Bank Of Ireland: A Song History

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The tune archives consulted here classify “Bank of Ireland” as a reel.[1][2] irishtune.info gives its Irish title as “Banc na hÉireann” and places it in D Mixolydian.[2] The Traditional Tune Archive notes that the c is usually played natural, giving the first strain a modal sound before the second strain settles into D major, and calls it a popular session reel today.[1]

Color photograph of the colonnaded Bank of Ireland building in Dublin with a statue in front

Bank of Ireland, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, photochrom print, between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900. Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. The sources consulted here do not say whether the tune is named for the bank.

Francis O’Neill printed it as No. 1186 in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903) and No. 465 in The Dance Music of Ireland (1907), and included it again in O’Neill’s Irish Music (1915).[1][2][3] Versions also survive under other titles in manuscripts older than O’Neill’s books: according to the Traditional Tune Archive, researcher Conor Ward identified a setting very like O’Neill’s, titled “Follow Me Down to Carlow,” among the music of Ballinamuck, County Longford, fiddler Francis Reynolds (about 1885), and one called “The First Day in Ireland” in the music book of Leitrim musician Stephen Grier of Gortletteragh (about 1883).[1]

On May 26, 1924, in New York, melodeon player Peter Conlon, fiddler T. Higgins and flute player Tom Morrison, with piano accompaniment, recorded it for Gennett as “The Banks of Ireland,” in a medley with “The Ships Are Sailing.”[4][1] Conlon, born in County Galway, made about fifty commercial records between 1917 and 1929.[5] Later recordings include Bobby Casey’s, made in a London pub in 1967, Tommy Peoples with Paul Brady in 1976, and Kevin Burke and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill on Promenade (1979).[2][3][6] Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index also lists it in Neal Hellman’s Dulcimer Songbook (Oak, 1977).[3]

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Sources

  1. Traditional Tune Archive: "Bank of Ireland (1) (The)".
  2. irishtune.info (Alan Ng): "Bank of Ireland" (tune #114).
  3. Jane Keefer, Folk Music Index (ibiblio): "Bank of Ireland" (index page B03).
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings (UC Santa Barbara): "Gennett matrix 8899. The banks of Ireland".
  5. Irish Traditional Music Archive, Irish Traditional Music in New York: "Peter Conlon".
  6. Mainly Norfolk: "The Bothy Band" (includes Kevin Burke & Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Promenade).