The Killavil reel

Tune requested by carrie

The Killavel that I play is listed on "JC’s ABC Tune Finder" - http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html. Search for Killavel to find it.

regards,

Pamela

While this tune was recorded as Mick Finn’s on "Molloy/Brady/Peoples," many people often associate it with Sligo fiddler Fred Finn like Dervish do. Does anyone know who is Mick Finn? Is he Fred’s brother?


I play the second part like this:

d2fd Adfd|g2fg edBc|d2fd Adfd|g2fg e3A|
d2fd Adfd|g2fg edBc|dBBA Bcde|1 f2gf edBc:|2 f2gf edAF||

I think the bars 1, 3, 5 are more often played as I post here.

Mick Finn is/was [?] a well-known fiddler who lived in Galway. No relation to Fred as far as I know.

Thanks again, Kenny. I’ve just found Fred Finn was from Killavil: http://homepage.eircom.net/~fredfinn/home_cont.htm So, it’s more sensible to associate the tune with Fred, not Mick.

Not sure about that, slainte - I’ve always associated this reel with Mick Finn, never Fred.

I’d never thought of the Killavil connection until you’d mentioned it , slainte, but I did remember that this reel is in Ceol Rince na hEireann Vol.1 as "Cill Abhaill". I looked up Fred Finn in Fintan Vallely’s "Companion To Irish Traditional Music", and found that Fred Finn’s father’s name was Michael, so it could well be Mick Finn’s, but nothing to do with the Galway fiddler.

This tune is called "Tom Steele" in the Peter Horan section of Trip to Sligo. Though I see the Fiddler’s Companion has a different but similar tune listed for that name (and claims that tune is the one in Trip to Sligo, but it’s definitely not). Very confusing.

I know a very close rendition of his tune on Hugh & Colm Healy’s Macalla Na Hoige CD track 7 but it is called Tom Billy’s and they play it in key of C with a few minor varioations here and there. Nice set with this tune played after "The girl who broke my heart"

X:1
T:Mick Finn’s
T:The Killavil
S:"Naomh Padhraic," the winner of the senior ceili band competition in 2004
Z:Jack Gilder
M:4/4
L:1/8 R:Reel
K:D
D2AD BDAD|D2AD BDAD|E2BE dEBE|BABc dBAF |
D2AD BDAD|D2AD BDAD|GFEF GABc|1 dfed BAFE:|2 dfed BAFA||
d2fd adfd|g2fg edBc|d2fd adfd|g2fg e2fe|
d2fd adfd|g2fg edBc|dBBA Bcde|1 fdec dBAB:|2 fdec dBAF||

I saw him in a session in Galway in 1978 playing with the piper Jackie Small and others; he was an exceptional fiddle player, and I noticed he played by holding the bow maybe as much as half-way down its length instead of at its handle. People called him Mickey. Sadly, he was alcoholic and some time ago I read he had died. I was told he came from Loughrea in Co. Galway. I do not remember hearing him play this tune.

As Kenny has written, "Mick Finn" in question was probably Fred Finn’s father. "Mick Finn" is in fact mentioned on the sleeve notes of Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington’s recent duet album as Fred’s father.

You heard the Galway Mick[ey] Finn, nicholas. This reel is associated with the Sligo Mick Finn. They were not related as far as I know.

I made the same mistake myself - see above.

Duplicated, several times over. Here’s one:

https://thesession.org/tunes/1723

I tell a lie. I think it used to be on several times (but memory being what it is …), but has now been amalgamated into the one I posted. Anyway, it’s already on here.

A Christmas day present for the flute players…………."Mick Finn’s" is the first reel, followed by "The Piper’s Despair".

http://youtu.be/HRwWGI81AcY

play video

BTW, in case there was any doubt remaining about Fred Finn knowing this tune, I’ve got a nice lo-fi recording of him playing it. No clue if he called it Mick Finn’s, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJbYiqjIjBY

play video

yes, Mick Finn was Fred’s father. Definitely.
He is also credited with Fred Finn’s reel