Farewell To Cailroe reel

Not a tune that I’ve heard played that often - Sean Maguire, certainly, and I think maybe Billy McComiskey, with or without Brendan Mulvihill. Not a flute or whistle tune at all, because of the range and the G#s, however, I bought an A whistle from John Sindt a while back, and it works on that. I think it may have been composed by Finbar Dwyer.

Always loved Sean Playing this one and I have heard Tom Ginley play it on a silver flute.Dead right about the composer also.

First heard this one from Damien Mullane, the great young London box player. Also to be heard on Eliot Grasso’s CD, Standing Room Only

Great tune but doesn’t the melody have a bit of a hornpipe feel to it or is it just me?

I’m learning this tune at the moment. I’ve spent time over the last few years learning some of Finbarr’s more obscure tunes. I think this should become part of my repertoire since it is slightly more common than some of his other compositions.

I’m learning it in C and D though.

Setting #2 comes from the playing of Richard Dwyer, Finbarr’s brother, on a recording called ‘Kitty’s Rambles’. It is not, as yet, in the recordings database. I was given it on a memory stick, without track titles, and have not found any info about it on the web - I assume it has been deleted.

https://thesession.org/recordings/4096

It had been posted in as "Kitty’s Ramblers" - I corrected some typos.

So ‘Kitty’s Rambles’ (the album) is by Finbarr, not Richard Dwyer? That explains a lot, as I didn’t think Richard D. played the accordion (A flute player, wasn’t he?). The files I have must be incorrectly marked.

Don’t know about flute, but Richard was certainly a whistle player.

Richard plays mainly box (https://thesession.org/recordings/1909).

Michael (God rest him) was the renowned whistle player (considered by many to be among the best that has ever lived) though he also played fiddle. We only had his memorial festival this last weekend.

Sorry - thanks for the correction, "Hurler". I was remembering sleeve notes from the Liz Carroll & Tommy Maguire recording which said that they’d learned "Richard Dwyer’s" from a whistle-player, and I made a totally false connection, transforming Richard Dwyer into the whistle-player. Should have checked, of course, although I did try by looking up Fintan Vallely’s "Companion", which wasn’t any help in this instance. And as if that’s not daft enough, it was me who posted the Michael Dwyer CD just last week ! I’d love to get to that festival sometime.
All the best, Kenny

This tune is also good in G (heard a box player from Ardrahan play it that way) and also in D - which does suit the flute and whistle!

Version in D (probably the most common key for this).

Cailroe was where Finbarr died, I believe?

This tune was played very sweetly by the late Brendan Mulkere with another reel, on ‘Hup’, Series 2, Episode 9, during the Cooley-Collins Festival in Gort.
I’d like to get the name of the other reel Brendan played on that programme, following ‘Farewell to Cailroe’.

The Swallow’s Nest by Paddy O’Brien, I believe: https://thesession.org/tunes/743

Yes, I think that’s it. Thanks!