Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 622 (Fermoy Lasses)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBE Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Fermoy Lasses
 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 MGm (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):
Fermoy Lasses, The / The Fermoy Lassies / Girrseachaí Fhearmuí / The Wexford Reel / The Humours of Mackin / The Connacht Ranger / Connacht Ranger (also singled)
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
~191925#1[PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes).View album details
192822#1[WW 2] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. View album details
~1947A.4#2[JDrn] Johnny Doran. The Bunch of Keys. Johnny Doran (pipes).View album details
~195610#1[Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals).View album details
19571.5#3[SltSdt] various. Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. View album details
~19572.10#1[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~197910#1[BMu 1] Brendan Mulvihill, accompanied by Mick Moloney. The Flax in Bloom. Traditional Irish Music. Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Mick Moloney (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin).View album details
19868#1[TJC] Frankie Gavin and Paul Brock. Ómós do Joe Cooley. A Tribute to Joe Cooley. Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Paul Brock (accordion).View album details
~19929#1[CmA 1] various. The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. View album details
~19932.15#1[WFO 1] various. Wooden Flute Obsession. View album details
~19958#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).View album details
19987#1[JWh] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion).View album details
20012#1[FDys] Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin. Forgotten Days. Davy Spillane (pipes, whistle), Kevin Glackin (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 #1310 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #573 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #16 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
On page 116 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #142 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As tune #7 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As reel #29 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. [available]
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. [available]
In [LM] L[arry]. E. McCullough. ? [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): 1903