Annotation:Trip to Durrow (The)
X: 1 T:Trip to Durrow, The R:reel D:Noel Hill: The Irish Concertina Z:id:hn-reel-249 M:C| K:D D2DF ADFA|dfed ~B3c|dBBA dBBA|FADE FE~E2| D2DF ADFA|dfed ~B3c|dBBA FAdB|AFEG FD~D2:| |:dcde fefg|afdf gfed|(3Bcd ef gebe|gebe gfef| d2de fefg|afdf gfed|(3Bcd ef gbag|fdec d2de| fdec d2de|fded ~B3c|dBBA dBBA|FADE FE~E2| D2DF ADFA|dfed ~B3c|dBBA FAdB|AFEG FD~D2:|
TRIP TO DURROW, THE (An turas go Darmhagh). Irish, Reel (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B (Carlin): AABB (Mallinson, Songer, Taylor); ABC (Breathnach). “Trip to Durrow” has been attributed to Irish fiddler Dan Cleary (1918-2004), of Ballinamere, County Offaly. Cleary played a number of instruments, including the uilleann pipes, piano and tin whistle, and was a member of a number of céili bands in the mid-20th century, notably the Ballinamere Céili Band, which won All-Ireland titles in the mid-1950’s. “Trip to Durrow” may stem from Cleary’s days as a young man with the Colmcille Céili Band, of Durrow, Co. Offaly, who played regularly in the Forresters Hall in Tullamore (see Treoir, vol. 38, No. 2, 2006, pp. 37-38). The arrangement in Carlin's collection, by Leo Rowsome, differs from that in Taylor's by being more regular (the length of the 'A' and 'B' parts is the same with the 'A' repeated). Taylor (1992) makes the point that his version of "The Trip to Durrow" is unusual in the length of the second part (16 bars, repeated); perhaps unique in Irish music along with the possible inclusion of "Ballinasloe Fair" which also boasts a long second part, though it is altogether half the length of "The Trip to Durrow.” He thinks the tune may have originally been a three-part melody. Breathnach (1996) says the three part version, either AABBCC or AABCBC depending on the locale, has its source in his Ceol Rince na h-Éireann collection. He remarks that the last part was to illustrate a variant of the ‘A’ part, or how another musician had played the strain, but that a footnote explaining the structure was omitted from the volume.
