Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music and similar names) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. Following the establishment of the Irish Free State, Irish traditional music gained increased cultural significance as a symbol of national identity. It became associated with Ireland's Gaelic past and the context of nationalism and post-independence values.
In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the crwth (a small rubbed strings harp) and cláirseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the tiompán (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the feadán (a fife), the buinne (an oboe or flute), the guthbuinne (a bassoon-type horn), the beannbhuabhal and corn (hornpipes), the cuislenna (bagpipes – see Great Irish warpipes), the stoc and storgán (clarions or trumpets), and the cnámha (bones).A History of Irish Music: Chapter III: Ancient Irish musical instruments, William H. Grattan Flood (1905) Within the tradition, there is poetic reference to the use of a fiddle as far back as the 7th century, which predates the development of the modern violin by around 900 years.
There are several collections of Irish folk music from the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that ballad printers became established in Dublin. Important collectors include Colm Ó Lochlainn, George Petrie, Edward Bunting, Francis O'Neill, James Goodman and many others. Though solo performance is preferred in the folk tradition, bands or at least small ensembles have probably been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.
Irish traditional music has endured more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most countries in the west of Europe. From the end of the Second World War until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (an Irish traditional music association) and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil (music festival) helped lead the revival of the music. Following the success of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the US in 1959, Irish folk music became fashionable again. The lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as the Dubliners. Irish showbands presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, though these died out during the seventies. The international success of the Chieftains and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand.
Historically much old-time music of the US grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, as a result of cultural diffusion. By the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the US and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk rock and other genres.
Gender in Irish Traditional Music
Women In Irish traditional music, women were historically underrepresented in public performances as instrumentalists. Fiddler Julia Clifford stated that women instrumentalists were rarely seen performing publicly between the establishment of the Irish Free State during 1922 and the late 20th century. She also recalled being the only regular female musician performing in London pub sessions during the 1950s and early 1960s. Some performers, including Clifford, performed in competitions discreetly in order to pursue musical activity.
This limited visibility has been linked to the political and social structures in Ireland. In 1932, the Marriage Bar was established, requiring women to leave their civil service jobs upon marriage, while the 1937 Irish Constitution emphasized women's role to stay at home with their family. Cultural standards, influenced in part by the veneration of the Virgin Mary in the early 20th century Irish society, reinforced expectations that women prioritize domestic responsibilities over public artistic careers. Scholars such as Slomanski described women who continued playing music during this period as "tradition bearers".
Despite these challenges, a number of women were active in the tradition before the 1950s, including Elizabeth Crotty, Aggie Whyte, Eleanor Kane Neary, Sarah Makem and Julia Clifford. Patterns of emigration also formed women's participation. Between the period of 1926 to 1936, more women than men left Ireland, contributing to the spread of Irish Traditional Music abroad. An estimated number of 46,000 women left Ireland while only 30,000 men left.
Clifford later received recognition as a leading figure in the Sliabh Luachra music tradition. Her collaboration with Denis Murphy resulted in the 1969 album The Star above the Garter, which has been described as a significant recording of regional Irish music representing Country Kerry. Tunes associated with the pair, such as "Julia Clifford's Polka" became a part of the repertoire. Her playing style has also been noted for its ornamentation, including subtle pitch variation sometimes referred to as the "C-Supernatural".
From the late 20th century forward, the visibility of women in Irish traditional music increased. In 1984, musicians including Ursula Kennedy, Mary Clare Breathnach, and Seosaimhín Ní Bheaglaoich organized a concert in Dublin featuring exclusively women performers, emphasizing the gender imbalance in public performance spaces. The success of the event led to the formation of the group Macalla, which released the album Mná na hÉireann in 1984.
Between 1985 and 1990, nine bands with women musicians were released. Between 1990 and 2000, the numbers increased to forty-six. In 2024, Macalla reunited for a 40th anniversary concert on International Women's Day in Dublin. The careers of performers such as Julia Clifford and ensembles such as Macalla illustrate the challenges women in Irish Traditional Music have experienced and their continuous contributions.
