John Ryan's Polka: A Song History
"John Ryan's Polka" is a two-part Irish polka in D major, also known as "Seán Ryan's," "Ryan's Polka," "The Keadue Polka" and "Armagh Polka."[1][2] The Traditional Tune Archive gives "John Ryan's" as the better title. The sources consulted here do not say who Ryan was or where the tune first came from.[1] One of its other names comes from Josie McDermott's recording on Darby's Farewell. Because McDermott knew it without a title, it was labelled after Keadue, a village in north Roscommon close to the burial place of the harper Turlough O'Carolan.[3]
Detroit Publishing Co., “Gap of Dunloe, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland,” photochrom, between about 1890 and 1900. Library of Congress. No known restrictions.
Planxty's influential 1974 recording on Cold Blow and the Rainy Night placed it after "Denis Murphy's Polka" and "The 42 Pound Cheque."[1][4] The middle tune has not stayed in the set as it is usually played, but players still often pair "John Ryan's" with "Denis Murphy's," which is named for the Sliabh Luachra fiddler Denis Murphy (d. 1974) of the Cork–Kerry border.[1][5] It appears in print in fiddle collections such as Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983) and Carlin's Master Collection of Dance Music for the Violin (1984).[1] The Tune Archive classes it as a beginner's piece and reports that plenty of current players regard it as “overplayed, trite and hackneyed.”[1]
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