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Teresa Halpin’s reel

There is 1 recording of this tune.

Teresa Halpin's has been added to 38 tunebooks.

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Two settings

1
X: 1
T: Teresa Halpin's
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
G2 GA GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de gedB|~A3G AcBA|
~G3A GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de B2 AB|~G3A GcBA|
G2 GA GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de gedB|~A3G AcBA|
~G3A GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de B2 AB|G2 GA GABd||
~g3g a2 ga|bagf edBd|e2 de gedB|A2 AG A2 Bd|
g2 gg a2 ga|bagf edBd|egde BdAB|G2 GA GABd|
g2 gg a2 ga|bagf edBd|e2 de gedB|A2 AG AcBA|
~G3A GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de B2 AB|~G3A GcBA||
"Fiddle setting, an octave below main melody"
G,3 A, G,A,B,D|E2 DE GEDB,|E2 DE GEDB,|A,3 G, A,CB,A,|
G,3 A, G,A,B,D|E2 DE GEDB,|E2 DE B,2 A,B,|G,3 A, G,CB,A,|
G,3 A, G,A,B,D|E2 DE GEDB,|E2 DE GEDB,|A,3 G, A,CB,A,|
G,3 A, G,A,B,D|E2 DE GEDB,|E2 DE B,2 A,B,|G,2 G,A, G,A,B,D||
G2 GG A2 GA|BAGF EDB,D|E2 DE GEDB,|A,2 A,G, A,CB,A,|
G2 GG A2 GA|BAGF EDB,D|EGDE B,DA,B,|G,2 G,A, G,A,B,D|
G2 GG A2 GA|BAGF EDB,D|E2 DE GEDB,|A,2 A,G, A,CB,A,|
G,3 A, G,A,B,D|E2 DE GEDB,|E2 DE B,2 A,B,|G,3 A, G,CB,A,||
# Added .
2
X: 2
T: Teresa Halpin's
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
DE|G GF GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de gedB|A2 AG AcBA|
G2 GF GABd|e2 de gedB|egde BcAB|G2 GG G2 ef||
g2 gg a2 aa|bagf edBd|e2 de gedB|A2 AG AcBA|
g2 gg a2 aa|bagf edBd|(3ege (3ded (3BcB (3ABA|G2 GG G2||
# Added .

Four comments

Teresa Halpin’s

Teada play this on their first self-titled cd. In the track notes, they cite the 1927 Roche collection as their source for this tune. The dots in my copy of Roche look like this in abc“

X:1
T:Teresa Halpins (sic)
M:2/4
L:1/16
S:Roche Collection, 1927
K:G
DE|G GF GABd|e2 de gedB|e2 de gedB|A2 AG AcBA|
G2 GF GABd|e2 de gedB|egde BcAB|G2 GG G2 ef||
g2 gg a2 aa|bagf edBd|e2 de gedB|A2 AG AcBA|
g2 gg a2 aa|bagf edBd|(3ege (3ded (3BcB (3ABA|G2 GG G2||

A google for “Teresa Halpin” led me to a web site about St. Agustine’s Convent in the Holy Redeemer parish, Trepassy, Newfoundland, Canada (http://ngb.chebucto.org/Articles/presentation.shtml). The list of founding members (Dating from 1882) included “Sr. M. Teresa Halpin, the Superior.” The web site article goes on to list “Sr. M. Ita O’ Sullivan, teacher and musician, Sisters M. Gertrude and M. Alphonsus O’ Driscoll of the same family:-all of Irish origin - who had left homes and loved ones to dedicate their young lives to the service of God and their adopted folk of Newfoundland.”

It’s not clear where this tune originated, but Frank Roche (1866-1961) did most of his tune collecting in Kerry and Cork, so it seems likely that the tune was at least played there, whether it originated in Ireland or Newfoundland.

Posted .

A little more digging uncovers a Teresa Halpin born in Rathdown (Rath an Duin, an area of South Dublin) in 1885. Which doesn’t gibe with the 1882 date for the convent in Newfoundland. So maybe someone else knows the timeline of all this.

Posted .

I read somewhere – probably one Chief O’Neill’s publications – that Theresa (with a “h”) Halpin was a prize-winning fiddler. Her father was himself a renowned fiddler or dancer, I forget which.

Re: Teresa Halpin’s

Treasa Ní Alpín (Teresa Halpin) was a renowned champion fiddler, fiddle-book author, dancer, and dance composer from Limerick and, later, Waterford. She recorded on wax cylinders and 78s, but unfortunately only a couple of recordings remain extant. Her daughters were also renowned fiddlers; they formed a celebrated ceili band together. Tes Slominski’s Trad Nation devotes an entire chapter to profiling her. An excerpt from a review of the book (https://www.journalofmusic.com/focus/it-time-separate-irish-traditional-music-irishness) is below:

“Ideas of class, gender and musical style in early twentieth-century Ireland frame a detailed discussion of Treasa Ní Alpín (Teresa Halpin). Limerick-born Ní Alpín (1894–1983) was a fiddle-player and dancer. In her teens she competed (and won) against Michael Coleman. She was awarded a Feis Ceoil prize for unpublished airs and in 1923 published a tutor book for the violin, Teagosc-Leabhar na Bheidhlíne. She recorded on a 78RPM for Parlophone in 1929 and is also credited with composing dances such as ‘The Walls of Limerick’ [and ‘The Siege of Ennis’-JHowley] yet her name is not as readily recognised as many of her male contemporaries. Ní Alpín’s story is fascinating and as a musician and dancer her impact has resonated through history to the present day.”