Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 75 (John McGrath's)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of John McGrath's
 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 Ev (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):
John McGrath's / Ríl Sheáin Mhic Craith / Andy McGann's (composed by John McGrath)
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
~19794#2[Ev] Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. Eavesdropper. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina).View album details
~20029#3[BCw 1] Brian Conway. First through the Gate. Brian Conway (fiddle).View album details
~20085#1[BCw 2] Brian Conway. Consider the Source. Brian Conway (fiddle).View album details

Bibliography

According to my research, there are zero transcriptions that sound very similar to this tune anywhere in the indexed books, regardless of tune title. Try my recommended links to other indexes if you need a transcription. To learn to play this tune, simply learn it from another musician or study the recording(s) listed above. See also: Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music.

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1979