Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#2379 (Maids of Castlebar)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording BtB (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | D Major |
Maids of Castlebar, The / Maids of Castlebar / The Maid of Castlebar / Gearrchailiú Chaisleán an Bharraigh / Cailíní Chaisleáin an Bharraigh / The Fall of Ballisodare / The Falls of Ballisodare / The Gatehouse Maid (1st in set Reels from the 1920's on FG 3) (compare 1st part with 1st part of McFarley's Reel #1192)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | 11#2 | [BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). For this tune: Paddy Killoran (fiddle). |
| ~1957 | 1.14#2 | [JV] John Vesey. Sligo Fiddler. John Vesey (fiddle). |
| ~1978 | 2#2 | [MMlny 1] Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki), Eugene O'Donnell (fiddle), Joe McKenna (pipes, whistle), Patrick Sky (whistle), Shelley Posen (concertina, vocals, guitar). For this tune: Mick Moloney (banjo). |
| ~1989 | 9#1 | [FG 3] Frankie Gavin. Frankie Goes to Town. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute). |
| ~1992 | 6#2 | [CR 1] Craobh Rua. The More That's Said the Less the Better. Mark Donnelly (pipes, whistle), Michael Cassidy (fiddle), Brian Connolly (banjo, mandolin, bodhrán), Jim Byrne (guitar, mandola, vocals). |
| 1993 | 1#1 | [MoD] Tony Mac Mahon, Noel Hill, Iarla Ó Lionáird. Music of Dreams. Tony Mac Mahon (accordion), Noel Hill (concertina), Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals). |
| ~1995 | 4#1 | [RT] Reeltime. Reeltime. Máirin Fahy (fiddle, vocals), Éilís Egan (accordion), Chris Kelly (guitar), Benny Hayes (piano, keyboards, ukelele, vocals). For this tune: (fiddle). |
| ~1997 | 21#3 | [MMrch 1] Marcas Ó Murchú. Ó Bhéal go Béal. Marcas Ó Murchú (flute, whistle, vocals). For this tune: (Eb flute), with Maurice Bradley (fiddle), Peter Gallagher (accordion). |
| ~1998 | 2#1 | [KH] Kieran Hanrahan. Kieran Hanrahan Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo. Kieran Hanrahan (banjo). |
| ~2002 | 12#1 | [BRny 2] Brian Rooney. Leitrim to London. Brian Rooney (fiddle, accordion). |
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 #134 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #1 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #190 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| On page 16 of [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
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): 1936