The Road To Lisdoonvarna

reel

Key signature: Dmixolydian

Submitted on August 24th 2001 by glauber.

This tune has been added to 359 tunebooks.

Also known as All The Way To Galway, All The Ways To Galway, Flash Away The Pressing Gang, Road To Listonvarna, Sonny Brogan's, Tinker's Wife.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Fig For A Kiss by Providence
• A Tribute To Michael Coleman by Joe Burke, Andy McGann And Felix Dolan
• Aleanna by Aleanna
• American Special by Stockton's Wing
• An Feochan by Philippe Barnes
• Banish Misfortune by Malcolm Dalglish And Grey Larsen
• Bohola by Bohola
• Buried Treasure Of The Toucan Pirates by Toucan Pirates
• Castles In The Sky (Celtic Music) by Allan Alexander And Michael Carlito
• Celtic Harp II: From A Distant Time by Patrick Ball
• Ceol Mor by Ceol Mor
• Close To Home by Dónal Clancy
• Come West Along The Road by Brian O'Connor
• Cuaichin Ghleann Neifin (The Little Cuckoo Of Glen Nephin) by David Power
• Dance Music Of Ireland: Volume 10 by Matt Cunningham
• Fidil by Ciarán Ó Maonaigh And Aidan O'Donnell
• Fourmilehouse by Alan And John Kelly
• Fourmilehouse by Alan And John Kelly
• In Season by Wild Asparagus
• Instrumental by Franz Sanger And Susan Frances
• Iona by Iona
• Jefferson And Liberty by The Itinerant Band
• La Veillée Des Veillées by Various Artists
• Live In Concert by The Bothy Band
• Music For The Sets - Volume 6: Face The Hob by Various Artists
• Old Hag You Have Killed Me by The Bothy Band
• Ragairne Revelling At Night by Seamus Begley
• Raise The Rafters by Raise The Rafters
• Rattlin' Banjos (part 2) by David McNevin
• Samhradh by Abisko
• Shatter The Calm by Dan Beimborn
• Show The Lady: Music For The Sets Volume 5 by Various Artists
• Slowplay Jigs, Reels And Hornpipes by Jeffrey Hillgrove
• Southwind by Glenn Morgan
• Spirit Of The Isles: A Concert For Beltane by Various Artists
• Sporting Nell by Tommy McCarthy
• Standing Stones by The Crossing
• Star Of Ireland by Finbarr Dwyer
• Step This Way by David Lindquist
• Stockton's Wing by Stockton's Wing
• Sunny Spells And Scattered Showers by Solas
• Sweet Nyaa by Moving Cloud
• Sweeter As The Years Roll By by James Keane
• Take The Bull By The Horns by Tom Doherty
• The Ale Is Dear by Clandestine
• The Celtic Harp by The Chieftains
• The Celtic Ray by Marcille Wallis
• The Chieftains 3 by The Chieftains
• The Coleman Archive Vol. 2: The Home Place by Various Artists
• The Devils Of Dublin by Celtic Music Society (East Rochester HS)
• The Hour Before Dawn by Solas
• The Humours Of Lewisham, Volume Three by Aidan Crossey
• The Lewis Blue by Ivan Drever And Duncan Chisholm
• The Living Wood by Maire Ni Chathasaigh And Chris Newman
• The Night Rambler's Companion by Harry Bradley
• The Road To Riley by Riley School Of Irish Music
• The Stone In The Field by Tommy Reck
• The Tocane Concerts by Various Artists
• They Sailed Away From Dublin Bay by Liam Farrell And Joe Whelan
• Your Daughters And Your Sons by The Duhks

X: 1
T: Road To Lisdoonvarna, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
C|DAAG ABcA|GE~E2cEGE|DAAG ABcA|BcAG FDD:|
A|defd cAAc|BGGB cAA2|defd cAAc|BcAG FDD:|

This is how i know this tune

This is the reel version that i've heard of this tune. It seems to be better known as a slide. I've also seen it as a straight jig, but i think it sounds strange that way.

# Posted on August 24th 2001 by glauber

On the Bothy Band album "Old Hag", the reel Road to Lisdoonvarna is played (part of the track called Michael Gorman's), followed by another reel whose name I have not been able to find - any one know it?

# Posted on January 27th 2005 by simon boyes

Look it up

Simon, queries such as this can often be solved by looking up "comments" for the appropriate album in the "Recordings" section. It's known as "Molly Ban", or "Fair-haired Molly", although I have heard it referred to as "Gorman's", possibly being given this name as a result of the "Bothy Band " recording.

# Posted on January 27th 2005 by Kenny

Road To Lisdoonvarna / All The Way To Galway

This must be a very old tune because I can find many variants of it which differ in the following ways:

A) different titles (Road To Lisdoonvarna, All The Way To Galway, High Road To Galloway, Slash Away The Pressing Gang)
B) different tune genres including reel, slide, jig, march, air, fling, strathspey etc
C) parts swapped
D) different modes (Dmix, Ddor, Dmaj, Edor etc for one or both parts).

Another version that seems to be common (apart from Glauber's posted version and the slide setting) is entitled All The Way To Galway and surfaces as either a 2/4 march (also appears in O'Neill's) or a very flingy reel:

X: 1
T: All The Way To Galway
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: march
K: Dmix
d>e fd|cA A>c|BG GA/B/|cA A2|d>e fd|cA Ac|BG AF|D2 D2:|
|:A>B AG|AB c2|G>A GF|EF GE|A>B AG|AB cA|BG AF|D2 D2:|

X: 1
T: All The Way To Galway
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
defd cAAc|BGGB cAAc|defd cAAc|BGAF D2D2:|
|:ABAG ABcA|GAGF EFGE|ABAG ABcA|BGAF D2D2:|

# Posted on June 13th 2005 by Dr. Dow

The midi

Doesn't have any sound!! This is frustrating for people who learn music by ear!! =)

# Posted on April 29th 2006 by tin_whistler

The Midi!

