Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#696 (Galway Rambler)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Major |
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 HG (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Galway Rambler, The / Galway Rambler / Siúlóir na Gaillimhe / Fánaí na Gaillimhe / The Sligo Rambler / Lord Wellington / Wellington's / Wellington's No. 1 / Paddy Finley's Fancy / Paddy Finlay's Favourite / Bainis an Phíobaire / The Piper's Wedding / Manchester Reel / The Manchester / Carton's No. 2 Reel / Cathcart's Favourite / Walsh's Favorite / Walsh's Favourite / The Fairy Hurlers (also in D) (2nd in set The Galway Rambler on TCB 4; 2nd in set Mountain Rambler on MSHtn 4; 2nd in set The Five Reel Set on MOCCH 1) (compare 1st part with 1st part of Lord Wellington #4522)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | 8#2 | [GD] various. From Galway to Dublin. Early Recordings of Traditional Irish Music. |
| 1937 | 23#2 | [IDM 2] various. Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. |
| 1938 | 11#1 | [HG] Hugh Gillespie. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. Hugh Gillespie (fiddle). |
| ~1959 | 8#2 | [AIC1] Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin, Bridie Lafferty. An Historic Recording of Irish Traditional Music from County Clare and East Galway. Paddy Canny (fiddle), P.J. Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1959 | 2#2 | [AIC2] Paddy Canny. Meet Paddy Canny. All-Ireland Champion - Violin. Paddy Canny (fiddle). |
| 1960 | 20#1 | [ECr] Elizabeth Crotty. Concertina Music from West Clare. Elizabeth Crotty (concertina). |
| ~1986 | 1#2 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| ~1989 | 5#2 | [SRn 1] Seán Ryan. Siúil Uait / Take the Air. Seán Ryan (whistle). |
| 1990 | 16#2 | [COG] Conal O Gráda. The Top of Coom. Conal Ó Gráda (flute). |
| ~1991 | 1#3 | [MV] various. Maiden Voyage. Live Traditional Irish Music Session from Pepper's Bar, Feakle, Co. Clare. Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Siobhán Peoples (fiddle), Andrew McNamara (accordion), Kevin Crawford (flute), P.J. King (accordion), Páraic Mac Donnchadha (banjo), Pat Marsh (bouzouki), Joe Bane (whistle), John Maloney (bodhrán), Séan Mac Donnchadha (vocals). |
| 1996 | 13#3 | [AW] Paddy Reynolds, Charlie Mulvihill, James Keane, with Felix Dolan. Atlantic Wave. Paddy Reynolds (fiddle), Charlie Mulvihill (accordion), James Keane (accordion). |
| ~1997 | 1#2 | [CBt] various. Celtic Beat. Traditional Music from Ireland. Neil Martin (pipes, whistle), Davy Maguire (flute, whistle), Brian McAteer (fiddle), Breandan O'Hare (flute, whistle), Jason O'Rourke (concertina), John McSherry (pipes), Ray Gallen (bodhrán). |
| ~1997 | 3#3 | [Shskn 10] Shaskeen. Music for Set Dancing and Listening. Tom Cussen (banjo, mandolin), Benny O'Connor (drums, bodhrán, bongos), Seán Conway (flute, whistle, guitar), Eamonn Cotter (flute), Mike Fahy (guitar), Charlie Harris (accordion), Geraldine Cotter (piano), Carl Hession (piano). |
| ~1998 | 2#1 | [KHe] Kevin Henry. One's Own Place - A Family Tradition. Kevin Henry (flute, whistle, pipes, vocals). |
| 1999 | 1#3 | [JWh 2] John Whelan. Celtic Roots. John Whelan (accordion). |
| 1999 | 15#1 | [GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (fiddle). |
| ~2005 | 2.12#3 | [WFO 3] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 3. |
| 2006 | 11#3 | [TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums). |
| ~2007 | 1#5 | [GCB 2] The Glenside. Take the Floor with The Glenside. Tom Flood (accordion), Johnny Duffy (banjo), Moyra Fraser (keyboard, vocals), Aidan Flood (drums). |
| 2008 | 9#2 | [MSHtn 4] Matt and Shannon Heaton. Lovers' Well. Shannon Heaton (vocals, flute, whistle), Matt Heaton (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán). |
| ~2008 | 10#2 | [MOCCH 1] Máirtín O'Connor, Cathal Hayden, Seamie O'Dowd. Crossroads. Máirtín O'Connor (accordion), Cathal Hayden (fiddle, banjo, viola), Seamie O'Dowd (guitar, vocals, bass, mandolin, cabasa). |
| ~2008 | 11#2 | [RossBr] Ben Lennon and Tony O'Connell. Rossinver Braes. Ben Lennon (fiddle), Tony O'Connell (concertina). |
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 #177 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. |
| As reel #25 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #313 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| In [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| On page 37 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As tune #28 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
| As tune #21 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. |
| 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): 1927