Annotation:Limestone Rock

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LIMESTONE ROCK (An Chloch Aoil). AKA - "Lime Stone Rock." AKA and see "Tit for Tat (1)." Irish, Reel. G Major ('A' part) & E Minor ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Breathnach, O'Malley): AA'B (O'Neill): AABB (Mulvihill, Russell): AABB' (Harker/Rafferty). Doolin, north Clare, tin whistle player Micho Russell (1989) associates the title with the limestone rocks of the area of western Ireland called the Burren. Although much of the land is somewhat barren with little grass, it is renowned for the flowers which manage to grow there. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland, 1907) prints the tune as "Tit for Tat (1)."

Source for notated version: flute player Éamonn de Stabaltún [Breathnach, CRÉ I]; Dublin accordion player Sonny Brogan [Breathnach, CRÉ IV]; uilleann piper Bill Ochs (New York, NY) [Mulvihill]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].

Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ I), 1963; No. 113, p. 47. Breathnach (CRÉ IV), 1996; No. 166, p. 78. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 22, p. 7. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 195, p. 53. O'Malley (Luke O'Malley's Collection of Irish Music, vol. 1), 1976; No. 51, p. 26. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 143. Russell (The Piper's Chair), 1989; p. 19.

Recorded sources: Claddagh CC2CD, "The Chieftains." Gaelic 1006B (78 RPM), Tom Ennis & James Morrison (1923. The label give the tune as "Blackberry Blossom", although actually the tunes are "Limestone Rock/Bucks of Oranmore"). Green Linnet Records SIF 1058, Matt Molloy & Sean Keane - "Contentment is Wealth" (1985). Green Linnet Records GLCD 1045, Joe Burke - "Tailor's Choice" (1980. With accordion player Burke playing a flute duet with Mike Rafferty, paired with "Banshee (1) (The)").

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear the 1923 recording by uilleann piper Tom Ennis and fiddler James Morrison at the Internet Archive [3] [4]