Annotation:Lament for Owen O'Rourke
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LAMENT FOR OWEN O'ROURKE. AKA - "Marbhna Óghain Ui Ruairc Cearbhúlán." Irish, Lament. G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed by Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). O'Sullivan (1958) notes the air was composed on the death in February, 1728, of Owen O'Rourke, for who Carolan also composed "Owen O'Rourke." O'Rourke was, in Carolan's time, the head of the once-great O'Rourke family, the Princes of Breffni, and was the last of the line to live in any opulence. He was married to Mary MacDermot Roe (for whom the bard composed "Mrs. O'Rourke"), daughter of the Prince of Coolavin. They lived at Tarmon, in the parish of Drumkeeran or Inishmagmath, County Leitrim.
O'Sullivan notes the "air is not very satisfactory and may have been mis-noted."
Source for notated version: Edward Bunting's manuscript collection [O'Sullivan].
Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 212, p. 145. O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 212, p. 223.
Recorded sources:
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