Tune Notes - Spring 2025

Frank McCollum of Ballycastle, Co.Antrim (1910-1973) also composed the well known hornpipe "The Home Ruler" - allegedly named after his wife Sally. Frank, who also had a passion for gardening, bees, restoring old clocks, and 'going to the Moss', was a member of the local Ballinlea Pipe Band, but in later years, put the pipes aside to concentrate on the Fiddle. He also played the Accordion, but it's his Fiddle playing most folk speak of around here, and musicians used to come from all over the place to 'hae a tune wi' Frank'.
-- Source: Irish Music Magazine

Patrick Joseph "Sonny" Brogan (4 July 1906 – 1 January 1965) was an Irish accordion player from the 1930s to the 1960s, and was one of Ireland's most popular traditional musicians. He was one of the earliest advocates of the two-row B/C button accordion in traditional music. Sonny had a great love of music in general and possessed many 78rpm records including a huge collection of Michael Coleman, the Sligo fiddle player, who he admired more than any other musician.

Seán Ó Riada wrote: -- Source: Wikipedia

The 'Hag' in Irish tunes often refers to a mythological or divine spirit associated with creation and weather rather than a human form. Cailleach ('old woman' or 'hag') comes from the Old Irish Caillech ('veiled one'), an adjectival form of caille ('veil'), an early loan from the Latin pallium ('woollen cloak').

In partnership with the goddess Brighde, the Cailleach is seen as a seasonal deity or spirit, ruling the winter months between Samhainn (5 November or first day of Samhain) and Bealltainn (1 May or first day of summer), while Brìghde rules the summer months between Bealltainn and Samhainn. Some interpretations have the Cailleach and Brìghde as two faces of the same goddess, while others describe the Cailleach as turning to stone on Bealltainn and reverting to humanoid form on Samhainn in time to rule over the winter months. Depending on local climate, the transfer of power between the winter goddess and the summer goddess is celebrated any time between Là Fhèill Brìghde (1 February) at the earliest, Latha na Cailliche (25 March), or Bealltainn (1 May) at the latest, and the local festivals marking the arrival of the first signs of spring may be named after either the Cailleach or Brìghde.
-- Source: Wikipedia

The Tarbolton Set is a classic set of reels that comes from a recording by the great Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman. The Tarbolton reel likely originates from or has an association with Tarbolton, Scotland in Ayrshire. The Tarbolton Lodge (est. 1771, still in existence) is where Robert Burns was Depute Master for four years between 1784 and 1788.
-- Source: The Tarbolton Lodge

Michael Coleman (31 January 1891 – 4 January 1945) was a fiddler from County Sligo, and a major exponent of the Sligo fiddle style. Michael, the youngest of seven in the Coleman family, developed a keen interest as a boy in both step dancing and fiddle playing which was performed almost exclusively at the numerous country house dances in the locality. In October 1914, when he was 23 years of age, he set sail for America with his friend John Hunt, where he was to spend the rest of his life. Coleman was the most famous exponent of what is today known as the Sligo style of Irish fiddling, which is fast, flamboyant, and heavily ornamented with fingered "rolls" and bowed triplets. Coleman was also an excellent dancer and performer. Coleman danced and played the fiddle at the same time, as confirmed by his daughter Mary, on the Irish film, From Shore to Shore. Coleman employed extensive melodic variations, and his settings including the Tarbolton set, have become part of the standard Irish fiddle repertoire. Some of Coleman's records were reissued on British labels and others reached Ireland as American imports, heavily influencing a new generation of fiddlers in Sligo and elsewhere. He was certainly one of the most influential traditional musician of the twentieth century, his legacy extending far beyond his native south Sligo and indeed the country as a whole. Although he has had many imitators, Coleman’s combination of superb technical ability and deeply expressive playing has had few, if any equals.
-- Source: Wikipedia

The major names associated with Sligo-style fiddling in the United States in the early 1900's are Michael Coleman (1891–1945), James Morrison (1893–1947), Paddy Sweeney (1894–1974), and Paddy Killoran (1904–1965). All were born and raised in south Sligo and emigrated to the United States between 1915 and 1925. They inherited a virtuoso fiddling tradition that was well established by the time they were children. Each great Sligo-style player has a unique voice, but certain general features are associated with the style, and they operate at rhythmic and melodic levels. Ornamentation of melodic lines usually involves complex and often unpredictable mixtures of triplets, single and double grace notes, and short and long rolls. Fiddlers make liberal use of double stopping and freely alternate between short and long bowing, emphasizing the latter. Variation is a striking feature, with all the top players introducing in almost every performance subtle innovations that go beyond ornamentation. Sligo-style music usually has a distinctively pulsating lift and swing, evident in the flute playing, perhaps even more than in fiddling.
-- Source: Mick Moloney, NYC 2002

Great YouTube performance by Martin Hayes

Carolan was born in 1670 in Nobber, Co. Meath. When the young Carolan was in his early teens the family moved to Carrick-on-Shannon, co. Leitrim, and then to nearby Ballyfarnon, Co Roscommon, where his father's employers were the MacDermott Roe family - who were to play a crucial role in the life and career of the young Carolan. Struck by the boy's intelligence, Mrs MacDermott Roe had Carolan join her children to be educated by a schoolmaster she had arranged. When an attack of smallpox left him blind at age 18, she had him trained as a harper by a namesake of hers, MacDermott Roe. After three years' training she launched him with a horse and guide, on his career as an itinerant harper, providing him with the necessities of his profession. The MacDermott Roes remained his patrons, along with the O'Conors of Belanagare all his life. The MacDermott Roe house still stands at Alderford, beside Ballyfarnon.

For almost fifty years, Carolan journeyed from one end of Ireland to the other, composing and performing his tunes. Modern Irish was the majority language in Ireland during Carolan's time. As Carolan did not speak English very well, he composed only one song in English, "Carolan's Devotion". Most of Carolan's songs were dedicated to and written about specific individual patrons. Carolan is said to have typically composed the tune first, as he rode from place to place, then added words later. Carolan was often welcomed as a guest to stay on estates of wealthy patrons. It is said that weddings and funerals were sometimes delayed until he could arrive to perform.

Most of Carolan's compositions were not published or even written down in his lifetime. They survived in the repertoires of fiddlers, pipers, and the last of the old Irish harper/singers. Many were collected and published during the late 18th century and beyond, largely beginning with the work of Edward Bunting and his assistants in 1792.

O'Carolan's style was often influenced by the continental music of the day, including that of A. Vivaldi (1668-1741), G.F. Handel (1685-1759), A. Corelli (1653-1713), and F. Geminiani (1667- 1762), who were popular in Ireland at the time, and whom he admired. Compare the style and form of "Carolan's Draught" with G.F.Handel's "Bourrée in G Major"