Celtic Music Recordings and Collections at the Archives of Traditional Music

Ireland

Folk Music of Ireland

Irish (along with Scottish) folk music makes up the majority of holdings of Celtic music available at the ATM.

Traditional Irish folk music is a fairly diverse genre in itself with many regional variations. Within the traditional styles, you also see a variance in the language of the text. Many familiar Irish tunes have English lyrics, thanks in part to famous Irishman Thomas Moore who published ten volumes of songs titled "Irish Melodies" with English text and, in doing so, made another mark in Ireland's transition from Irish to English as the more commonly spoken language. However, you will also see many Irish folk songs written and performed in Irish/Irish-Gaelic, including the singing style of sean-nós, or "the old style," which involves very long melodic phrases with ornamented and melismatic melodic lines. 

• The style of a sean-nós performance can vary depending on regional, familial, and individual styles. It is a very expressive and emotive style with a natural use of voice and ornamentation and is traditionally performed as a solo without instrumental accompaniment. The most important aspect of sean-nós is the text and lyrics, as the heart of the performance is to tell a story. Performers of this style emphasize the importance of building a connection between the singer and the song, as the stories told with these performances provide a connection to the past, with people, and with human emotion. 

Instrumentation in Irish music is also dependent on region. Traditionally, one can expect to hear instruments such as the fiddle, the tin whistle, the Irish flute, percussion instruments like the bodhrán or bones, and the Uillean pipes. The Irish harp is also very common, however, it is used more for instrumental and vocal pieces than dance pieces. The button accordion and concertina also became common in Irish traditional music late in the 19th century, with the banjo and guitar joining later in the 1920s and 1930s respectively. The bouzouki (a mandolin-like instrument) only entered traditional Irish music in the late 1960s.

• Can you identify a jig vs. a reel? Jigs and reels are examples of traditional Irish instrumental music, particularly for dance. Jigs are characterized by lively and almost bouncy rhythms, often played with a triplet feel with 9/8 or sometimes 6/8 time signatures. On the other hand, reels have a faster tempo with a more driving rhythm and energetic pace and are played in a 4/4 time signature. Both styles have deep roots in Irish music and are integral to the traditional music scene. They stand as iconic staples of traditional Irish instrumental music. 

Click on the passages below to hear some of our holdings

Example 1: 54-218-F -- United States, Middle Atlantic States, 1938 (disc 74 side B) - [no title given], "Lowlands Low," "The First Place They Put Me," "Darby Ram" (Ram of Darby), and "Yankee-Man-of-War" - performed by Allen Sprague (unaccompanied), 1938

Example 2: 54-218-F -- United States, Middle Atlantic States, 1938 (disc 249 side A) - "Tailor and the Chest" (Boarman and the Chest) and "Bonny Irish Boy" - performed by Mart Montonyea (unaccompanied), 1938 

Note: the following examples require an IU login to access.

Example 3:  71-217-C -- Songs of Ireland (side A) - performed in Irish by Mary O'Hara, accompanying herself on the Irish harp, 1958

Example 4: 64-120-C -- Traditional music of Ireland (v. 1 side B) - "Deas an sagairtín" - performed by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha, "The bonny boy" - performed by Sean 'ac Donnca, "The queen of O'Donnell" - performed by Denis Murphy (fiddle), and "Una bhán" - performed by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha (all unaccompanied), 1963

Example 5: 73-101.0842-C -- Irish jigs and reels (disc 3 side A) "The wind that shakes the barley" and "The lady on the island" - performed by Michael Coleman on the fiddle, 1941