Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 125 (Banshee)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Banshee
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording BB 1 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Banshee, The / The Banshee Reel / McMahon's / McMahon's Reel / McMahons / The McMahon Reel / Ríl Mhic Mhathúna / The Moyasta / Strone Johnny (2nd in set White Cockade on McP BHB) (composed by James McMahon aka John McMahon)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune		 [Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
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).View album details
~198314#2[JB 2] Joe Burke with Máire Ní Chathasaigh. The Tailor's Choice. Joe Burke (flute, whistle, accordion).View album details
19912.5#2[McP BHB] The McPeake Family and Paul Burns. Back Home in Belfast. View album details
~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).View album details
~19982.5#2[ESL 1] various. An Evening in Sliabh Luachra. Volume One. A Collection of Traditional Music and Song from the Sliabh Luachra Area. View album details
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).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – 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 #273 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
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 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.
© 2000–2009 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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