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A Fig For A Kiss

By Providence


  1. The Road To Lisdoonvarna
    Carty’s
    The Maid Of Mullaghmore
  2. Smuggling The Tin
  3. The Lurgadaun
    Dancing Eyes
    Down The Back Lane
  4. The Curlew Hills
    Father Dollard’s
  5. Will Ye Go To Flanders?
  6. The Arragh Mountains
    The Rakes Of Westmeath
    A Fig For A Kiss
  7. The Providence
    The Roscommon
    Fred Finn’s
  8. Muiris Ó Coinnleain
  9. McDonagh’s
  10. The Jolly Young Ploughboy
  11. In Memory Of Coleman
    Farewell To London
    The Sunny Banks
  12. Se Fath Mo Bhuartha
  13. Music In The Glen
    Seán Sa Cheo

Thirteen comments

A Fig For A Kiss

One of my favourite recordings of 2002.

Listen out especially for Micheal O Raghallaigh’s concertina playing!

A joy from beginning to end!

Great!

I just saw them live a week ago. WOW!
If you happen to see them live, go and ask Joan
(the singer) to sing the ballad of James Connolly,
I promise you will get the shivers! Simply awesome!

Providence: A Fig For a Kiss

Does anybody know the name of the second tune in the last (live) set on this album.They’ve titled it as Sean sa Cheo…
It’s a lively one, but the band sound is a little muddy to my ears. I could do with a name to hunt down a clearer version. Thanks.

Re: Providence: A Fig For a Kiss

Sounds like Sean sa Cheo to me, after Music in the Glen. It’s a widely recorded tune: https://thesession.org/tunes/177

Posted .

Re: Providence: A Fig For a Kiss

Ho hum. I think I’m getting old-fashioned: It reminds me of an auld fella who complained to me and several others after a Lunasa gig: ‘It’s all just feckin’ bang, bang, bang on the guitar’.
Doesn’t sound like the versions of the tune I’ve heard.

Re: Providence: A Fig For a Kiss

The auld fella’s comments made me LOL.

Track 9 McDonagh’s links to wrong tune

McDonagh’s on this cd is a slow air, but it links to the reel also called McDonagh’s. This is definitely not tune listed here.

Further to the comments above about the version of Sean sa Cheo on this album, this is a 4-part setting of a closely related tune which Johnny Doherty had as “Lough Isle Castle”. For a transcription, go here https://thesession.org/tunes/11966.

re Track 9 McDonagh’s

has anyone found the right version of this slow air on session.org yet ?
really beautiful tune.

“Right” version…?

Not sure what you mean by that, but I’d lay good money that they got that particular tune from this recording by the McDonagh brothers, and therefore named it after them :

https://thesession.org/recordings/1976

It’s track #27, and is only described as “A Harper’s Tune”. The sleeve notes mention that “They [ the McDonagh brothers ] were also quite fond of O‘Carolan’s music, which they played in their own unique way. They had a portrait of O’Carolan displayed on the chimney breast over the kitchen fireplace”.
It may be fair to assume that the tune is therefore one of O’Carolan’s compositions, but it’s not one I’ve come across anywhere else. I listened to an excerpt of “Providence’s” version on iTunes, and it’s played noticeably slower than the McDonaghs play it.

re Track 9 McDonagh’s

Thanks Kenny, that’s very helpful.
I was following on from a post above by “rudall” (4 years ago) where he says the reel(s) on thesession names McDonagh’s
https://thesession.org/tunes/1963
https://thesession.org/tunes/214
are definitely not Providence’s really beautiful slow air. I wasn’t after the dots as it’s simple enought, just wanting to know a bit about it, so thanks for your information. thesession.org is great for this stuff.
Cheers.