Dunmore Lasses

Reel, Em, Traditional Irish
TrailJams Tune of the Week: September 3, 2023; August 17, 2025

The lasses of the town of Dunmore inspired the title of this strong and elegant tune. Dunmore is in County Galway, Ireland. Its name, “Dún Mór” in Irish Gaelic, means “big fort.”

Recordings

• Video – Mithril: Dunmore Lasses / Castle Kelly – from the album, The Return Home (Tom Morley, Andra Bohnet, Ben Harper, and Sam Gaston, 2007.)
• Video – Matt Molloy & Dónal Lunny: The New Policeman / The Dunmore Lasses (Reels) – from the album Matt Molloy. (The Dunmore Lasses starts at time 1:07 in this recording.)
• Video – Floating Crowbar: Bantry Lasses / Dunmore Lasses / London Lasses – from the album Going to the Well (Spokane, Washington, USA). (Dunmore Lasses starts at time 1:18 in this recording.)

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.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Dunmore Lasses Reel Set: Dunmore Lasses (Em) / The Earl’s Chair (D) / The High Reel (A Mixolydian)
• The Dunmore Lasses / The Mountain Road / The Reconciliation
• The Dunmore Lasses / The Lads Of Laois / The Killarney Boys Of Pleasure
• Bantry Lasses / Dunmore Lasses / London Lasses

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Peakfiddler: Irish Fiddle – Dunmore Lasses – solo fiddle demonstration with guitar backing. Sheet music is displayed in the video.
  • Video – Tergal14 Mandolin: Irish Mandolin tunes. The Dunmore Lasses (reel) – solo mandolin
  • Video – Shane Farrell: The Dunmore Lasses Reel – tenor banjo solo
  • Video – Tradschool: Dunmore Lasses Reel – played on D tin whistle
  • Video – The Kilkennys: Dunmore Lasses – from the album Blowin’ in the Wind (Kilkenny Ireland)
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Tom Morley: Learn to Play Irish Trad Fiddle
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – Michael D. Long: The King Street Sessions Tunebook (Interactive edition by Michael Eskin) – free downloadable book in PDF format. The Interactive edition by Michael Eskin adds playable ABC transcriptions.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Marla Fibish (Peghead Nation): E Minor Reel: “The Dunmore Lasses” – mandolin lesson (requires subscription to Peghead Nation)
  • Lesson – Shannon Heaton: Learning Irish Flute – Tune of the Month with Shannon Heaton – Dunmore Lasses [Reel] – video lesson, with the tune taught phrase by phrase without sheet music
• Additional Resources
  • Webpage – The Session: The Dunmore Lasses (Reel) – crowdsourced sheet music, notes, and other information
  • Article – Wikipedia: Dunmore, County Galway – a brief description of the town of Dunmore