McDonagh’s reel

There are 13 recordings of this tune.

McDonagh’s appears in 2 other tune collections.

McDonagh’s has been added to 1 tune set.

McDonagh’s has been added to 77 tunebooks.

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Three settings

1
Sheet Music33312
Sheet Music
Sheet Music3
Added .
2
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3
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Six comments

McDonagh’s Reel

McDonagh’s is a common session tune in some circles, and I’d heard it played many times over the years without knowing its name. But I was listening in at a star-studded session in the Gaithersburg (Maryland, USA) Hilton after hours (and after the day’s concerts at the 1999 Washington Irish Festival), and caught the tune as played by Brian Conway, Patrck Mangan, Eliot Grasso, Tom Doorley, Cillian Vallely, and John Doyle. So there it is--the B part is infectious and can get a whole roomful of non-dancers instantly tapping their feet. Fiddlers will do well to keep as many fingers down as possible (holding the ds and fs) without inadvertently muting one note or the other. In the A Part, I hit the quarter-note A in the first measure on an up-bow so I can play the next bowed triplet down-up-down, and then slur the next triplet all on a single bow stroke.
Enjoy!

Posted .

It has this west-Atlantic flavour

Birlibirdie, what exactly do you mean by “west-Atlantic flavour”?

Like a Quebec gigue or Capebreton feel to it?
Here’s a Scottish Pipe friendly version:

X: 1
T: McDonagh’s
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
defd A2 (3AAA|(cdg fedc|defd A2 (3ABc|1 dBAG ADDA:|2 dBAB cded||
|adfd Adfd|Acec fdec|adfd Adfd|faag fedB|
|Aafd adfd|Acef gfec|defg a2 (3aaf|gfeg fddA|

I mean, is sounds like the many Quebecan tunes whose down beats fall on Major chord notes. But does Quebec count as an Atlantic province I wonder? North-West if you prefer but West-South-West of Ireland!

My ‘scottish pipe friendly’ version above has mistakes in it: You might prefer something more like this here;
X: 1
T: McDonagh’s
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
d2fd A2AB|cdeg fedc|dAfd A2(3ABc|dBAa fddA|
dedB A2(3ABc|defg fedc|dafd aaaf|dBAg fddA||
|adfd adfd|Aced fdd[bf]|adfd adfd|faaf d2f#g|
|adfd Adfd|Acef gfec|defg a2 (3aaf|gfeg fddA||