Annotation:Four Courts (1) (The)
Tune properties and standard notation
FOUR COURTS [1], THE (Na Ceitre Cuirt). Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC. The Four Courts is a building in Dublin situated on the banks of the River Liffey, and located on the site of a medieval abbey. It was designed by architect James Gandon, started in 1786 and, when it was completed in 1802, it became the seat of the Irish justice system. The four courts themselves are the Chancery, Exchequer, Common Pleas and the King's Bench. The building features a six-columned Corinthian portico and a lantern dome. The building was occupied, then destroyed, in 1922 during the Irish revolution but was rebuilt over 10 years to the original design. O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903) gives the tune in two sharps, which was corrected in his later work Dance Music of Ireland (1001).
Source for notated version: "Ennis" [O'Neill]. John Ennis was referred to variously as the 'President' or 'Secretary' of the Irish Music Club in Chicago, from whose members O'Neill collected many of his tunes. Curiously, although several tunes are sourced to "Ennis", he is referred to little in Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913).
Printed sources: O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1396, p. 260. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 640, p. 115.
Recorded sources: Great Meadow Music GMM 2003, "Rodney Miller's Airdance" (2000).
See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]