Tuning the Radio

Some of the finest recordings of irish traditional music in the RTÉ Sound Archive are made available for the first time with this release. Capturing the sound of traditional music as it was played in the four provinces of Ireland some two generations ago, the twenty five tracks on this CD are a selection of priceless recordings held by the archive of RTÉ Radio. The recordings, which have never been issued before, were made by the storied collectors of Radio Éireann’s first Mobile Recording Unit in the 1940s and early 1950s, when disc cutting machinery was first transported around the country in the quest to create a representative archive of Irish traditional music. Now some of the best of these recordings have been digitally restored and re-mastered, and are proudly presented by RTÉ Radio as treasures from the early history of sound archiving in Ireland.

Early traditional music recordings from the RTÉ libraries and archives

1. Kincora Ceili Band. Reels: Sporting Paddy, The Traveller, The Leitrim Lasses 2.43
2. Spanish Sailors. Song: La Mujer 2.12
3. Paddy Kiloran(fiddle). Reels: The Od Duidin, On the road to Lurgan, The Emlagation Reel 3.04
4. Thomas Moran. Song: Sheemore Fair near Carrick Town 3.54
5. Pat "Packie" Russell (concertina). Reel and Jig: Gorman's (0.58) Kitty's Rambles (2.01) 3.14
6. Leo Rowsome (uilleann pipes). Reels:The Sligo Maid, Miss McLeod's 2.21
7. Seám Cholim 'ac Dhonnacha. Song: Seachrán Chearbhaill 3.24
8. Denis Murphy (fiddle). Reels: The Foot Of The Glen, The Road To Town, The Morning Star 3.03
9. Seán 'ac Dhonnacha. Song: Morrissey and the Russian Sailor 3.20
10. Jimmy Lyons (fiddle). Hornpipe: Frank Cassidy's 1.41
11. Cait Ni Ghallchoir. Song: An Mhaighdean Mhara 1.58
12. Denis Murphy (fiddle) and Johnny O'Leary (accordion). Hornpipes: The Rose of Drishane, Mike Sullivan's 3.30
13. John O'Connell. Song: Kilworth near Fermoy 3.25
14. Pádraig O'Keeffe (fiddle). Jigs: Sheehan's 3.59
15. Diarmuid Ó Ríordáin and Seán Eoin Ó Suilleabháin. Song: Tigh Mór Ard 3.30
16. The Tulla Céilí Band. Reels: Dillon's Fancy, The Bird in the Tree, Donne Hill 3.23
17. Seamus Ennis. Reels: The First House In Connaught, Miss Monaghan 3.34
18. Art O'Keeffe. Song: Green Brooms 2.24
19. Paddy Cronin (fiddle). Slides: The Dark Girl In Blue, Across The Road 3.23
20. Hubert Finan and Dominic "Sonny" Flanagan (flutes). Set Dance: The Blackbird 1.28
21. Micky Doherty (fiddle). Air & Hornpipe: Tiarna Mhuigheo, The Liverpool 3.43
22. Seán Seery (uilleann pipes). Set Dance, slow air, reel and hornpipe:Colonel Rodney, The Bonney Bunch of Roses, The Silver Spear, Higgin's 4.01
23. Joe O'Dowd (fiddle). Slip Jigs: The Foxhunter's, Comb Your Hair and Curl It 3.33
24. Aggie White & Eddie Moloney (fiddle&flute). Reels: The Clattering Magpie, The Flax In Bloom 2.02
25. The Dublin Metropolitan Garda Céilí Band. Hornpipes: The Northern, The Minstrel's Fancy 3.41