1. Scatter the Mud / Union Quay / Rogha an Mh?istir (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar)


We learned the first jig from the playing of Kevin Burke. Union Quay was composed by versatile Derryman Tom?s ? Canainn, now in voluntary exile in Cork. For the third jig, we look west towards Ballyvourney, where our good friend Donncha ? Loingsigh learned this tune from his uncle.
File, ceolt?ir, inneallt?ir agus cumad?ir ceoil is ea Tom?s ? Canainn: fear iold?nach m? bh? a leith?id riamh ann. Chum s? Union Quay, an dara port anseo. Is ? Donncha ? Loingsigh an m?istir a thug an tr?? port d?inn: ceolt?ir bre? ar an mbosca is ea ?.


2. Jack Sweeney's / Billy Mahony's / Sonny Riordan's (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar)


The first polka is named after Jack Sweeney, a ten-key accordion-player from Tuar M?r who gave dozens of tunes to Johnny O'Leary. The tune is No. 199 in Terry Moylan's collection Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Billy Mahony's came to us via The Monks of the Screw, our good friends from Newmarket. Johnny learned the third tune from Sonny Riordan, a fiddle player from Toureencahill, Gneeveguilla, who was a pupil of P?draig O'Keeffe's.
Sa tr? pholca seo, t?imid ag tarraingt ar an d? fhoinse is m? d? bhfuil againn de cheol Shliabh Luachra: Johnny O'Leary ? Ghn?omh Go Leith, sean-chara agus s?rcheolt?ir, agus ceolt?ir? ?tha Trasna.


3. Fitzgerald's Hornpipe / Kimmel's Hornpipe (Con: accordion; Herring: bouzouki, Irish side guitar)


S?amus Ennis recorded a beautiful version of Fitzgerald's from Denis Murphy in 1949. It takes its name from Sliabh Luachra fiddle-player, John Fitzgerald. Denis' version is available on RT?'s compilation CD of his music. John Kimmel was the first musician to make commercial recordings of Irish traditional music in New York in the first decade of the 20th century.
Meirice?nach de ph?r Gearm?nach ab ea Kimmel, ach bhaist an comhlucht ceirn?n? "The Irish Dutchman" air. Ceolt?ir cumasach br?omhar ab ea ? a sheinn a l?n s?rtanna eile ceoil chomh maith c?anna.


4. Idir Corcaigh agus D?ghlas (Johnny: voice, Bb whistle; Herring: Irish side guitar; Con: harmonium)


Idir Corcaigh is D?ghlas do chonac-sa mo r?nach
Go h-atuirseach cr?ite im choinnibh sa r?d:
Do labhair s? go tl?ith liom i gcomhr? m?n m?nla,
'S do chuir s? romham f?ilte 's na c?ad m?le p?g.


"Seo litir duit ?m athair 's na beannachta? ?m mh?thair
D? dtabhairt anseo id l?thair, a ?g?naigh ?ig,
'S go bhfaighfe? na t?inte, le spr? is stoc san ?ireamh,
Is mise mar bharr air sin cho?che 's go deo."


"N? ghlacfainnse an t-?ireamh, an t-?r bu? n? an pl?ta,
N? tusa mar bharr air sin cho?che's go deo,
Mar go bhfuilimse in ?irithe le bliain is tr? r?ithe
Le h-in?on She?n D?ibh? ? Chontae Mhuigheo."


"Mo creach is mo sceimhle, nach marbh-lag do bh?os-sa
An l? a chas sa tsl? orm, a ?g?naigh ?ig,
'S d? mbeadh s? le h-insint go mbeadh bean eile a' lu? leat
Is mise ag si?l t?ortha 's n? faighinn dul id' threo."


Also known as ?amonn M?g?ine, this appears to be a mere fragment of a love song. The narrator tells of meeting a beautiful girl who offers him her love: he informs her that he is promised to another, and she regretfully takes his word. Dinneen's dictionary tells us that ?amonn M?g?ine was the nom-de-guerre of a well-known highwayman. Se?n D?ibh?, mentioned in the third verse, is said to have been a hangman in County Mayo. This suggests that the song may be a variant of the "Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" theme.
T? leaganacha den amhr?n so le f?il ar fuaid na Mumhan, go h?irithe sna D?ise, agus logainmeacha ?ags?la sa ch?ad l?ne - Idir Corcaigh agus D?rlas, Idir Caiseal agus D?rlas, srl. T? s? le f?il i dT?r Chonaill chomh maith faoin teideal Idir Caiseal agus ?rchoill (sin ? Caiseal i dT?r Chonaill fh?in). Fuair Johnny an t-amhr?n ? Chaitl?n N? Bheaglaoich ? Bhaile na bPoc i gCorca Dhuibhne.


