Annotation:John Brennan from Sligo

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JOHN BRENNAN FROM SLIGO (Seán o Braonáin as Sligeach). AKA - "John Brennan's Reel (3)." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tune is named for Ballisodare, County Sligo, flute player John Brennan, a regular member of Dublin's Church Street Club, site of a famous long-lasting session that began in the late 1950's centered around County Clare fiddler John Kelly (father of fiddlers James and John Kelly, and a member of the famed Castle Ceili band). Brennan was also friendly with County Sligo fiddle players James ‘Lad’ O’Beirne (1911–80) and Martin Wynne (1913–98), who were resident in New York, and had several acetate recordings of them in his possession [1].

A similar tune is printed by Breathnach (CRÉ II, No. 173, p. 90) as an untitled reel collected from the playing of Co. Galway musician Aggie White (Mrs. Sean Ryan). David Taylor (1992) notes that some musicians prefer to replace the last four bars of the second part of his version, second time round, with the last four bars of the first part.

Sources for notated versions: accordion player Sonny Brogan (County Sligo/Dublin, Ireland) [Breathnach]: The Bridge Ceili Band [Mulvihill].

Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ I), 1963; No. 160, p. 63. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1974, vol. 1, No. 10. Miller (Fiddler's Throne), 2004; No. 182, p. 116. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 26, p. 7. Taylor (Through the Half-door), 1992; No. 7, p. 7.

Recorded sources: Green Linnet GLCD 1184, Patrick Street - "Made in Cork" (1997). Green Linnet SIF 3018, "Molloy/Peoples/Brady" (1978). Shanachie Shan-79017, John & Phil Cunningham - "Against the Storm" (1980). Shaskeen - "The Joys of Life."

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources []
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]