Annotation:O'Flynn

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O'FLYNN (Pleraca Ua Flainn). AKA - "O'Flin," "Planxty O'Flinn." Irish, Air or Planxty (6/8 time, "spirited"). G Major (Heymann, O’Neill): C Major (O'Sullivan, Stanford/Petrie). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (O’Neill, O'Sullivan, Stanford/Petrie): AABB (Heymann). Composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1680-1738), perhaps (suggests O'Sullivan) for William Flynn, butler for the MacDermott Roe family of Alderford, near Ballyfoarnon, County Roscommon. Mrs. MacDermott Roe was Carolan’s first and most steadfast patron, and it is to her house that Carolan went to die. It is reported that Flynn delivered the dying harper’s last drink. The air was published in Dublin around the year 1721 by John and William Neale, in a collection of Carolan compositions (untitled, as the front page has been lost). It was collected by artist and antiquarian George Petrie [1] (1790-1866) and appears in his manuscripts.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 128, p. 92. Heymann (Off the Record), 1990; p. 7 (appears as “O’Flynn”). O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 237. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 669, p. 121. O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 128, p. 170. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 499, p. 126.

Recorded sources: Claddagh CC 28, Derek Bell - "Music of O'Carolan, vol. 2. Carolan's Favorite" (1980). Clairseach Records 2381, Ann Heymann – “Ann’s Harp” (1981).