Annotation:John Brennan from Sligo
X:1 T:Brennan's Fancy T:Brennan's T:John Brennan from Sligo R:reel Z:id:hn-reel-111 Z:transcribed by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se M:C| L:1/8 K:D D2FA d2ed|cdBc AF~F2|BAGB A2FA|BAGF EGFE| D2FA d2ed|cdBc AF~F2|BAGB ABde|faeg fdd2:|| f2df e2de|fedB AF~F2|BAGB A2FA|BAGF EFGE| f2df e2de|fedB AF~F2|BAGB ABde|faeg fdde| f2df e2de|fedB AF~F2|BAGB A2FA|BAGF EGFE| D2FA d2ed|cdBc AF~F2|BAGB ABde|faeg fdd2||
JOHN BRENNAN FROM SLIGO (Seán o Braonáin as Sligeach). AKA - "Brennan's," "Brennan's Fancy," "John Brennan's Reel (3)." Irish, Reel (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tune is named for Ballisodare, County Sligo, flute player John Brennan, a regular member of Dublin's Church Street Club, site of a famous long-lasting session that began in the late 1950's centered around County Clare fiddler John Kelly (father of fiddlers James and John Kelly, and a member of the famed Castle Ceili band). Brennan was also friendly with County Sligo fiddle players James ‘Lad’ O’Beirne (1911–80) and Martin Wynne (1913–98), who were resident in New York, and had several acetate recordings of them in his possession [1].
A similar tune is printed by Breathnach (CRÉ II, No. 173, p. 90) as an untitled reel collected from the playing of Co. Galway musician Aggie White (Mrs. Sean Ryan). David Taylor (1992) notes that some musicians prefer to replace the last four bars of the second part of his version, second time round, with the last four bars of the first part.
