Dunmore Lasses

Reel, Em, Traditional Irish

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 – Tergal14 Mandolin: Irish Mandolin tunes. The Dunmore Lasses (reel) – solo mandolin
• Audio – 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.)
• Video – The Kilkennys: Dunmore Lasses – from the album Blowin’ in the Wind (Kilkenny Ireland)

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 – Tradschool: Dunmore Lasses Reel – played on D tin whistle
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Tom Morley: Learn to Play Irish Trad Fiddle
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
• 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