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The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index

Tune ID#1860 (Sweeney's Polka)

Transcription of first 2 bars of Sweeney's Polka about these two bars
These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording Ch 2 (details in the Discography below).
Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Polka32AABBA Major
Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Sweeney's Polka / Sweeney's / Denis Murphy's / Bridge O'Leary's / Bridget O'Leary / Bridge O'Leary's Polka / Kerry Polka (1st in set Selection 1 on GCB 2; 1st in set Kerry Polkas in book LPTW) (also in G)
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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).
196913#1
[Ch 2] The Chieftains. 2. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones), Seán Keane (fiddle).
~199315#1
[TDrty] Tom Doherty. Take the Bull by the Horns. Tom Doherty (accordion). For this tune: with Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Maureen Doherty Macken (flute), Mary Coogan (banjo).
19954#2
[JOL 3] Johnny O'Leary. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).
200118#1
[PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin).
~20074#1
[GCB 2] The Glenside. Take the Floor with The Glenside. Tom Flood (accordion), Johnny Duffy (banjo), Moyra Fraser (keyboard, vocals), Aidan Flood (drums).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played afterOn Albums
Kenmare Polka
JOL 3
Played beforeOn Albums
Denis Murphy's Polka
Ch 2
Babes in the Woods
TDrty
Toormore #1
PHCB
Dan Mac's
GCB 2

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 #73 in volume 2 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As tune #23#1 in volume 1 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. [available]
As polka #13 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
On page 23 of [T] Fintan Vallely. Timber. The Flute Tutor. 2nd Edition. [available]
On page 38 of [SLoP] Paul Deloughery. Sliabh Luachra on Parade. [available]
As tune #282 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As tune #42 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. [available]
As polka #13 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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): 1969