Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 731 (Glen of Aherlow)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBE Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Glen of Aherlow
 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 AIC1 (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):
Glen of Aherlow, The / The Glen of Aherlough / Gleann Eacharlaigh / Lafferty's / Lafferty's Reel / Laverty's Reel / The Woman I Never Forgot / Canny's / Rediggan's / The Crane's Leg (1st in set Bertha's Goat on 4MD 2) (composed by Seán Ryan)
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
~19594#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).View album details
~195911#2[AIC2] Paddy Canny. Meet Paddy Canny. All-Ireland Champion - Violin. Paddy Canny (fiddle).View album details
19671#2[PitS] various. Paddy in the Smoke. Martin Byrnes (fiddle), Danny Meehan (fiddle), Bobby Casey (fiddle), Tony McMahon (accordion), Andy Boyle (fiddle), Jimmy Power (fiddle), Jimmy Dunleavy (fiddle), Sean O'Shea (fiddle), Con Curtin (fiddle), Denis McMahon (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle), Tommy Maguire (accordion), Father O'Keeffe (mandolin), Lucy Farr (fiddle), Edmond Murphy (fiddle).View album details
~19791#2[KB Pr] Kevin Burke, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. Promenade. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar, piano).View album details
~19807#1[Plx 6] Planxty. The Woman I Loved so Well. Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, synthesizer), Andy Irvine (bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), Liam O'Flynn (pipes, whistle), Christy Moore (guitar, bodhrán, vocals).View album details
19866#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
19903#2[MLIIA] various. The Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival - My Love Is in America. View album details
19927#2[CFF 1] Kevin Burke / Johnny Cunningham / Christian Lemaître. Celtic Fiddle Festival. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Johnny Cunningham (fiddle), Christian Lemaître (fiddle).View album details
~19934#1[4MD 2] Four Men and a Dog. Shifting Gravel. Cathal Hayden (fiddle, banjo), Gino Lupari (percussion, vocals), Kevin Doherty (guitar, vocals), Arty McGlynn (guitar), Conor Keane (accordion), Gerry O'Connor (banjo, fiddle).View album details
~19966#1[JCt 2] John Carty. Last Night's Fun. John Carty (fiddle, banjo, flute).View album details
~199814#1[KH] Kieran Hanrahan. Kieran Hanrahan Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo. Kieran Hanrahan (banjo).View album details
199912#1[MCnnly] Mick Conneely. Selkie. Mick Conneely (fiddle, bouzouki).View album details
~199910#1[Lu 2] Lúnasa. Otherworld. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhrán), Seán Smyth (fiddle, whistle, viola), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass, cello), Donogh Hennessy (guitar).View album details
200113#2[PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin).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 #3 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As reel #97 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
On page 28 of [SR] Brian Ryan. The Hidden Ireland. The First Selection of Irish Traditional Compositions of Seán Ryan. [available]
On page 59 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #284 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #163 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. [available]
As reel #153 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [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): 1959