The Session >> Tunes >> Sean Ryan's (jig)

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Sean Ryan's

jig

Key signature: Adorian

Submitted on September 6th 2001 by Will CPT.

This tune has been added to 202 tunebooks.

Also known as Castle Jig, Lonesome, The Castle, Cooley's, The Nightingale.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

X: 1
T: Sean Ryan's
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:~c3 BAG|AGE DB,G,|~A,3 EDB,|DEG AGE|
cBA BAG|AGE DB,G,|A,2 E EDE|DB,G, A,2 B:|
|:cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B:|

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments
Sean Ryan's sheetmusic
Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Sean Ryan's

This is one of two jigs I know by this name, apparently the more popular of the two. It lends itself to variations--listen to Martin Hayes on his self titled cd (and in the session unfreindly key of D dorian), Kevin Burke on Promenade, or Laura Risk on Greenfire.

We do this in a set after Rambling Pitchfork and Hole in the Hedge.

Will

# Posted on September 6th 2001 by Will CPT

I love the jig and the way that it uses such a large range of notes!

# Posted on March 29th 2003 by Hayley

I've seen this as The Castle, by Sean Ryan.

# Posted on October 22nd 2003 by hdunn

A friend who used to play with Joe Cooley said Joe would play the 12th bar as an arpeggio starting on the very lowest note of his box, an octave below the lowest note on the fiddle. I've a tape of Joe with this tune, it's quite the thundering sound there.

# Posted on March 23rd 2005 by Kevin Rietmann

John Carr, who leads the session up in Ft. Collins that we attend regularly, plays the B repeating the first part the first time through the B and then using the second part of the part as a second ending:

|:cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gfg|GBd cBA|1
cBA afa|bag edB|GBd gdc|BAG A2B:|2
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B||

# Posted on August 15th 2005 by Zina Lee

This tune was composed by Sean Ryan and he called it 'The Castle'.

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Mikea

Yep, just like the 3rd post from the top sez....

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Will CPT

Will, did you know that this tune is actually called "The Castle"? It's a composition by Sean Ryan.

:-)

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Dow

Cape Breton fiddlers call this tune "Gallagher's Jig." Don't ask me why.

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by slainte

Nice echo in here....
:-/
:o)

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Will CPT

By the way, there is another jig associated with Sean Ryan, which has yet to be posted. It's on the Tap Room Trio album, and I think I once heard it played by Providence on the radio.

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by slainte

I like to call it, "Sean Ryan's Castle." :-)

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Phantom Button

The other Sean Ryan Jig is called "The Nightingale".
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1868
Go over there and we can repeat all these comments again.
Did I mention he also wrote the Castle :)

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by Donough

Nope. There's another "Sean Ryan's Jig."

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by slainte

This reminds me a lot of a tune I've heard called
"The Large Fortified Building or Group of Buildings with Thick Walls." Don't know who composed it though.

# Posted on February 2nd 2006 by joesmith

Martin Hayes' setting

This is the version Martin Hayes plays on "The Lonesome Touch". It is close to the original tune posted but he plays it in C Major so it goes "Paddy Fahy's Jig #1".

X: 1
T:Sean Ryan's Jig
R:Jig
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:C
fed edc|dcA GEC| DED AcA|GAc dcA|
fed edc|dcA GEC|DED AcA|1 GEC D3:|2 GEC D2 F||
FED ~d3|edc AGE|CEG cBc|CEG FED|
~F3 ~G3|AGA cde|dcA GEC|1 A,B,C D3:|

# Posted on September 13th 2007 by jlfinkels

Oops

Sorry, its not on "The Lonesome Touch". It's on his "Martin Hayes" CD.

# Posted on September 13th 2007 by jlfinkels

Have y'all tried this in E dor? It's great fun and makes the whistle player in your band happy (but drives your fiddlers crazy).

# Posted on February 15th 2008 by daddae

Paddy Canny's take

I just found this doing a search for "Paddy Canny". It's either played along with pipes or with heavy artifact from click removal. The turns in the B part are done more as sliding up to the note with slow attack. Paddy made those sound almost like a dixieland trumpet with a derby over the bell.

X: 1
T: Sean Ryan's
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:cBA BAG|AGE DBG|~A3 EDB|DEG AGE|
c2A B/2c/2dB|AGE DBG|~A2 E EDE|DBG A2 B:|
|:cBA ~a3|bag edB|GBd ~g3|GBd cBA|
cBc dcd|ede gab|age dBG|EFG A2 B:|

# Posted on August 9th 2008 by justjim

"The Castle Jig" ~ by Seán Ryan

"The Hidden Ireland:
The First Selection of Irish Traditional Compositions of Seán Ryan"
Compiled by Brian Ryan

Page 8: "The Castle Jig"

# Posted on August 9th 2008 by ceolachan

"The Castle Jig" C: Seán Ryan

X: 5
T: The Castle Jig
C: Seán Ryan
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|: B |\
c2 A BAG | AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | DEG AGE |
c2 A B/c/dB | AGE DBE | A^GA E^DE | DBG A2 :|
|: B |\
cBA a^ga | bag edB | GBd gfg | GB/c/d cBA |
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | age dBG | E>FG A2 :|

# Posted on August 9th 2008 by ceolachan

thanks, Ceolachan, for that. It explains things I didn't even know needed explaining. The Paddy Canny track I found was a medley called Paddy Canny's Castles, altho I had previously only known it as "Sean Ryan's", entirely without the sixteenth-notes, which add so much. Those accidentals change the flavor, too. I'll need to play them a while for the feel of it.

Oh, I missed something in the fourth measure, played as

|DE/F/G AGE|


# Posted on August 10th 2008 by justjim

For the sake of Seán Ryan's "The Castle Jig"

Just so you know, X: 5, that transcription, isn't from the book. It's an alternate take from me offering another choice for those that can't dip below D... But I picked up that option of playing those accidentals, for example ~ | A^GA E^DE | ~, from playing this tune with others... Here are the same bars from the book, so as to make the distinction, as I've given it above first...

A-part
| AGE DBG | A^GA E^DE | - to - | AGE DB,G, | ~A,3 EDB, |

B-part
c2 c d^cd | e^de gab | - to - | cdc d^cd | ede gab |

Incidental accidentals, especially when they don't lie on the first note of a beat, so the 2nd or 3rd with a jig, don't pose any real conflct in playing this tune with others. With the bar | A^GA E^DE | the accidental is the second note, just a slight dip below the primary tone of these two beats, or A & E...

# Posted on August 10th 2008 by ceolachan

I forgot to say, nice transcription justjim, I like it...

# Posted on August 10th 2008 by ceolachan

Not a member yet? Sign up!

forgotten your password?

Frequently Asked Questions

cancel

Enter your email address to have your password sent to you.