Annotation:St. Mary's

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X:1 T:St. Mary’s Polka T:Church Street [1] T:Gurteen Cross R:polka D:Ben Lennon, The Natural Bridge Z:Jeff Myers M:2/4 L:1/8 K:G D/|GB AB/A/|Gg e/f/g/e/|dB AG/A/|B-B/A/ G/F/E/D/| GB AB/A/|Gg e/f/g/e/|dBAG/A/|BG G-G/:| A/|Bd g-g/A/|Bd g-g/A/|Bd ge|f-f/g/ fg| ag e/f/g/e/|dB AG/A/|Be d/B/A/B/|G2{B}G-G/:||



ST. MARY'S. AKA and see “Ballymote,” “Church Street Polka (1)," “Flanagan's Polka,” “Gurteen Cross,” "Kittie Mannix's Polka," “Oyster River Reel (The),” “Paige's," "Sweeney's.” Irish (originally), English; Polka (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Mallinson): AABB’ (Moylan): AA’BB’ (Callaghan). A polka from the north ofIreland, from the Sligo/Roscommon/Leitrim region. It was recorded on their first album by the Chieftains, who paired it with “Church Street Polka (2)," a pairing that mirrored the original, by Paddy Killoran’s Irish Orchestra. The latter recorded it in New York in 1937 under the set title “Memories of Ballymote.” The recording was very influential, but the titles of the paired tunes in the set became garbled, so that this melody is sometimes called “Church Street Polka” in some collections. See note for “annotation:Church Street Polka (2)" for more information regarding the title, which comes from the St. Mary’s Music Club (AKA - the "Church Street Club") of the 1950’s in Dublin, an influential traditional music gathering[1]. “Oyster River Reel/Hornpipe” is a related tune. Source O’Leary associates the tune with west Kerry fiddler Julia Clifford. The tune has become quite popular with English traditional musicians since the recording by the Catsfield Steamers, c. 1976.


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - accordion player Johnny O’Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan].

Printed sources : - Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland, vol. 2), 1974; No. 72. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; p. 50. Mallinson (100 Polkas), 1997; No. 59, p. 22. Moylan (Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra), 1994; No. 322, p. 184.

Recorded sources : - BMG 09026 63607-2, The Chieftains – “Water from the Well” (2000). Claddagh 83324-2, “The Chieftains” (1964). EFDSSCD13, All Blacked Up – “Hardcore English” (2007. Various artists). Front Hall FHR‑010, Bill Spence and Fennig's All Stars ‑ "The Hammered Dulcimer Strikes Again" (1977). Old Hat Music OH!02, "The Old Hat Dance Band" (1992). Wild Goose WGS 320, Old Swan Band – “Swan-Upmanship” (2004).

See also listing at :
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]



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  1. Sessions of the Church Street Club were held every Wednesday night, until the death in January, 1989, of one one of the founders of the club, flute player John Egan, 1903-1989.