Saint Patrick’s Day, celebrated on March 17th, is one of the most recognised dates in the Irish cultural calendar. Here is a selection of tin whistle tunes for the occasion, with sheet music, whistle tabs and audio. As usual scroll to the end of the page to download the sheet music & tabs in pdf format.
Halloween has always been tied to music and storytelling in Ireland. The ancient festival of Samhain marked the time when spirits were close, and music carried both celebration and a touch of the eerie. In this article, you’ll find whistle tabs, audio, and sheet music for five Irish tunes with a Halloween connection, each rooted in folklore, myth, or seasonal tradition. I play each tune at moderate speed with ornamentation. Scroll to the bottom of the page for download links, including free tin whistle sheet music pdf file. The music is played on a Dixon Trad whistle.
The pagan Hallowe’en at the end of summer was a time of grief for the decline of the sun’s glory, as well as a harvest festival of thanksgiving to him for having ripened the grain and fruit
Alhough Thanksgiving isn’t a traditional feast day in ireland, Irish all over America celebrate thanksgiving every year. 6 Irish tunes you can play at Thanksgiving, for tin whistle, with audio recordings, sheet music & whistle tabs (fingering charts). Scroll to the bottom of the page to download the free pdf sheet music booklet.
It is a New England Autumn in 1621. The beautiful gold and crimson leaves contribute to the festive atmosphere that blankets Plimoth village. The smell of roasting Turkeys adds to the ambience. The little village’s fifty English settlers are preparing a harvest festival in celebration of having survived the previous year’s great hardships and brought in their first crops in the New World.
Historically, the Irish have looked to America as a beacon of hope, a refuge from the troubles back home. During the mid-19th century, the Great Hunger—better known as the Irish Potato Famine—drove more than a million Irish to seek new horizons. The emigrants brought not only their hopes and dreams but also their cultural traditions. They gradually integrated into American society, an integration symbolically represented in their participation in Thanksgiving, a ritual meal that marked their transformation from foreigners to American citizens. As the Irish climbed the social ladder, their involvement in American rituals like Thanksgiving played a crucial role in this transition.
Irish immigrants and their descendants have made significant contributions to various aspects of American life, including politics, industry, organized labor, religion, literature, music, and art. These contributions reflect the rich cultural heritage they brought with them and how they influenced the society they adopted. Remembering and sharing the history of the Irish in America is essential, particularly during Thanksgiving, as it reinforces the values of endurance, community, and gratitude. The holiday table serves as a meeting place for the past and the present, a place where stories of old are passed down and new memories are made.
The Butlers of Glen Avenue, a jig composed by Tony Sullivan, played on tin whistle & with sheet music and fingering charts (tabs) for tin whistle
The Rose in the Heather (jig) – played on Tin Whistle
The Rolling Wave, jig played on tin whistle. From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes.
Maloney’s Wife, jig on Irish flute
The Battering Ram : an unusual setting from the music of Jim Donoghue of this common Irish jig, played below on Irish wooden flute.
The Rambling Pitchfork, jig played on Tin Whistle. Audio recording included with the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
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