5. The Swallow's Tail / The Heather Breeze (Johnny: fiddle & Flute; Con: accordion & Piano; Herring: Irish side guitar)


These are two very well-known reels, which are favourites among set-dancers. O'Neill's 1001 has both tunes, and he gives Pride of the Ball and The Steeplechase as alternative titles for the first.
Is m? o?che caite ag an dtri?r againn ag sol?thar ceoil do rinceoir? seite, agus seo dh? r?l bhr?omhara a thaitn?onn i gc?na? leo.


6. Merrily Kiss the Quaker / The Quarry Cross (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion)


Two slides which are well-known in various versions. We play the settings we heard on recordings of Denis Murphy, and we try to achieve the steady, relaxed pace preferred by many of the older generation of Sliabh Luachra musicians.
Is fuirist aoibhneas agus binneas an d? shleamhn?n seo a chailli?int nuair a sheinntear r?-thapaidh iad, rud a deintear go minic, is baolach. Tugaimidne f?thu anseo go bog, r?idh, le s?il gur f?idir linn ?illeacht na bportanna a l?iri?.


7. Abha an tSul?in / The Honeymoon Reel (Johnny: flute; Con: piano)


Johnny plays the air of Abha an tSul?in, a song composed by P?draig ? Crualaoich, known as Gael na nGael, in the 1940s. The song traces and describes the Sul?n river from its origins in the hills west of C?il Aodha, and extols the wealth of fish, bird and plant life to be found in and beside it.
Chum Gael na nGael an t-amhr?n seo mar fhreagra ar Dhomhnall ? Laoghaire, file ? Inse Gheimhleach, chun ? a chur ar an eolas maidir le foinse agus ?illeacht an tSul?in.


B?onn faoileann ann, seabhaic, loin, creabhair is naoscaigh,
Sionnaigh is m?ith-phoic is lachain le f?il:
Is gach linn di go barra b?onn torrach le h-?iscibh,
Leathan-bhric mh?ithe is lathairt brad?n.


T? eolas forleathan ar an Honeymoon Reel, agus t? s? taifeadta ag a l?n ceolt?ir? cumasacha cheana, Denis Murphy ina measc.


8. The Walking Jig / Michelle O'Sullivan's / B?m?s ag ?l (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar, high string guitar)


We heard the second jig from Michelle O'Sullivan, a fine concertina-player from Tralee. The third is a jig version of the song B?m?s ag ?l, popular in C?il Aodha. Chief O'Neill is said to have sung it on the occasion of his wedding.
T? an tr?? port anseo bunaithe ar an amhr?n den ainm c?anna, amhr?n a mholann n?s an ?il, go h-?irithe poit?n Ch?il Aodha. Bh?odh an t-amhr?n ina chuid den gcl?r a dheineadh Claisceadal Ch?il Aodha nuair a th?id?s ar an st?itse.


9. The Miltown Cockroach (Con ? Drisceoil) (Con: voice)


Oh, the West County Clare is a beautiful place, its people a charming and musical race;
'Tis pleasant to view it by car or by coach, but a blot on the landscape is the Miltown Cockroach.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


The Miltown Cockroach is a martyr for beer; his eye it is evil, his aspect severe.
He barks like a bulldog and kicks like a mule, and he drinks and he fights and he plays game of pool.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


In Sweet Miltown Malbay one night in July, I retired to my bed as the sunrise was nigh.
Established in comfort with grunts and with yawns, I shortly was dreaming of tunes and rabhc?ns
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


But I woke with a start after two hours or so to a loud crunching noise coming from my big toe;
This insect most foul then came into my view; on the sole of my foot he proceeded to chew.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


So I jumped from the bed with a terrible screech, saying "Mister Cockroach, of the law you're in breach:
"On a citizen's blood you may not slake your thirst without gaining the donor's approval at first".
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


"Of the legal position ", says he , " I have doubt, for this blood is at least fifty eight percent stout.
So stop quoting law, and lie down again quick, till myself and my buddies conclude our picnic".
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


