Michael Clarkson
Irish Flute Tunes
Traditional Irish Flute Tunes (iflute@googlemail.com)
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Author
Michael Clarkson
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Sep 18, 2026
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Episodes
Molly What Ails You? (reel) 21.03.2020 1:49
Here's tune number 652 in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland. It's the best tune between tunes 651 and 653.
Jackson’s censored Reel 10.06.2019 2:42
As requested, here's an attempt at a flute version of a steadfastly fiddle tune. X: 1 T:Jackson's Reel (sort of flute-friendly'ish) R: reel M: 4/4 L: 1/8 K: Dmaj |:F|D2FD EDFE| DEFD EAcE|GE ~E2 GABd| ceAc dBAF| D2FD EDFE| DEFD EFGE| ABce dBAG| F/2G/2F EG FDD:| |:g|fd d2 ~d3f| edef edcB|A2cA BAcB| ABcA Bcde| fd d2 ~d3f| edef edcB|ABde faea|1fd d2 ~d3:|2fddc d/2d/2c dB|| A3A B2AG| FAAF G/2F/2E F...
Money in Every Pocket but My Own 08.06.2019 1:40
Here's a tune high in vitamin C. Also called the 'Belfast March', named after a town low in every vitamin. https://thesession.org/tunes/5000
The Church Street polka 07.06.2019 1:52
Here's a tune I was asked to post here. It's a great tune but I can't play polkas, so I never play them, so I can't play them, so I never play them, so ... The associated polka dots are here: https://thesession.org/tunes/1560
The London Clog 19.05.2019 2:19
Here's a tune which Tom Morrison recorded i 1928. London clogs are probably mainly fatbergs in the sewers these days. Here it is played properly: https://archive.org/details/TomMorrisonTheLondonClog Here it is written out badly:
The Milky Way (reel) 11.05.2019 2:17
This reel was made in space for the flute; sorry this effort isn't as out of this world as the title would suggest.
Peg McGrath’s reel 10.05.2019 1:47
Here's a tune written by Josie McDermott in honour of Peg McGrath who made one of the nicest flute noises I've ever heard.
The Whistling Postman - jig 09.05.2019 2:31
A short tune to fill a spare minute. I don't know how much postmen/postwomen (or even postmodernists) whistle now under the burden of Amazon boxes.
Jack Rowe - reel 04.05.2019 2:18
Here's a tune I first heard from a recording of John McGuire - Seán's father. The guy in the photo was Jack Rowe - looks like he could blow a flute with the back of his neck. Some feat. Some neck.
The Mount Collins Reel (The Girls of Farranfore) 03.05.2019 1:49
Here's a reel which you can hear Denis Murphy playing at: Mount Collins Reel / Doon Reel . There are special wobbles in the second tune which, according to the info at archive.org, are due to a hole being 'punched slightly off-center'. I'd imagine that could cause a wobble or two right enough. Here are some notes: https://thesession.org/tunes/4026
Black Pat’s Reel 10.12.2016 3:03
I've been living in a teeny weeny flat in Luxembourg for the last three weeks and have been afraid to play in case the people in the teeny weeny flats above and beside me objected. I finally got playing last night in a pub at a session with 4 flutes - just like home only the drink was a lot dearer. This tune was mentioned (not by me) but nobody knew it well enough to play it. I've given myself a...
Sweet Biddy Daly (jig) 13.02.2016 1:56
This jig is also known as 'Health to the Ladies'. It's a good tune for getting used to playing in A as it doesn't need any G sharps. As for the identity of Sweet Biddy Daly: I think she was the alter ego of Sour Suzie Knightly. https://thesession.org/tunes/327
The Gates of Mullagh (reel) 25.01.2016 2:23
Here's a reel composed by Josephne Keegan. I can't tell you much about the title though I know that a gate is like a door with the outside on its inside and outside; a Mullagh (or mullach) is a hilltop and so lots of hilly places are named after this feature: http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/mullach . Here are some dots: https://thesession.org/tunes/2243
The One Horned Cow (reel) 05.10.2015 1:46
Here's a reel which was included in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland in 1907 as 'An Bhó Mhaol / The Hornless Cow' but was recorded by Liam Walsh in 1933 as 'The One Horned Cow' https://archive.org/details/LiamWalshTheFairyReelTheOneHornedCowTheLimestoneRock. The beast must have sprouted a bit in the intervening 26 years; unless 1930s Waterford had a population of bovine unicorns - possibly only v...
