Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#897 (Irish Washerwoman)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JDJO (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Irish Washerwoman, The / Irish Washerwoman / An Bhean Níocháin Éireannach / The Irishwoman / The Wash Woman / The Washing Woman / The Washerwoman / Bean an Níocháin / Jackson's Delight / Corporal Casey / The Big Jig / Paddy McGinty's Goat / The Snouts and Ears of America / Haste to the Wedding (2nd in set Rakes of Kildare on OTUS1 track 2; 2nd in set Medley of Jigs on OTUS1 track 21; 3rd in set Irish Washerwoman on SHtn 1) (also in D) (version by Ed Reavy included here)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1907 | 8#1 | [PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). |
| 1921 | 2.2#1 | [PJConlon] Peter J. Conlon. The Genius of Peter Conlon. 78 RPM Recordings from 1917-1929. Peter J. Conlon (melodeon). |
| 1923 | 2#2 | [OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. Flanagan Brothers: Joe Flanagan (accordion), Mike Flanagan (banjo). |
| 1929 | 21#2 | [OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. K. Scanlon (fiddle). |
| 1953 | 13#1 | [FCssdy] Frank Cassidy. Níl Gar Ann! Frank Cassidy (fiddle). For this tune: with John Doherty (fiddle). |
| ~1953 | 10#1 | [JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion). For this tune: The Irish All Stars. |
| ~1969 | 5#2 | [GP] The Gentlemen Pipers. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Piping. Leo Rowsome. |
| 1991 | 18#2 | [FS] Fiddle Sticks. Irish Traditional Music from Donegal. |
| ~1991 | 6#3 | [PG 2] Paddy Glackin. Rabharta Ceoil. In Full Spate. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán). For this tune: with Séamus Glackin (fiddle), Kevin Glackin (fiddle). |
| ~1993 | 20#1 | [JCnly 1] Johnny Connolly. An tOileán Aerach. Johnny Connolly (melodeon). |
| ~1997 | 11#2 | [NaCnn 1] Na Connerys. Celtic Sessions. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Kevin Glackin (fiddle), Sean Og Potts (pipes, whistle), John Regan (accordion), John Wynne (flute), Tom McDonagh (bouzouki), Mark Kelly (guitar). |
| 1999 | 6#1 | [GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (fiddle). For this tune: Gerdie Commane (concertina). |
| 2010 | 11#3 | [SHtn 1] Shannon Heaton. The Blue Dress. Shannon Heaton (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 #317 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #14 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| As tune #19 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. |
| On page 11 of [Ba] Betty M. Barlow. Fiddle Tunes for the Violinist. |
| On page 140 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| As tune #90 in [ER] Joseph M. Reavy (compiler). The Collected Compositions of Ed Reavy. |
| On page 148 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As tune #33 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. |
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): 1907