Nevrmind!!! This is what I get for screwing with my audio settings! haha, it's fine.

# Posted on April 29th 2006 by tin_whistler

This fun, simple tune makes a great practice piece for learning bowed triplets on fiddle, or plucked triplets on banjo or mandolin. As follies:

X: 1
T: Road To Lisdoonvarna, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
DA A/A/A ABcA|GE E/E/E cEGE|DA A/A/A ABcA|GBAG FDDE|
DA A/A/A ABcA|GE E/E/E cEGE|DA A/A/A ABcA|GBAG FDDA||
defd cA A/A/A|BG G/G/G cA A/A/A|defd cAAF|GBAG FDDA|
defd cA A/A/A|BG G/G/G cA A/A/A|defd cAAF|GBAG FGEF||

# Posted on December 18th 2006 by Will Harmon

Road to Lisdoonvarna combines really well with the Morris Dance (or at least, that's one of its names - it's very similar to Mountain Madness, but then it's different too).

# Posted on January 14th 2007 by gwendolen

Tinker's Wife

Learnt this from Catherine McEvoy at Miltown: she called it the Tinker's Wife and that they usually play it in a set with Mick Hand's. Her version was a little different than here:
DAAG ABcA|G2AG EFGE|DAAG ABcA|~B2AG FDD2| D2AG ABcA|GcAG EFGE|D2AG ABcA|BdAG FDD2|
defd c~A3|B2GB c~A3|defd c~A3|~B2AG FDD2| defd c~A3|BDGB cAA2|defd ~c3|BdAG FDD2|

played as single reel

# Posted on July 25th 2007 by the wounded hussar

Oops

that should read:
DAAG ABcA|G2AG EFGE|DAAG ABcA|~B2AG FDD2| D2AG ABcA|GcAG EFGE|D2AG ABcA|BdAG FDD2|
defd c~A3|B2GB c~A3|defd c~A3|~B2AG FDD2| defd c~A3|BDGB cAA2|defd c~A3|BdAG FDD2|

# Posted on July 25th 2007 by the wounded hussar

This tune is titled "Flash Away the Pressing Gang" on Solas' second album.

# Posted on July 27th 2007 by withak

Rd ro Lisdoonvarna(reel)

On the Chieftains (3) album, they go from the reel to the slip jig.

# Posted on July 27th 2007 by spindizzy

I seem to know it as a Highland Strathspey type tune

# Posted on October 30th 2009 by Michael Sam Wild

All the way to galway jacobite song

I understand there's an early eighteenth-century Jacobite song called 'All The Way To Galway' set to the O'Neill version of the tune. Can anybody provide me with the text, and maybe provide a bit of historical context? Thanks

# Posted on January 30th 2010 by richard snell

So close

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/249
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/250
The 'collusion' below shows how like eachother the reel and slide versions of the Road to Lisdoonvarna are once you play them in the same key:

X: 1
T: The Road To Lisdoonvarna
M: 12/8
L: 1/8
R: reel
K:Edor
E2B B2A B2c d2A|F2A ABA D2E FED|E2B B2A B2c d3|cdc B2A B2E E3:||
e2f gfe d2B Bcd|c2A ABc d2B B3|e2f gfe d2B Bcd|cdc B2A B2E E3:||
M: 4/4
EBBA BcdB|AFF2 dFAF|EBBA BcdB|cdBA GEEd:||
efge dBBd|cAAc dBB2|efge dBBd|cdBA GEE:||

Note how the D/reel version can be transposed to Edor because the major 3rd in it takes to the 'minor' change well while the E/slide version Can NOT be transposed to D because 1)its minor 3rd falls on a down beat and does not suffer this 'major'change & 2)the original D's below E can't be played at all as C's on the usual tin whistle range.

# Posted on April 22nd 2010 by birlibirdie

The Road To Lisdoonvarna

Here's this tune played by Kevin Glackin, Gay McKeown & Paul McGrattan. It's the second tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCG-ky8uCto&playnext_from=TL&videos=hZUqRZh4MtE

# Posted on June 6th 2010 by bogman

I learned this tune from Paddy O'Brien, with some slight differences, like this:


X: 1
T:Road To Lisdoonvarna, The
S: Paddy O'Brien
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
|:DAAG ABcA|GE(3EEE cAGE|
DAAG ABcA|1 BcAG FGEF:|2 BcAG FDDd|
|:defd ^cAAc|BGBd ^cAAd|
defd ^cAAc|1 BdAG FDD2:|2 BdAG FGEF|

# Posted on October 10th 2010 by Reverend

Shannon Heaton variation

Here's how Shannon Heaton plays the tune on *The Blue Dress*:

R: reel
K: Dmix
|: DzAG ABcA | GEEE cEGE | DzAG ABcA |1 B/^c/dAG FFEF :|2 B/^c/dAG FDFA ||
|: dzfd ^cAAA | BGGG B/^c/dec | dfed ^cAAA | BzAG FDFA |
d3e ^cAAA | BGGG ^cdec | dzed ^cAAA | B/^c/dAG FGEF ||

# Posted on November 24th 2011 by bdh