LGBTQ+ Community In recent years, the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community has increased through efforts. Trad is Amach (also known as Isteach is Amach) formed around 2020, is a collective of traditional Irish musicians, singers, and dancers. The group organizes concerts, sessions, and céilithe to promote Pride events and Irish traditional music festivals. Institutions such as the Irish Traditional Music Archive and events like Tradfest Temple Bar have been stated as important in fostering visibility of the LGBTQ+ community within Irish traditional music.
Musical characteristics Composition Irish dance music is isometric; is built around patterns of bar-long melodic phrases akin to call and response. A common pattern is A Phrase, B Phrase, A Phrase, Partial Resolution, A Phrase, B Phrase, A Phrase, Final Resolution, though this is not universal. Mazurkas, for example, tend to feature a C Phrase instead of a repeated A Phrase before the Partial and Final Resolutions. Many tunes have pickup notes which lead in to the beginning of the A or B parts. Mazurkas and hornpipes have a swing feel, while other tunes have straight feels.
Tunes are typically binary in form, divided into two (or sometimes more) parts, each with four to eight bars. The parts are referred to as the A-part, B-part, and so on. Each part is played twice, and the entire tune is played three times; AABB, AABB, AABB. Many tunes have similar ending phrases for both A and B parts; it is common for hornpipes to have the second half of each part be identical. Additionally, hornpipes often have three quavers or quarternotes at the end of each part, followed by pickup notes to lead back to the beginning of the A part onto the B part. Many airs have an AABA form.
While airs are usually played singly, dance tunes are usually played in medleys of 2-4 tunes called sets.
Historically, tunes were often made up of a far greater number of parts than in modern times. Tunes of up to six parts are well documented in the written record, and there is no real solid rule regarding the number of parts a tune might have; One of the more extreme examples includes a tune comprising 24 parts. While shorter tunes are perhaps more common nowadays, lengthy tunes are still sometimes played in jam circles in modern times.
Modes Irish music generally is modal, using Ionian, Aeolian, Dorian, and Mixolydian modes, as well as hexatonic and pentatonic versions of those scales. Some tunes do feature accidentals.
Ornamentation Singers and instrumentalists often embellish melodies through ornamentation, using grace notes, rolls, cuts, crans, or slides.Grace notes are a type of ornamentation in Irish traditional music, utilized to articulate main notes rather than additional melodic notes. On common traditional instruments, the grace notes are produced by a rapid flick or movement of the finger near the main note. They are typically noted as very short-duration notes, often called demisemiquavers, to indicate fast realization.
Cuts are rapid rhythmic articulations of a main note that have three forms. They are known as the single cut, the dividing cut, and the double cut. When two notes of the same pitch are separated by a cut from a lower or high pitch, they are considered cuts. Diving cuts have similar structure to the classical ornament known as mordent in the conventional notation.
Cran is an ornament commonly related with the uilleann pipes. It typically surrounds one note, usually a D, from which a rapid series of ornamenting notes branch off, creating a rhythmic effect sometimes referred to as a "gurgling D". The term "cran" comes from the Irish Gaelic word crann, meaning "tree," representing the extra notes branching out from the main note.
Rolls are sometimes mistaken for the classical ornament known as a turn. In a roll, the main note remains central, while additional notes below and above it works as ornaments. There are two types of rolls, known as the short roll and the long roll, which occur over the same timing to crans. A feature of the roll is a slight crescendo through the ornament, highlighting the principal note.
Trebles and triplets are distinct rhythmic ornaments in Irish traditional music. Trebling refers to the playing of three notes of the same pitch within the duration of two quavers. Triplets differ in their rhythmic structure, as the beat is divided into three equal parts. In contrast, trebles often feature uneven timing, with the first two notes typically played more rapidly than the third.
Accompaniment While uilleann pipes may use their drones and regulators to provide harmonic backup, and fiddlers often use double stops in their playing, due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music, harmony is typically kept simple or absent. Usually, instruments are played in strict unison, always following the leading player. True counterpoint is mostly unknown to traditional music, although a form of improvised "countermelody" is often used in the accompaniments of bouzouki and guitar players. In contrast to many kinds of western folk music, there are no set chord progressions to tunes. Many accompanists use power chords to let the melody define the tonality or use partial chords in combination with ringing drone strings to emphasize the tonal center. Many guitarists use DADGAD tuning because it offers flexibility in using these approaches, as does the GDAD tuning for bouzouki.
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