Wednesday 20 November 2019
Tune of the Day: Shanahan's Hornpipe
Traditional Irish tune
This hornpipe is contained in the circa-1890s music manuscript collection by London dancing master Patrick D. Reidy, originally from Castleisland, County Kerry. Reidy was employed to demonstrate and teach Irish dancing at Gaelic League events in London around the turn of the 20th century, and is credited with introducing the country dances Walls of Limerick and Siege of Ennis into the repertory. He was also a correspondent with the famous tune collector, Captain Francis O'Neill of Chicago.
Reidy credits this tune as “a grand hornpipe by Michael Buckley Shanahan”, although his attributions seem to refer to his sources rather than to the actual tune composers.