Gneevgullia reel

I first learned this off the playing of Mary Bergin on Feadoga Stain 2, and then picked up some more fiddle friendly variations from whistlers Gerry Conroy and Mary Rafferty on “The Road from Ballinakill” cd (where they call this tune The Pride of Rathmore).

Gneevgullia is a village in Co. Kerry, east of Killarney. Rathmore is a bit bigger town also in C. Kerry and very near Gneevgullia. There must be something in the local water to produce such a good tune….

So, we’ve got a three-part reel here. The A part has this strong pulse to it that really gets people rocking even at moderate tempos. The beat comes on those long G’s in the first two measures, so don’t be shy about leaning into them. If your rolls aren’t clean yet, just play those ~E3 rolls as |E2 EF G2…|

The B part is fairly straightforward. On fiddle, I slur the triplets in measures 1 and 5, and you could also leave them out entirely (|efed Bdef|). The 4th measure of the B part usually hangs on the high e: |fedf e3 f|, and whistle and flute players typically roll the e there.

At first, the C part might strike your ears as stolen from another tune–we’ve suddenly jumped into G major. But then it swings back into familiar Gneevgullia territory for the last two bars. You can play the first measure: |GBdg e2 dB| or |GBdg eBdB|, and the second measure could be de-tripleted by playing |ADFD FGAc| or |AFDE FGAc|, although I tend to think that if you can’t fit the triplets in on these two measures, you’re probably playing too fast. On fiddle I slur the (3ege triplet and then single bow the (3FED triplet.

Nice tune - I especially like the C part.It take you by suprise,and works really well.

A very dynamic version of this reel under the name of Considine’s Grove is on the excellent album “Bridhid’s Kiss” by fiddler Gerry O’Connor & fluter/vocalist Eithne N

Kevin Burke plays it without the last part on If the Cap Fits, under the name of Paddy Cronin’s.
It always throws me on the rare occasion when I hear it in a session, because the two-part version, being the one I heard first, is lodged in my brain.

This tune is the result of two tunes that used to be played together according to Clare fiddler, Joe Murtaugh. He says that the first two parts are the tune, “Pride of Rathmore,” but someone couldn’t remember all of the second tune, “The Girls Of Farranfore,” and what could be remembered became a 3rd part.

Gian Marco has just posted this tune here; https://thesession.org/tunes/4026

I ’ve just been listening to Jackie Daly and Seamus Creagh first album. I think that the second tune of track#10 is a two part version of Gneevgullia Reel. They call it The Game of Love. Anyone can confirm ?

|: ED |
E3 F G2 EF | GBAG FD (3DEF |
EDEF GFGB | dBAc BE :|
|: Ed |
efed (3B^cd eg | fdd^c dfaf |
[1 efed Bde^c | dBAc BE E2 :|
[2 bg (3agf gfe^c | dBAc BE ||

This is just one of a number of possibilities…

http://www.cranfordpub.com/

http://www.cranfordpub.com/tunes/Irish/Rathmore_Farranfore.htm

Another take:

K: Emin
E3F G2EF|GBAG FDDF|EDEF GFGB|1 dBAF BEED:|2 dBAF BE~E2||
efed (3B^cd ef|geag fddf|efed Bdeg|fedf ~e3d|
Bded (3B^cd ef|~g3e fddf|~g3e dfed|B2AF BFAF||

I learned the tune from Maeve Donnelly and Peadar O’Loughlin’s duet playing, and changed it a little to suit my fancy. Great tune!

there is a very beautiful three-part version by london concertina player mandy murray on the three-cd concertina anthology titled “anglo international.”

sorry—the murray concertina version is titled “the game of love.”

Here’s a great fiddle version of this tune (2nd in the set):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWXzVNzOuzM

play video

And here’s another nice version. The second tune..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swa_LUAm1Hw

play video

I think this is the tune Carmel O’Dea plays here:
http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_290_1_carmel_odea_with_a_set_of_reels/

but she calls it “Malloy’s”

Airport, that set is Spike Island Lasses / Colonel Fraser’s(Malloy’s) / Pride of Rathmore(The 3-part version).

guess I skipped ahead too far - thanks A-man

The video posted by smw is most like the version I learned, but it
was called Paddy Cronin’s.

