: with Peadar O'Loughlin. |
| 1960 | 2.10#2 | [SltSdt] Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. Vincent Broderick (flute). |
| 1966 | 8#3 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| 1968 | 2.28#2 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1971 | 1.11#1 | [FTIM] Festival of Traditional Irish [Music]. Discs 7 and 8 of Celtic Souls. Irish Celtic Ballads & Traditional Music. Sean McGuire (fiddle). |
| ~1974 | 8#3 | [KCB 3] [The Kilfenora Ceili Band]. [The Kilfenora Céilí Band]. |
| ~1977 | 12#1 | [AM] Andy McGann and Paul Brady. It's A Hard Road to Travel. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paul Brady (guitar). |
| ~1977 | 7#1 | [ECst] Traditional Irish Music in America. The East Coast. John Vesey (fiddle), Eddie Cahill (flute). |
| ~1981 | B.5#2 | [SA] James Kelly, Paddy O'Brien, Daithi Sproule. Spring in the Air. James Kelly (fiddle), Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Daithi Sproule (guitar, vocals). For this tune: James Kelly. |
| ~1981 | 25#2 | [KOS] James Kelly, Paddy O'Brien, Daithi Sproule. Traditional Music of Ireland. James Kelly (fiddle), Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Daithi Sproule (vocals, guitar). For this tune: James Kelly. |
| ~1986 | 1.1#2 | [RtH] Round the House. Music for the Sets - Vol. 1. Séamus Meehan (piano accordion), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle), Neillidh Mulligan (pipes), Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich (accordion), Gerry Bevan (fiddle). |
| 1987 | 4#1 | [WmSullvn] William Sullivan. Traditional Irish Music. William Sullivan (accordion). |
| 1990 | 10#2 | [MLIIA] The Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival - My Love Is in America. Paddy Reynolds (fiddle). |
| 1991 | 14#2 | [FS] Fiddle Sticks. Irish Traditional Music from Donegal. Tommy Peoples. |
| ~1991 | 2#3 | [MV] Maiden Voyage. Live Traditional Irish Music Session from Pepper's Bar, Feakle, Co. Clare. Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Siobhán Peoples (fiddle), Andrew McNamara (accordion), Kevin Crawford (flute), P.J. King (accordion), Páraic Mac Donnchadha (banjo), Pat Marsh (bouzouki), Joe Bane (whistle), John Maloney (bodhrán), Séan Mac Donnchadha (vocals). |
| 1994 | 11#2 | [MH 2] Martin Hayes. Under the Moon. Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1997 | 13#4 | [Shskn 10] Shaskeen. Music for Set Dancing and Listening. Tom Cussen (banjo, mandolin), Benny O'Connor (drums, bodhrán, bongos), Seán Conway (flute, whistle, guitar), Eamonn Cotter (flute), Mike Fahy (guitar), Charlie Harris (accordion), Geraldine Cotter (piano), Carl Hession (piano). |
| ~1998 | 15#1 | [BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (accordion, lilting). |
| ~1998 | 8#1 | [JRSLCB 2] Johnny Reidy and the Sliabh Luachra Ceili Band. Music for Set Dancing Vol. II. Johnny Reidy (accordion). |
| ~1999 | 21#1 | [MtRd] The Mountain Road. A Compilation of Tunes Popular in South Sligo. Seamus Quinn (fiddle), James McDonagh (flute). |
| 2001 | 5#2 | [JBC] Johnny B. Connolly. Bridgetown. Johnny B. Connolly (accordion). |
| ~2002 | 1.5#3 | [MSCB] Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton (accordion), Caroline Tubridy (fiddle), Pat Curtin (flute), Brian Morgan (flute), Ralph Morgan (banjo), George Byrt (piano), Martin Garrihy (drums). |
| ~2011 | 8#2 | [BODFam] Bríd O'Donohue and Family. Cliabhán an Dúchais. Bríd O'Donohue (flute, whistle), Seán O'Brien (flute), Eibhlís O'Brien (pipes), Deirdre O'Brien (harp), Liam O'Brien (concertina), Sinéad O'Brien (fiddle). For this tune: Deirdre O'Brien (harp). |
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 #1328 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #587 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #53 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| As tune #13 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| On page 119 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #46 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 4 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 8 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #22 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #35 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