Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2890 (Crossing the Shannon)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Crossing the Shannon
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording CC (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Crossing the Shannon / Funny Reel / The Funny Reel / An Ríl Ait (1st in set Ollie Conway's Selection on CC) (composed by Paddy Fahy)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded
Track
#Tune
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
19745#1[CC] Bernard O'Sullivan and Tommy McMahon. Clare Concertinas. Bernard O'Sullivan (concertina), Tommy McMahon (concertina) except where solos noted.View album details
~19791#2[FR] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. The Funny Reel. Traditional Music of Ireland. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano).View album details
~19801#1[JKn 1] James Keane. Roll Away the Reel World. James Keane (accordion).View album details
199810#1[JWh] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion).View album details
~200014#1[OMBFMO] Oisín Mac Diarmada, Brian Fitzgerald, Micheál Ó Ruanaigh. Traditional Music on Fiddle, Banjo and Harp. Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle), Brian Fitzgerald (banjo), Micheál Ó Ruanaigh (harp).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – 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 #39 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As reel #176 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #30 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As reel #51 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]

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): 1974