Annotation:Katherine O'More
X: 1 T:Katherine O'More C:O'Carolan B:CWTO.134 F:file ID carolan/188kom Z:Gilb/Brennan/Black Q:80 Q:"moderato" M:2/4 L:1/16 F:http://capeirish.com/webabc/working/source.folders/carolan/carolan_ABC.txt K:A AG|F2G2 A2B2|c2f2 f2e2|fga2 e2cB|c2ef e2cB| "5"A2F2 F2F2|EDCD E2AG|F2G2 A2B2|c4B2A2| "9"GABc B2B2|B4ABc2|ecef e2ce|f2g2 a2g2| "13"fecf ecBc|BAGF E2c2|BAGF C2F2|F4F2|| AB|"17"c2B2 A2F2|A2F2 E2C2|E2EB, E2EC|E4C2B,2| "21"A2c/B/A e2ce|f2ef a2f2|e2cB c2BA|B4B4| "25"c2e2 c2e2|A2c2 A2c2|e2cB c2e2|f2g2 a2g2| "29"fecf ecBc|BAGF E2c2|BAGF C2F2|F4-F4 |]
KATHERINE O'MORE. AKA and see "O'Moore's Fair Daughter," "Hawk of Ballyshannon (The)," "Hawk of Lough Eirne of Ballyshannon (The)," "Port Athol (2)/Port Atholl." Irish, Planxty (2/4 time). F# Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Words in English and Irish were set to the melody by the blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). Carolan's tune, however, is a reworking of an older melody by Rory Dall (O'Cahan), and well known among harpers. See note for "Talk:Hawk of Ballyshannon (The)," the title (in Irish, "Seabhac na hÉirne) Edward Bunting used in his Ancient Music of Ireland (1840). There are a variety of versions and titles for it, in both languages.
The tune was almost universally attributed to Rory Dall by the harpers at the Belfast Harp Festival in 1792, who also knew it was Dall's "Port Atholl (2)". Unfortunately, O'Sullivan (1958) points out, there is no surviving copy of that melody to compare it to (Carey's copy of "Port Atholl", concludes O'Sullivan, "cannot be regarded as authentic"). Hardiman's and Hugh O'Donnell's accounts of the origins of Carolan's song are dismissed by O'Sullivan, who demonstrates that the bard's song celebrates the wedding of Charles O'Donnell, son of Colonel Manus O'Donnell (County Mayo), to Katherine O'More, niece by marriage of Conor O'Reilly of Ballinlough (County Westmeath). By her marriage she became the sister-in-law of Anne MacDermott Roe (Mrs. Anne MacDermott Roe) and Hugh O'Donnell (Talk:Hugh O'Donnell).
