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The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index

Tune ID#125 (Banshee)

Transcription of first 2 bars of Banshee about these two bars
These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording BB 1 (details in the Discography below).
Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Reel32AABBG Major
Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Banshee, The / The Banshee Reel / An Bhean Sí / Bean an tí / McMahon's / McMahon's Reel / McMahons / The McMahon Reel / Ríl Mhic Mhathúna / The Moyasta / Strone Johnny (2nd in set Banshee on Barde 1; 2nd in set White Cockade on McP BHB; originally mislabeled on ECrn 1 as Highest Hill in Sligo) (also in D) (composed by James McMahon aka John McMahon)
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Discography cd

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 play below to hear the first 12 seconds.
Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune?		 [Album code] Artist. Title (Link to Album Info page). Performers (instruments).
197514#2
[BB 1] The Bothy Band. 1975. The First Album. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Donal Lunny (bouzouki, vocals), Tríona Ni Dhomhnaill (harpsichord, bodhrán, vocals), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar, vocals). For this tune: starts (flute, pipes).
19751#2
[BB 5] The Bothy Band. The Best of the Bothy Band.
1977B.4#2
[Barde 1] Barde. Barde. Richard Chapman (mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, vocals), Toby Cinnsealaé (flute, recorder, percussion), Pierre Guérin (accordion, guitar, concertina, recorder, vocals), Cris MacRághallaigh [Chris Crilly] (fiddle, bodhrán, percussion, vocals), Ed Moore (bodhrán, percussion, flute, concertina), Elliot Selick (fiddle, banjo, flute).
~198314#2
[JB 3] Joe Burke with Máire Ní Chathasaigh. The Tailor's Choice. Joe Burke (flute, whistle, accordion). For this tune: with Mike Rafferty of Ballinakill (flute).
19912.5#2
[McP BHB] The McPeake Family and Paul Burns. Back Home in Belfast. (Eb whistle).
19941.5#2
[BPower] Brendan Power. New Irish Harmonica. Brendan Power (harmonica).
~19979#1
[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).
~19982.5#2
[ESL 1] An Evening in Sliabh Luachra. Volume One. A Collection of Traditional Music and Song from the Sliabh Luachra Area. Carmel O'Leary (whistle), Emma O'Leary (fiddle).
200013#1
[ACB 1] The Abbey Céilí Band. Bruach an tSuláin. Ger Murphy (accordion), Andrew O'Connell (fiddle), Liam Forde (banjo), Micheál Creedon (bass, keyboards).
20002.18#1
[LaL] Lámh ar Lámh. Many Hands. various.
~20148#3
[ECrn 1] Éilís Crean. The Lonesome Fiddler. Celebrating the Music of Eddie Kelly and the East Galway Irish Music Tradition. Éilís Crean (fiddle). For this tune: with Kevin Crawford (flute).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played afterOn Albums
Salamanca		BB 1, BB 5, ESL 1
Boy in the Gap		Barde 1
Limestone Rock		JB 3
White Cockade		McP BHB
Sailor's Bonnet		BPower
Reel of Mullinavat		ECrn 1
Played beforeOn Albums
Sailor's Bonnet		BB 1, BB 5, ESL 1
Music in the Glen		Barde 1
Mountain Road		LaL
Phoenix Reel		ACB 1

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 musical matches to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

Listing of published transcriptions of this tune.
As tune #273 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. [available]
On page 88 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #4 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
On page 185 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #18 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 1 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 2 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #8 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #17 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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 only the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1968
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
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