Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 3033 (John Kelly's)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABB Minor
Transcription of first 2 bars of John Kelly's
 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 KB Cap (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):
John Kelly's / The Old Concertina Reel / A Kerry Reel / John Kelly's Concertina Reel / Ríl Chonsairtín Sheáin Uí Cheallaigh (also reversed parts, also in A)
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
~19781#1[KB Cap] Kevin Burke. If the Cap Fits. Kevin Burke (fiddle).View album details
~200611#2[Tda 3] Téada. Inné Amárach. Seán McElwain (guitar, bouzouki, banjo), Damien Stenson (flute), Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán), Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, piano), Paul Finn (accordion).View album details
~200715#1[RdOnly] Brian McNamara and Tim Collins. Reed Only. Brian McNamara (pipes), Tim Collins (concertina).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 #10 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As reel #390 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. [available]
As reel #162 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