Annotation:Freedom for Ireland

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X:1 T:Freedom for Ireland M:2/4 L:1/8 R:March S:O'Neill - Music of Ireland (1903), No. 1815 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A E>F EC | E>F AB | ce Bc/B/ | AF F/A/G/F/ | E>F EC | E>F AB | ce Bc/B/ | A>B Az :| || ce e>c | df fz | ce Bc/B/ | AF FE | ce e>c | df f>g | af ge | f2 ff/g/ | af ge | f/g/f/e/ cB | ce Bc/B/ |AF F/A/G/F/ | E>F EC | E>F AB | ce Bc/B/ | A>B Az ||



FREEDOM FOR IRELAND (Saorsacd na n-Eirinn). AKA and see "Banks of Inverness," "Father Murphy's Quick Step," "Nights of Gladness (5)." Irish, March (2/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The march "Freedom for Ireland" is an Irish derivative setting of the Scots tune family "Banks of Inverness," which includes a number of melodies, broadly related. Paul de Grae finds cognate tunes in O'Neill's collections as "Croppies' March" and, set as a reel, "Cunningham's Fancy," "Molly What Ails You?," and "You’re Right My Love"[1]. He notes that O'Neill made a cylinder recording of piper Patsy Touhey, playing the tune (see "Croppies' March").

See also related the Irish hornpipe "Boys of Bluehill (The)," "Father Murphy's Quick Step" (Goodman), and the American "Sally Ann Johnson." See also derivatives set as a polka, e.g. "Ceangulla Polka."

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Chicago Police Sergeant James O'Neill, a fiddler originally from County Down and Francis O'Neill's collaborator [O'Neill].

Printed sources : - O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1815, p. 341.

Recorded sources: -



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  1. Paul de Grae, "Sources of Tunes in the O'Neill Collections", 2017.
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