Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#529 (Donegal Traveler)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording HG (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | D Major |
Donegal Traveler, The / Donegall Traveller / The Donegal Traveller / An Taistealaí Conallach / Tuam Reel / The Tuam Reel / Gillespies / Hugh Gillespie's (also in A or Bb or C; also doubled)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 2.18#1 | [PJConlon] Peter J. Conlon. The Genius of Peter Conlon. 78 RPM Recordings from 1917-1929. Peter J. Conlon (melodeon). For this tune: with Walter Lally (banjo). |
| 1929 | 19#1 | [OTUS2] Oldtime Records. Vol. 2. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from 1923 to 1947. P.J. Conlon (melodeon), Walter Lally (banjo). |
| 1938 | 13#1 | [HG] Hugh Gillespie. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. Hugh Gillespie (fiddle). |
| ~1970 | 1#2 | [FD 1] Finbarr Dwyer. [Finbarr Dwyer. Irish Traditional Accordionist]. Disc 2 of of Celtic Souls. Irish Celtic Ballads & Traditional Music. Finbarr Dwyer (accordion). |
| ~1992 | 1#4 | [CTL 3] Cherish the Ladies. The Back Door. Mary Coogan (guitar, banjo), Siobhan Egan (fiddle, bodhrán), Eileen Golden (feet), Winifred Horan (fiddle, feet), Maureen Doherty Macken [Mary Rafferty] (accordion, flute), Joanie Madden (flute, whistle), Cathie Ryan (vocals), Linnane Wick (feet). |
| ~2002 | 1#3 | [BCw 1] Brian Conway. First through the Gate. Brian Conway (fiddle). |
| ~2008 | 11#2 | [UaC] Oisín and Conal Hernon. Up and Coming. Oisín Hernon (accordion, whistle), Conal Hernon (banjo, guitar). For this tune: Oisín (accordion). |
| 2009 | 12#3 | [DPss 2] Dan Possumato. Pulling Out the Stops. Traditional Music and Song of Ireland. Dan Possumato (accordion). For this tune: with Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
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 #28 in volume 4 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| As reel #158 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
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): 1929