I think Ceolachan has it right; the three-part tune is actually these two tunes mashed together & missing a part. See both tunes here, played by a pair of great Sliabh Luachra fiddlers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWXzVNzOuzM

play video

Connie O’Connell even says in his introduction that these are East Kerry reels. He’s from the area, so I think I’ll take his word on it (even though he sounds like he’s calling the last tune “The Yell To Fantore”; I looked it up on Google Maps & could find no such place anywhere in Ireland, unless that’s a person’s name. Looks like even native Irish folks fall victim to “Telephone”! Here’s my transcrption of their “Pride of Rathmore”:

X:1
T:The Pride of Rathmore
S:Connie O’Connell & Denis Mac Mahon ( fiddles, Cork / Kerry)
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:reel
K:Edor
~E3 F G2 EF | GBAG FDDF | ~E3 F G3 A | (B/c/d) ed Bd .e2 |
~E3 F G2 EF | GBAG FDDF | ~E3 F G3 A | (B/c/d) ed BE ~E2 ||
e3 d Bdef | geag fd d2 | (e/f/g) ed Bdeg | fedB e3 d |
(B/c/d) ed Bdef | geag fd d2 | ~g3 e dged | B2 Ad BEED ||

You may argue amonst yourselves now…Cheers!

A great recording here of these two tunes played by Paddy Cronin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX9LO114wm8&feature=related

play video

You can here the “third” part in the second tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swa_LUAm1Hw&feature=related

play video

I kind of play it like this

X: 1
T:Consindine’s Grove
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: E dorian
|[G,3E3]F G z EF|GBAG FDDF|~E3 F GFGB|dBAd BAGF|
[G,3E3]F G2 (3DEF|GBAG FDDF|~E3 F GFGB|dBAd BEEf||
|efed Bdeg|fd ~d2 dfaf|efed Bded|Bded BEEf|
efed Bdeg|fd ~d2 dfaf|bgaf gfec | dBAd BEED||
|GBdg egdB|ADFD [D3A3] A|BGEF [G,3G3] B|dBAd BAGF|
|GBdg egdB|ADFD [D3A3] A|BGEF [G,3G3] B|dBAd BEED||

Thanks for posting the link, RockyNook.

My mistake, I was looking over some of my transcriptions and the last one I posted, above, is the version as played by Maebh O’Hare in this video

second tune, right after pull the knife and stick it in again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swa_LUAm1Hw

play video

the way I currently play the tune is this. Loosely based on Maebh’s setting but the B part is more like one of this tune’s relatives, possibly the pride of Rathmore. Possibly after confusing the two for some time. Either way this has become a fixture in my repertoire over the years and I really like my personal setting as I don’t know any local players who actually play this.

X:15
T:Consindine’s Grove
N:Maebh O’Hare
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K:E dorian
|E3 F G2 EF | GBAG FDDF | EDEF GFGB | dBAd BAGF |
E3 F [G,2G2] (3DEF | GBAG FDDF | ~E3 F GFGB | dBAd BEEf |
|efed Bdef|gegf eddf|efed Bdeg|fedf e3 d|
efed Bdef|gegf eddf|g2 ge dged | Bded BE{G}ED||
|GBdg egdB|ADFD [D3A3] A|BGEF [G,3G3] B|dBAd BAGF|
|GBdg egdB|ADFD [D3A3] A|BGEF [G,3G3] B|dBAd BE{G}ED||

ignore the note on the second version, if it confuses you, the Maebh O’hare setting is the first one I posted.

There is an absolutely stunning recording of this done by Tabache, as the opening of their Creig’s Pipes set. It’s on the CD Celtic Dance, and it’s worth buying the CD for. They take the low D’s that punctuate the A section up an octave, which gives it a burbling, fairy-creek quality. One of my favorite pieces, no question. It’s pretty much the song that hooked me on Celtic music.

Heard from Limerick piano accordionist Gerard Moloney.

From the playing of the duo “Tabache”
from a set of reels called “Cregg’s Pipes”

The Gneevguillia \ Are You Willing? \ Hanly’s Tweed \ Niamh’s Capers \ Cregg’s Pipes

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

play video

There is a reel in Kerr’s Merry Melodies Book 1 which is rather close to this one under the name “Miss Brady’s”.