The largest publication of its kind

First Published in 1998. Irish traditional music is one of the richest treasuries of folk music in the world. Being an oral tradition, much of it has already been lost, and what has been recorded is only partially available in isolated collections. Until now, no composite picture has yet been presented, showing its remarkable range and diversity over four centuries. This volume covers Irish materials in general collections up to 1800 and in Irish collections up to and including Petrie's Ancient Music of Ireland (1855).The purposes of the project are to identify Irish dance tunes and songs; to present the scholar with a mass of material showing the evolution of the Irish vocal and instrumental folk style, period by period, from the earliest recorded tune up to the middle of the last century; to put into circulation many of the splendid airs which were lost but have now been located. Some 6,000 songs and dance tunes are presented, also including Scottish and English tunes. Included are Scottish tunes that were used by 18th-century Irish poets for their verses, and both English and Scottish tunes that are still current among Irish traditional musicians. Tunes of present-day currency which do not seem to be included may still be located by comparing their first 12 notes in the thematic index at the end of the volume.To make the vast array of material readily available, an index allows readers to locate a tune by its melodic incipit, by any of its titles, or by the first line of its text. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Irish songs noted up to the end of the last century lack texts, since the collectors were ignorant of the Irish language. But almost every other facet is covered-provenance, tonality structure, and variants.

Focus: Irish Traditional Music is an introduction to the instrumental and vocal traditions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as Irish music in the context of the Irish diaspora. Ireland's size relative to Britain or to the mainland of Europe is small, yet its impact on musical traditions beyond its shores has been significant, from the performance of jigs and reels in pub sessions as far-flung as Japan and Cape Town, to the worldwide phenomenon of Riverdance. Focus: Irish Traditional Music interweaves dance, film, language, history, and other interdisciplinary features of Ireland and its diaspora. The accompanying CD presents both traditional and contemporary sounds of Irish music at home and abroad.

Written from the perspective of a scholar and performer, Traditional Music and Irish Society investigates the relation of traditional music to Irish modernity. The opening chapter integrates a thorough survey of the early sources of Irish music with recent work on Irish social history in the eighteenth century to explore the question of the antiquity of the tradition and the class locations of its origins. Dowling argues in the second chapter that the formation of what is today called Irish traditional music occurred alongside the economic and political modernization of European society in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Dowling goes on to illustrate the public discourse on music during the Irish revival in newspapers and journals from the 1880s to the First World War, also drawing on the works of Pierre Bourdieu and Jacques Lacan to place the field of music within the public sphere of nationalist politics and cultural revival in these decades. The situation of music and song in the Irish literary revival is then reflected and interpreted in the life and work of James Joyce, and Dowling includes treatment of Joyce’s short stories A Mother and The Dead and the 'Sirens' chapter of Ulysses. Dowling conducted field work with Northern Irish musicians during 2004 and 2005, and also reflects directly on his own experience performing and working with musicians and arts organizations in order to conclude with an assessment of the current state of traditional music and cultural negotiation in Northern Ireland in the second decade of the twenty-first century.

From the mythological harp of the Dagda to Riverdance, this concise history of Irish traditional music and dance explores a rich spectrum of historical sources and folklore. It uncovers the contribution of the Normans to Irish dancing, the rote of the music maker in Penal Ireland, and the popularity of dance tunes and set dancing from the end of the eighteenth century to the present. It also follows the music of the Irish diaspora from the music halls of vaudeville to the musical tapestry of Irish America today.

The history of Irish traditional music, song and dance from the mythological harp of the Dagda right up to Riverdance and beyond. Exploring an abundant spectrum of historical sources, music and folklore, this guide uncovers the contribution of the Normans to Irish dancing, the role of the music maker in Penal Ireland, as well as the popularity of dance tunes and set dancing from the end of the 18th century. It also follows the music of the Irish diaspora from as far apart as Newfoundland and the music halls of vaudeville to the musical tapestry of Irish America today.