The Lonesome Jig 21.09.2015 1:55
Here's a Lonesome Jig. It only has 681 companions on this site so far - no wonder it feels a bit isolated.
The Blarney Pilgrim (jig) 16.05.2015 2:10
Here's a tune I've managed to overlook during the years I've been putting tunes on this site. It refers to the Blarney Stone the kissing of which is reputed to leave a great facility for fine talk on the lips which were in contact with said stone. I was taken for my contact with the Blarney Stone when I was a child, though I think I was held the wrong way up and the incorrect bit of me made cont...
Mama’s Pet (3) 15.07.2014 1:24
I've just got my nice old flute back from a period in a flute hospital so felt inspired to post a tune on it before I break it again. This tune appears to be the third Mama's Pet I've posted here so she'll maybe able to open a small zoo. I'm not sure what species this pet is or even how many limbs it has, if any, or whether it has fur or just skin or scales. The details I could find are here: ht...
The Shamrock Barndance 08.05.2014 2:22
Here's a tune popular among some fiddle players in Donegal. I'm not sure whether it is unpopular among everyone else in that county but I'll maybe avoid playing it there just to be on the safe side. There is a version of it here: http://thesession.org/tunes/11250 taken down from the fiddle playing of Vincent Campbell (presumably one of the Donegal fiddle players amongst whom this tune is popular)...
The Walls of Limerick (Reel) 05.04.2014 1:56
Just grabbing a rare moment in the house when not being entertained / attacked (it's a fine line) by children. The first 2 minutes of that moment have been used up by playing this reel. www.tunepal.org told me it is called the Walls of Limerick. I have it on a recording of John McKenna on the flute with Michael Gaffney (I think) on the banjo. The notes at http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.p...
Down The Meadow - Reel 06.02.2014 2:07
Here's a tune which John McKenna recorded. To hear it played properly in digitised ex-shiny-shellac format you'll soon be able to buy the CD referred to here:http://www.johnmckenna.ie/irish-time/ The notation here isn't too far off the way McKenna had it (closer that I could manage in any case). http://thesession.org/tunes/12577
Last Night’s Joy (reel) 14.01.2014 2:16
Here's a reel I just heard on a recording of the Donegal fiddle maestro John Doherty. There are a few written versions here: http://tunepal.org/tunepal/search_titles_new.php?q=last+night%27s+joy As for the title - I think mine was finding half a packet of Kettle Chips and only being beaten 9:3 at Connect Four by my phone.
Roger’s Jig 07.06.2013 2:51
Here's an old, neglected Sligo jig. There's a recording of Paddy Sweeney from Moylough in Sligo playing it on a fiddle in 1937: http://archive.org/details/PaddySweenyRogersJigVillageJig . I like listening to recordings like that of tunes played at a quick pace and then hearing people who extol the virtues of Coleman, Sweeney, Killoran et al, giving off at people for playing too fast when they...
The Southwest Wind (An Ghaoth Aniar Aneas) - jig 01.05.2013 2:33
Here's a jig from the South West - mar atá Co. Clare. I associate it with Willie Clancy. I'm not sure whether its title refers to the direction the air flowed through his pipes while he played it. I think my flute was more Mecca-wards when I was playing it on this occasion - that would just be a west wind - with slight precipitation towards the end of the tune. For disciples of the dot there's...
Michael Ryan’s reel 10.04.2013 1:27
Here's a Gan Ainm - one of a host of Gans Ainm in Breandán Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. At least the person BB got the tune from had an ainm - namely Michael Ryan, a flute player from Co. Sligo, so (that's 'so' the conjunction rather than the Sligo 'SO' that you may see on a numberplate in Ballymote) I'll call the tune after Mr. R. Mr. B. gave the reel the rather appealing number 142...
Lad O’Beirne’s Reel (2) 21.03.2013 2:24
Here's another Lad O'Beirne's reel. I don't know much about it. The notes in dotty form can be found here: http://tunepal.org/tunepal/show_tune.php?tunepalid=1209-misc-tunes2_A-M.abc-30-Lad~O~Beirne~s~Reel~%28a%29~%28key~D%29~%25~misc%3CBB
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