Annotation:Philip O'Beirne's Delight

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PHILIP O'BEIRNE'S DELIGHT (Aoibhneas Philip Uí Bheirn). AKA and see "Broken Bridge (The)," "Daisy Field (The)," "O'Beirne's Delight," "Purty Girls of Our Town (The)." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The tune was recorded by fiddler Michael Coleman, originally from County Sligo, and was named in honor of one of his teachers and mentors, fiddler Philip O'Beirne (who also taught Martin Wynne {1913—1998} in Sligo). Philip was the father of James "Lad" O'Beirne, who, like Coleman albeit a bit later, emigrated to New York and became later a revered fixture of the South Bronx Irish music scene in the 1940's, where he influenced younger fiddlers such as Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds.

The first strain of "Philip O'Beirne's Delight" is cognate with the "Broken Bridge (The)," "Purty Girls of Our Town (The)" and "Daisy Field (The)" family of tunes, although the second strain is less similar. The whole tune would seem to be an Irish adaptation of the Scottish reel "Miss Sophia Duff Stuart’s Favourite."

Source for notated version: fiddler Tommy Potts (Ireland) [Breathnach].

Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ I), 1963; No. 170, p. 67.

Recorded sources: Decca 12085 (78 RPM), Michael Coleman (1936). Smithsonian Folkways SFW40545_111, Tony DeMarco - "The Sligo Indians" (2008).

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]

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