A Dorian, Traditional Irish Slide
TrailJams Tune of the Week for December 19, 2021; May 14, 2023

This traditional tune is named for Pádraig O’Keefe (1887-1963), a master fiddler of Ireland’s Sliabh Luachra region. Sliabh Luachra (or Slieve Logher) is the mountainous region in Ireland that straddles the county boundaries of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick.
Recordings
- Audio – Comhaltas: O’Keefe’s. From the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 1, published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
- Audio – Stephen Ducke: O’Keefe’s Slide. Played on tin whistle. From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes.
Dots (Music Notation)
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.

Play from the Dots
Sets
Examples of sets that include this tune.
- Murphy’s Road Slide Set: The Road to Lisdoonvarna (E Dorian) / O’Keefe’s Slide (A Dorian) / Denis Murphy’s Slide (D)
- Brosna Slide Set: The Brosna Slide / O’Keefe’s Slide / Denis Murphy’s Slide
References and Resources
For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.
- More Recordings
- Video – The Chieftains: O’Keefe’s Slide, in E Dorian. From the album The Chieftains 4.
- Audio – The Jones Boys: Hardiman the Fiddler/The Kesh Jig/Dennis Murphy’s/O’Keefe’s from the album Like the Sun a-Glittering. Dennis Murphy’s starts at time 1:48; O’Keefe’s starts at 2:42.
- Video – Claire Shirey: O’Keefe’s Slide / Dennis Murphy’s Slide Concertina
- Books
- Book – Foinn Seisiún, Vol 1. Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
- Book & Audio – Irish Music 400 Traditional Tunes, by Stephen Ducke
- Book & Audio – Learn to Play Irish Fiddle, by Tom Morley (The tune is in E Dorian in this book.)
- Book – The Portland Collection, Vol. 1 (The tune is in E Dorian in this book.)
- Lessons
- Lesson – Claire Shirey: O’Keefe’s (A minor) Slide Concertina Tutorial – video tutorial on concertina
- Additional Resources
- Webpage – The Session: O’Keeffe’s slide – crowdsourced sheet music, comments and more.
- Article: Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
- Webpage – The Jones Boys: O’Keefe’s Slide notes about the tune, with sheet music.