Cronin’s Hornpipe

Hornpipe, G, Traditional Irish
Also known as Paddy Cronin’s Hornpipe; Denis Murphy’s Hornpipe.
Tune of the Week: August 14, 2022; March 23, 2025

This whimsical tune makes it easy to feel the sway, shuffle, and rock-rock-rock of the hornpipe dancer.

Be sure to look at the “Nifty Mnemonics” lyrics below for a handy way to remember the melody.

Recordings

• Audio – Comhaltas: Cronin’s Hornpipe – session recording
• Video – Dulahan Ireland: Cronin’s Hornpipe – played on fiddle with guitar
• Video – Tunes From Doolin: Cronin’s Hornpipe | Irish Music Tunes on Concertina

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference. Hornpipes are played with swing and ornamentation that isn’t shown in the sheet music.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Tullycrine-Cronin’s Hornpipe Set: The Humours of Tullycrine (A Dorian) / Cronin’s Hornpipe (G)
• The Stack of Barley / Cronin’s Hornpipe

Nifty Mnemonics –
Lyrics for Remembering the Tune

Here are some lyrics to help you remember how the tune starts. They are not traditional, and they are pretty silly.

Cronin's Hornpipe -- memory aid lyrics by Jonathan Lay

A Part (2x):
   When I get up in the morning, and I hear the roosters, Cronin
   And I do a kind of hornpipe as I stumble down the hall
   It's not joy that gets me jumping, but what gets my heart a-pumping
   Is surprise of bare feet finding little toys on the floor

B Part (2x):
   Oh the kid that plays with Legos, is the cause of my lumbago
   And the cat that scatters caltrops in the night can make me roar
   But then I love those little creatures, with their quirky little features
   I'll be on my knees to play with them in one minute more

(Copyright Jonathan Lay 2022)

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Audio – Theresa O’Grady: HORNPIPES – The Stack of Barley, Cronin’s – played on tenor banjo. (Played in D Major. Cronin’s starts at time 1:25 in this recording.) From the album BANJO’ista.
  • Audio – Stephen Ducke: Cronin’s Hornpipe – played on tin whistle. From From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
• Books
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 1 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. 
  • Book – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – Shannon Heaton: Oil for the Chain, Traditional and Original Irish Music – with audio tracks of the tunes played on flute; no chords.
  • Book – Grey Larsen: 150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle – with audio tracks of the tunes played on tin whistle
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Enda Scahill: Cronin’s Hornpipe – A Full Free Lesson for Playing the Dreaded “FRET 7” on Tenor Banjo – video lesson. (More resources available by subscription to Enda Scahill’s Patreon channel.)
• Other Resources
  • Web page – Tunes from Doolin: Cronin’s Hornpipe – sheet music, link to video, comments
  • Web page – The Session: Cronin’s Hornpipe – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information
  • Web page – Traditional Tune Archive: Cronin’s Hornpipe – sheet music and other information