The Blarney Pilgrim: A Song History

← Back to Browse By Song

"The Blarney Pilgrim" is an Irish double jig in D Mixolydian, with a second part that shifts to G major.[1] Under another name, "The Parish Girl," it appears in George Petrie's Complete Collection of Irish Music, edited by Charles Villiers Stanford and published in London in 1902–1905; the Traditional Tune Archive places the tune in the 1905 portion.[2][3] Petrie noted that it was "set about 1800 by Daniel McHourigan." The note says no more, and the sources consulted here do not settle whether McHourigan composed the jig or only supplied the version Petrie took down.[2] Francis O'Neill printed it as "The Blarney Pilgrim" in The Music of Ireland (1903), the earliest source irishtune.info lists, and again in The Dance Music of Ireland (1907), where "Parish Girl" is given as an alternate title.[1][4] Other names attached to it include "Jackson's Rambles" and "Paddy O'Brien's."[1][4] The sources consulted here do not explain the name.

Photochrom of the ruined tower of Blarney Castle among trees, about 1890-1900

Blarney Castle, County Cork, Ireland. Photochrom print, Detroit Publishing Co., about 1890–1900. Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. The sources consulted do not explain the tune’s name, so any link to Blarney is unproven.

The jig became widely popular in the 1970s, and the Traditional Tune Archive notes that many sessions now consider it "somewhat hackneyed."[1] Recordings from that decade include Jack and Charlie Coen, and Andy Irvine and Paul Brady, who paired it with the song "The Jolly Soldier" on their 1976 album.[1][4][5] A wider audience heard it in the 1997 film Titanic, where the band Gaelic Storm, cast as the steerage musicians, plays it during the Irish dance scene below decks.[1][6][7]

Find books with The Blarney Pilgrim for sale →

Sources

  1. Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation:Blarney Pilgrim".
  2. Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation:Parish Girl (1) (The)".
  3. IMSLP: "The Complete Collection of Irish Music (Petrie, George)".
  4. irishtune.info: "Blarney Pilgrim".
  5. Wikipedia: "Andy Irvine/Paul Brady".
  6. Wikipedia: "Gaelic Storm".
  7. Encyclopedia.com (Contemporary Musicians): "Gaelic Storm".