Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 648 (Flowers of Limerick)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBG Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Flowers of Limerick
 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 JB 2 (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):
Flowers of Limerick, The / The Mills Are Grinding / Cronin's Favorite / The Bunch of Keys / The Boys of the Spuds / The Ewe with the Crooked Horn / Paddy on the Turnpike / Patty on the Turnpike / Paddy on the Handcar / The Last House in Connaught (2nd in set Ballinakill Reels on GCJR) (also in A Dorian, also in G Major, also with 2 more parts added in the form of variations on the 1st 2 parts) (compare The Bunch of Keys #245 which is very close except that it has a unique 3rd part, and compare The Mills Are Grinding #2378)
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
~1947B.5#1[JDrn] Johnny Doran. The Bunch of Keys. Johnny Doran (pipes).View album details
~195810#2[TDMI] various. Traditional Dance Music of Ireland. View album details
19751#1[JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle).View album details
197815#2[KKgn] Kevin Keegan. The Music of Kevin Keegan. Kevin Keegan (accordion).View album details
~19784#1[Dbl] Paddy Glackin and Paddy Keenan. Doublin'. Paddy Glackin (fiddle, viola), Paddy Keenan (pipes).View album details
~19832#1[JB 2] Joe Burke with Máire Ní Chathasaigh. The Tailor's Choice. Joe Burke (flute, whistle, accordion).View album details
199018#1[MLIIA] various. The Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival - My Love Is in America. View album details
~199514#1[MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle).View album details
19962#3[SC] Gerry Harrington, Eoghan O'Sullivan, Paul de Grae. The Smoky Chimney. Gerry Harrington (fiddle), Eoghan O'Sullivan (accordion, flute), Paul de Grae (guitar).View album details
19992#2[GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (fiddle).View album details
~20062.7#1[WFO 3] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 3. 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 #1555 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #768 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #140 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #60 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 213 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 214 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 214 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 59 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As reel #53 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #153 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. [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
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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