Annotation:Cath Chéim an Fhia
Tune properties and standard notation
CATH CHÉIM AN FHIA (The Battle of Keimaneigh). Irish, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. A song called "Cath Chéim an Fhia" (The Battle of Keimaneigh) was composed by Máire Bhuí Ní Laoghaire (Mary O'Leary, 1774–1849), of Keimaneigh, County Cork, an Irish poet and songwriter. Although she was illiterate, several of her songs and poems survived in oral tradition in the community. "Cath Chéim an Fhia" describes a fight that occurred in 1822 between a secret society of tenant farmers known as the Whiteboys or the Rockites, and the local battalion of yeomanry — a volunteer cavalry force raised from the landlord class by Lord Bantry. Mary O’Leary was a witness to some of the battle, which involved several members of her family and took place not far from her home.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland), 1995; p. 13.
Recorded sources: