Ellen’s Delight polka

This polka from the playing of the late Johnny O‘Leary from Maulykevane, Gneevguilla, Co. Kerry. Leary was a lovely box player known for his spacey playing style and breadth of repertoire, much of which came from such Sliabh Luchra foundations as Patrick O’Keeffe, his uncle Dan O‘Leary, and Dan’s teacher Tom Billy Murphy. While it’s hard to say where this one came from, the Ellen in question is likely Johnny’s daughter, Ellen O’Leary, aunt of current Sliabh Luchra boxplayer Bryan O’Leary.

Johnny O‘Leary recorded it on the ’89 Album, “The Trooper”, and Paudie O’Connor and Aoife Ní Chaoimh also recorded it with a polka from Julia and Billy Clifford, “Nelly Cleere’s”.

Johnny O’Leary’s setting

This polka is clearly related to Dan Mac’s https://thesession.org/tunes/330 Johnny Leary’s version of Dan Mac’s, he called Jerome Burke’s (JOL.298) which is a more distant relative of this setting (and in D)