Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#622 (Fermoy Lasses)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MGm (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | E Dorian |
Fermoy Lasses, The / Fermoy Lasses / The Fermoy Lassies / Girrseachaí Fhearmuí / The Wexford Reel / The Humours of Mackin / The Connacht Ranger / Connacht Ranger (1st in set Reels of Mullinvate on OTUS1 track 4; 3rd in set Irish Reels on OTUS1 track 20) (also 1st part or both parts singled)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1919 | 25#1 | [PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). |
| 1920 | 20#3 | [OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. Tom Ennis (pipes). |
| 1925 | 4#1 | [OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. John McKenna (whistle), then with Michael Gaffney (banjo-mandolin). |
| 1928 | 22#1 | [WW 2] The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. Tom Ennis (pipes). |
| ~1947 | A.4#2 | [JDrn] Johnny Doran. The Bunch of Keys. Johnny Doran (pipes). For this tune: with John Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~1956 | 10#1 | [Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals). |
| 1957 | 1.5#3 | [SltSdt] Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. Tommy Reck (pipes). |
| ~1957 | 2.10#1 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). For this tune: Michael Gorman (fiddle), Paddy Breen (flageolet), Tommy Maguire (accordion). |
| ~1959 | 1.19#2 | [JV] John Vesey. Sligo Fiddler. John Vesey (fiddle). For this tune: with Ed Cahill (piccolo). |
| ~1967 | 9#1 | [PKlly] Patrick Kelly. Patrick Kelly From Cree. Fiddle Music. Patrick Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~1969 | 22#1 | [McDoB] The McDonaghs of Ballinafad and Friends Play Traditional Music of Sligo. Larry McDonagh (flute) Michael Joe McDonagh (fiddle), Michael Daly (flute), Paddy Ryan (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 18#1 | [RshMtn] The Rushy Mountain. Billy Clifford (flute). |
| ~1979 | 10#1 | [BMu 1] Brendan Mulvihill, accompanied by Mick Moloney. The Flax in Bloom. Traditional Irish Music. Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Mick Moloney (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin). For this tune: with Martin Mulvihill (fiddle). |
| 1986 | 8#1 | [TJC] Frankie Gavin and Paul Brock. Ómós do Joe Cooley. A Tribute to Joe Cooley. Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Paul Brock (accordion). |
| ~1992 | 9#1 | [CmA 1] The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. Josie McDermott (flute). |
| ~1993 | 2.15#1 | [WFO 1] Wooden Flute Obsession. Micho Russell (Eb flute). |
| ~1995 | 8#2 | [Arc 2] Arcady. Many Happy Returns. Johnny McDonagh (bones, bodhrán, triangle), Nicholas Quemener (guitar, flute, whistle, vocals), Patsy Broderick (piano, keyboards), Conor Keane (accordion), Brendan Larrissey (fiddle), Niamh Parsons (vocals). |
| 1998 | 7#1 | [JWh 6] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion). For this tune: with Jim Eagan (fiddle). |
| 2001 | 2#1 | [FDys] Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin. Forgotten Days. Davy Spillane (pipes, whistle), Kevin Glackin (fiddle). For this tune: (pipes), (fiddle). |
| 2007 | 5#4 | [AbsIr] Absolutely Irish. Eileen Ivers (fiddle), Seamus Egan (flute). |
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 #1310 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #573 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #16 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| On page 116 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #142 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As tune #7 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #29 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. |
| On page 34 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #94 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| In [LM] L[arry]. E. McCullough. ? |
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): 1903