Album Notes

The two Comhaltas publications, Foinn Seisiún 1 and Foinn Seisiún 2, contain 220 standard traditional tunes arranged in 74 sets as played at the Tuesday and Wednesday night sessions in the Cultúrlann in Monkstown.

Tunes consist of reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, slides, mazurkas, etc. Book 1 contains standards such as Joe Cooley's Reel, Maid Behind the Bar, Bank of Ireland, Lark in the Morning jig, Kid on the Mountain Slip Jig, Ballydesmond polka and other common session favourites arranged in 39 sets. Selections in Book 2 are also established traditional standards and additionally include some of the "bigger tunes" such as the Bucks of Oranmore, the Kilfenora jigs and reel sets plus the famed Tarbolton set. There are also simpler sets such as "Sailor on the Rock, the Hare's Paw and Sunny Banks" reels or "the Lilting Fisherman, Tell Her I am and Going to the Well for Water" jigs, etc. Book 2 contains 35 sets.

Foinn Seisiún books are a must for musicians who enjoy session playing and would like to build a repertoire of tunes which will be universally known. They will hopefully also help to maintain some of the older tunes in circulation so that future generations of musicians will get an opportunity to play the Pipes on the Hob jigs, the Humours of Ballyconnell, Chicago and Copperplate reels, etc, etc.