Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 487 (Denis Murphy's Polka)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Polka32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Denis Murphy's Polka
 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 Plx 4 (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):
Denis Murphy's Polka / Dennis Murphy's Polka / Dennis Murphy's / Casey's / Kitty Molloy's Favourite / Sweeney's (2nd in set Casey's on MC; 2nd in set Scartaglen Polkas on ESL 1)
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
~19241.17#2[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).View album details
196913#2[Ch 2] The Chieftains. 2. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones), Seán Keane (fiddle).View album details
~197911#1[Plx 4] Planxty. Collection. Unidentified on this reissue.View album details
~19981.1#2[ESL 1] various. An Evening in Sliabh Luachra. Volume One. A Collection of Traditional Music and Song from the Sliabh Luachra Area. View album details
200117#1[PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin).View album details
~20049#3[JK 4] James Kelly. Melodic Journeys. James Kelly (fiddle).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 #70 in volume 2 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As tune #42 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
On page 85 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #70 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. [available]
On page 228 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As polka #36 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #61 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. [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): 1924
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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