The Session >> Tunes >> The Boys Of Ballysodare (reel)

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Boys Of Ballysodare

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on January 19th 2003 by gian marco.

This tune has been added to 239 tunebooks.

Also known as Baile Easa Dara, Boys Of Balisadare, Boys Of Balisadeer, The Boys Of Balisodare, Boys Of Ballisadare, The Boys Of Ballisadare, Boys Of Ballisodare, The Boys Of Ballisodare, Boys Of Ballysadare, The Boys Of Ballysadare, The Boys Of Ballysidare, Boys Of Ballysodare, Buachaillí Baile Easa Dara, Douse The Monkey, The Dublin Lasses, Last Night's Work, Liam Farrell's, Miss Roddy's, Miss Roden's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

X: 1
T: Boys Of Ballysodare, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
e|dG~G2 dGeG|dBGA BAAe|dGGB dedB|AcBA GED2|
dG~G2 dGeG|dBGA BAAd|Bdd2 eBdB|AcBA GED|]
f|g3a bgaf|gfga bgef|g3a bgaf|gfed Bdef|
g3a bgaf|gfga bgeg|bgaf gedB|AcBA GEDd|]
Bdd2 Bdgd|Bdgd BAAc|Bddg eBdB|AcBA GEDd|
Bdd2 Bdgd|Bdgd BABd|eB~B2 eBdB|AcBA GED|]

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments
The Boys Of Ballysodare sheetmusic
Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Boys of Ballysodare

Source: Paddy O'Brien

# Posted on January 19th 2003 by gian marco

one of my favourite reels.

# Posted on January 26th 2003 by gian marco

The Boys of Ballysadare

There is also a hop-jig by this name. Listed in O'Neills 1001 and recorded by Lunasa http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/15 as a "gan ainm".

# Posted on April 16th 2006 by sixholes

This is the one: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1340

# Posted on April 17th 2006 by slainte

Also played in F

Also often played in the key of F.

Ballysadare is a small town in County Sligo by the way.

# Posted on August 25th 2006 by 52Paddy

Well, you might hear this tune played in F by East Clare or East Galway musicians, but certainly not by Sligo musicians. Claire Keville does a beautiful version in the key on the concertina.

# Posted on August 25th 2006 by slainte

Yes, it's mainly among East Clare musicians (Martin Hayes, Mary MacNamara) and Paddy Carty, Conor Tully, Padraig Mac Donnacha and Frank Hogan played it in F on Bring Down the Lamp in 1982.

# Posted on August 26th 2006 by 52Paddy

Quentin Cooper and Eoin O'Neill played it in F at the session in Brogan's I went to in January. I asked if that was the normal key, and they said it was. (What was unsaid, but clearly there between the lines, was that normal was a local term.)

# Posted on August 26th 2006 by GaryAMartin

Please be nice to flute players. Two East Clare fiddle legends Paddy Canny and P.J. Hayes actually recorded it in G with Peadar O'Loughlin on the concert flute.

# Posted on August 26th 2006 by slainte

lol, funny way you put that slainte. Paddy Carty played along with it in F like I said but that could have been an F flute

# Posted on August 26th 2006 by 52Paddy

Don't you know P. Carty played a fully-equipped Boehm flute? He was an exception.

# Posted on August 27th 2006 by slainte

Paddy carty played a Radcliffe system flute.

# Posted on August 27th 2006 by Kenny

Pardon my ignorance. But it looks like another kind of "typewriter": http://www.oldflutes.com/articles/radcliff.htm

# Posted on August 27th 2006 by slainte

John & James Kelly version

Anyone searching for the Version of John & James Kelly beware that they actually play the Dublin Reel, transposed up to G Major.

The Dublin: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/384

# Posted on April 9th 2008 by TMB

Boys of Ballisodare (poll)

On my infrequent encounters with other musicians I notice little differences in settings of tunes like this reel, specifically a little run in the first that goes EFGB edBG, instead of just repeating dG3~ dGeG, etc. I have about 30 different recordings of this tune, with performances on the fiddle, flute, pipes, accordion, and combinations thereof, starting with the maestro himself, Michael Coleman, from the early 1920s; and the only instances of this little snippet are from Paddy Canny (when solo, not on the All-Ireland record), Tommy Potts (private recordings, the recent RTE Rolling Wave documentary on him also has it) and Tommy Peoples on the Fiddle Stix CD. Even modern musicians like Michael O'Briain (piper) or Sligo's own McDonagh and Quinn (on the Mountain Road CD) don't include what we'll refer to as the Potts Run. ;)

Does your local session consider this de facto, like mine? The musicians I usually play with are ex pats from the Bay Area of the US, so I assume it's standard there as well. How do trends like this get started, anyway?

# Posted on January 23rd 2009 by KLR

Re: Boys of Ballisodare (poll)

Hi Kevin, I am not sure how he plays it exactly, with that run or not, but Alan Morrisroe plays it, and not sure where he got it, but got most tunes from his granny up in Mayo. In fact he says at home at times, in the old days of his granny, she called it "The Falls Of Ballisodare".

It's on the upcoming CD we will have out shortly, but if you send me an email with your direct email address I can try and send it over as an MP3 to you to check out. Everything he does is "the old way".

# Posted on January 23rd 2009 by irisnevins

Re: Boys of Ballisodare (poll)

So Kevin, did Alan do the same run? How does his version compare?

# Posted on January 24th 2009 by irisnevins

Re: Boys of Ballisodare (poll)

At this end the older players went for the long note: dG~G2 d3 e dBGA BA ~A2

# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski

Alan's setting is pretty much like that from other players, either Bddd eBdB or eBBB B3G. I was hoping to keep this in Discussions but Jeremey moved it over here; should've used a title like "Session Settings" as I only used the Boys as an example.

# Posted on January 24th 2009 by KLR

Boys of Ballyosdare

Here it is played by Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh and Danny O'Mahony........last tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YLo3wH8dsk

# Posted on June 10th 2009 by bogman

Boys of Ballyosdare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wozi-LFjZYM&feature=rec-r2

Played here by Sean Og Graham,Eamon Murray, Stevie Dunn and Gerd Thompson

# Posted on November 24th 2009 by bogman

Boys of Ballysodare & The 5-Mile Chase

These seem to go often together. Any idea about the origin of this particular set?

# Posted on March 28th 2012 by sixholes

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