Key signature: Eminor
Submitted on February 4th 2002 by Will CPT.
This tune has been added to 63 tunebooks.
Also known as The Dash To Portabello, The Dash To Portobello, Geal-Linn, The Glen Of Aherlow, Port Gael-linn, Sean Ryan's Favourite.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Dash To Portobello
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Emin
FA|:BE (3EEE EDB,A,|D2 FE D~A,3|B,EED EFGA|B2 eB dBAc|
|B~E3 EDB,A,|D2 FE D~A,3|B,EED EFGA|1 BdAF GEEc:|2 BdAF GE E2||
|:g2 eg bgeg|fd(3ddd Adfd|g2 eg bgeg|(3efg af geef|
|~g3a bgeg|f~d3 Adfd| g2 ga (3bag af|1 gfed Bdef:|2 gfed Bded||
The Glens of Aherlow
This reel was written by Co. Tipperary fiddler Sean Ryan, a prolific composer of more than 250 tunes. I learned it from the playing of Kevin Burke, but can't remember which recording. The liner notes spelled it Glens, though some printed sources keep it singular. Not having personally been to Aherlow, I don't know whether they're blessed with an abundance of glens, or just one singluar glen.
I posted the tune now because there's some confusion over Lafferty's Reel also being known as the Glen(s) of Aherlow. To my ear, they are similar but different tunes. For one thing, Lafferty's is in E dorian, and Aherlow is in E minor. The chord structure also doesn't match, at least not between the tunes as I know them.
Which all adds up to two great reels to play rather than just one with many names....
# Posted on February 4th 2002 by Will CPT
There is one single glen called the Glen of Aherlow, in the shadow of the Galty Mountains,
Co. Tipperary. I would have spent a night in a youth hostel there, but I got lost cycling in the dark and ended up camping in a rubbly field behind a petrol station.
# Posted on February 4th 2002 by ragaman
Glens of Aherlow
The tune posted here is actually called "The Dash to Portobello." It can been found in Sean Ryan's collection of compositions titled "The Hidden Ireland."
# Posted on February 5th 2002 by radriano
Portobello...sounds like stir fry
Now I'm thoroughly confused and can only claim stateside (and boondocks besides) ignorance on all this. Lafferty's, the Woman I Never Forgot, Glen of Aherlow, and the Dash to Portobello. I have no idea what name "officially" goes with which tune. My info on these tunes is based almost entirely on the recordings of Kevin Burke, usually a credible source of knowledge on such things. But radriano's cite seems beyond question, so I'll beg off and go with whatever sounds reasonable.
# Posted on February 5th 2002 by Will CPT
Another other name
Sean Ryan wrote this in honor of Geal-linn (ITM record co), so it picked up the name "Geal-Linn" as well.
# Posted on February 26th 2002 by Mad Baloney
Not the "Glens of Aherlow"
This isn't the "Glens of Aherlow" after all - The tune "Glens of Aherlow" was posted by Josh Kane as "Lafferty's" another name the tune goes by - this one is the "Dash to Portobello" or "Gael-Linn". They're both compositions of Sean Ryan's
# Posted on February 26th 2002 by Mad Baloney
Dash To Portobello
For an explanation of the different names, a transcription from the playing of Sean Ryan himself, plus an accompanying mp3, go here: http://www.cranfordpub.com/tunes/Irish/DashPortobello.htm. Be aware, though, that the fiddle is tuned down a tone.
# Posted on May 20th 2005 by Dow
Fire Aflame
This is the tune that is played first on Track 13 of The Fire Aflame, not Sean Ryan's Jig as listed in the database here...
# Posted on November 16th 2008 by tin_whistler