Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 91 (Ask My Father)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Single jig64AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Ask My Father
 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 SE 2 (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):
Ask My Father / Ask Me Father / Fiafraigh de m'Athair é / The Four Courts (1st in set Away with Ye on Ch 6) (also singled, also as hornpipe, included here) (compare With All My Heart #2645 and Johnny Allen #986)
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
~19737#1[SE 2] Seamus Ennis. The Pure Drop. Seamus Ennis (pipes).View album details
~19764#1[Ch 6] The Chieftains. 6. Bonaparte's Retreat. Paddy Moloney [misspelled as:] Maloney (pipes, whistle, bodhrán), Seán Potts (whistle, bodhrán), Martin Fay (fiddle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, oboe, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle).View album details
~19808#1[JKn 1] James Keane. Roll Away the Reel World. James Keane (accordion).View album details
~20072#1[OMcA] Oisín McAuley. Far from the Hills of Donegal. Oisín McAuley (fiddle, guitar).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 #941 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #367 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #143 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
As tune #62 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.

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): 1903
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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