I tried to sweet-talk him with eloquent chat, saying, "a gourmet like you should know better than that;
Look at my carcass, 'tis scrawny and tough, while of plump tender youths there are surely enough".
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


Says the cockroach, "You speak like a poet and a sage, but truly you don't taste too bad for your age.
My friends have decided that here we will dine, while the meat isn't great sure the pickle is fine!"
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


So I tackled those insects with brain and with brawn. We struggled and tore at each other till dawn.
I fought them with bites and with blows and with kicks, I tried burning and drowning and all sorts of tricks.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


But that offspring of Satan came at me in gangs, snarling and showing me their venomous fangs.
They crawled from the ditches and out of the sewers, ten thousand or more of them six-legged hoors.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


They covered the ground like a black shiny sheet till I knew it was time for to sound the retreat.
I turned and ran, full of loathing and dread, and from Sweet Miltown Malbay that morning I fled.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


Oh, the Black Widow spider is not a nice toy, and the African Cobra is one ugly boy;
But both of them surely are cuddly and fair compared to the man-eating cockroach from Clare.
Rally ra fol the doh, rally ra fol the dee


A heart-felt, if unscientific, treatise on the wildlife of West Clare, this song was inspired by Con's dramatic encounter with a black beetle while camping in a Miltown Malbay back-garden during Scoil Shamhraidh Willie Clancy.
T? meas an domhain ag Con ar thraidisi?n amhr?na?ochta Mh?scra?, agus ar n?s na n-amhr?n eile a chum s?, ?s?ideann an ceann seo fonn ?n gceantar sin; sa ch?s seo fonn an amhr?in ghrinn The Trip to Guag?n.


10. Barney Brallaghan's / Ride a Mile / The Sport of the Chase (Johnny: fiddle; Herring: bouzouki, guitars)


Barney Brallaghan's is also known as Blewitt's Jig as 'Twas On a Windy Night. Ride a Mile is a popular slip jig, which has no fewer than six alternative titles in O'Neill's collection, including Is Cuma Liom and Mad Moll.
T? Johnny ag seinnt an tr?? port le blianta fada. Fuair s? ? ? Pat "Red" O'Sullivan, ceolt?ir bre? ? Chorcaigh.


11. The Lost Polka / The Rakes of Mallow (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar)


Johnny composed the first polka many years ago, lost it and found it again recently. He heard this version of The Rakes of Mallow from his grandmother, and we think that this was probably the original tune as it was before tasteless over-ornamentation turned it into a Hollywood clich?.


Mallow, Tallow, Cappoquin
Doneraile and Charleville
Broken windows up and down
Hey! for the rakes of Mallow Town.


Oireann an leagan seo de na Rakes go cruinn d'fhocail an tsean-amhr?in, agus is ar an mbonn sin a cheapaimid gurb ? seo an bun-leagan. Chomh maith leis sin, is p?lca bre? ?.


12. The Banks of the Lee (Johnny: voice; Herring: Irish side guitar)


When two lovers meet down beside yon green bower
When two lovers meet down beneath yon green tree
When Mary, fond Mary declared unto her lover
You have stolen my poor heart from the banks of the Lee


Don't stay out late tonight love, on the moor lands, my Mary
Don't stay out late tonight love on the moor lands from me
For little was our notion, when I parted o'er the ocean
That we would be forever parted from the banks of the Lee


Chorus


For I loved her very dearly, so true and so sincerely
There was no one in this wide world I loved more than she
Every bush and every bower, every rose and every flower
Would remind me of my Mary on the banks of the Lee


I will pluck my love some roses, some blooming Irish roses
I will pluck my love some roses, the fairest ever grew
And I'll place them on the grave of my own dear darling Mary
In that cold and silent graveyard where she sleeps 'neath the dew


Johnny learned The Banks of the Lee from the singing of Lena Bean U? Sh?.
Amhr?n gr? uaigneach, maoithneach is ea ? seo; t? leaganacha de le f?il ar fud na t?re.


13. Temple House / The Boy in the Boat / The Red Haired Lass (Johnny: fiddles; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar, high string guitar)


O'Neill has The Temple House with two alternative titles, Mother Carey and The Evergreen in his 1001 collection.
Deireadh na sean-iascair? gur comhartha m?-?idh ab ea bean rua a fheiscint agus t? ag cur chun farraige. In ainneoin na piseoige, t? an B?d?ir agus an Cail?n Rua nasctha le ch?ile anseo againn!


14. Ode to Whiskey (Herring: guitars)


This fine tune is attributed to Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), and is the air of a song which, like many drinking songs, expresses both love and hate for the demon drink. We originally knew the title as Farewell to Whiskey, which may indicate that the temperance movement got hold of it at some stage.


Is b?odh a ndearnais maite leat,
Ach teangmhaigh liom am?rach


Sin mar a chr?ochna?onn an ch?ad v?arsa den amhr?n seo le Toirdhealbhach ? Cearbhall?in, fear a bhain an-taitneamh as an uisce beatha, m?s f?or na sc?alta.


15. Hymn to St Finbarr (Con ? Drisceoil) (Con: voice, harmonium, organ; Johnny: fiddle, whistle, backing voice; Herring: Irish side guitar)


You may talk of the Saints and the Scholars, whose names we all learned in school,
Who found Europe in sin and in squalor and brought it to order and rule.
A fig for these globe-trotting clerics - St. Ronan, St. Brendan, St. Gall;
The man who gave women hysterics was Finbarr so handsome and tall.


Chorus


You can keep St. George and his dragons, St. Pat with his shamrocks and snakes,
For drinking the quarts and the naggins, St. Finbarr the trophy must take.


While others were off gallivanting in Brussels, Berlin and Paris,
Finbarr his vespers was chanting at home in his church by the Lee.
His miracles all were astounding, but surely of all his great work,
His finest achievement was founding the beautiful city of Cork.


Chorus: You can keep St. George and....


St. Canice above in Kilkenny at hurling had made quite a name,
He got an awful shock when he took on our Finbarr at the game.
St. Finbarr, he hurled like lightning, by pulling first time, low and high,
He gave the poor man such a frightening, he thought that the Doomsday was nigh.


Chorus: You can keep St. George and...


At bowling he cut quite a figure on tarmac or gravel or sods
Men who were many times bigger, he beat by incredible odds.
At draghunts and racetracks and meetings, his dogs always won with a will,
And ever since then there's no beating the dogs of the boys of Fair Hill.


Chorus: You can keep St. George and...


Incensed with the heavy taxation on brandy and spirits and wine,
Finbarr gave his dispensation to all, without penance or fine.
So the hills of West Cork were infested with men making poit?n and rum,
Which then they consumed and digested to make themselves totally numb.


Chorus: You can keep St. George and...


Bould Finbarr being always ambitious and eager to taste a smath?n,
In a way that was most surreptitious, he founded a still in Guag?n.
The stuff that he made was delicious, and eagerly sought and imbibed,
But delivered an impact so vicious, that no-one who drank it survived.


Chorus: You can keep St. George and...


At a conclave inside in St Peter's the cardinals said with one voice
As they quaffed the red wine by the litre, that Finbarr for Pope was their choice.
On hearing that he was elected and urgently summoned to Rome,
St Finbarr the job he rejected, remarking "There's no place like home!"


Chorus: You can keep St. George and...


Con composed this song in an effort to give Cork's patron saint something of the mythic folk-hero status generally accorded to St. Patrick. Finbarr is depicted as the ultimate Corkman: an accomplished sportsman, fond of drink, who rises to the top of his profession and is inordinately attached to his native county.
?s?ideann an t-amhr?n seo fonn traidisi?nta a aithneoidh muintir Mh?scra? mar T?im in Arrears. T? s? ?irithe ag O'Neill i measc na bport luascach f?n teideal Moll Roe.


16. Going for Water / Mick Lynch's (Johnny: fiddle; Con: accordion; Herring: Irish side guitar)


Going for Water is a popular slide in the Sliabh Luachra district. Johnny got this slightly different version from his grandmother, Lena Lehane. We learned the second tune from Timmy Connors, a fine box-player from Newmarket who plays with a group called The Monks of the Screw.
T? meas faoi leith ag an dtri?r againn ar cheol Shliabh Luachra, agus is bre? linn bualadh le ceolt?ir? ? Ath Trasna, Gn?omh Go Leith agus na d?tha? sin ar fad. T? st?l aoibhinn, r?idhch?iseach ag Timmy Connors ar an mbosca ceoil, go h-?irithe nuair a sheinneann s? ceol a cheantair f?in