Sheehan’s Reel

Reel, G, traditional Irish
Also known as: Sheehan’s; The Black-Eyed Sailor
Tune of the Week: August 28, 2022; May 18, 2025

This traditional Irish reel is a popular session tune that has made its way into the New England fiddle tune and contra dance repertoires.

Caution: the first measure of Sheehan’s Reel is the same as the first measure of The Peeler’s Jacket. It is very easy to get confused about which tune you are playing.

Recordings

• Audio – Comhaltas: Sheehan’s – session recording. From the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 1
• Audio – Betsy Branch & Clyde Curley: Sheehan’s / Mother’s Delight / Hand Me Down the Tackle – from the album A Portland Play Along Selection 1 (Betsy Branch, Clyde Curley, Susan Songer, Portland, Oregon)
• Video – Rodney Miller: Sheehan’s Reel – played on fiddle

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.

• Congress Reel Set: Sheehan’s Reel / The Congress / The Reconciliation
• Sheehan’s Reel / The Old Copperplate
• Sheehan’s / The Silver Spear
• Sheehan’s / Cameronian / Foxhunter’s (reel)
• The Bellharbour Reel / Sheehan’s Reel
• Sheehan’s Reel / The Sally Gardens

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Keyreel Raskolenko &Victor Livanov: Sheehan’s reel / Pigeon on the gate / The Boys Of Ballysodare – “Keyreel Raskolenko (fiddle) & Victor Livanov (guitar) playing the set of reels for fun in Vermel, Moscow.”
  • Audio – Lee Cremo Trio – Sheehan’s Reel / Pigeon on the Gate (medley) from the album Creation’s Journey: Native American Music
  • Video – Antoin Mac Gabhann and Caitlín Nic Gabhann: The Bellharbour Reel / Sheehan’s Reel – played on fiddle and concertina. Sheehan’s Reel starts at time 1:23 in this recording.
  • Video – Pat Barton – Sheehan’s – Irish traditional reel on button accordion – Accordion solo played on b/c/c# diatonic button accordion.
• Books
  • Book – Comhaltas: Foinn Seisiún, Volume 1
  • Book – The Portland Collection, Volume 1 – Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest. By Susan Songer with Clyde Curley.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Online Academy of Irish Music: Sheehan’s Reel – tune taught on piano accordion, with video lesson, sheet music, and play-along tracks. Requires subscription to Online Academy of Irish Music. (Watch out for spelling if you search for the lessons — look for both “Sheehan’s” and “Sheehans”.)
  • Lesson – Jody Stecher: “Sheehan’s Reel” (part 1 of 2) – guitar flat-picking lesson video. Also see video “Sheehan’s Reel” (part 2 of 2) and for the full package of video with sheet music and tabs, see Jody Stecher’s Celtic Melodies for Flatpicking Guitar.
• Other Resources
  • Web page – The Session: Sheehan’s (Reel) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information.
  • Web page – The Traditional Tune Archive: Sheehan’s Reel – sheet music, archival information and more
  • Web page – The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Sheehan’s– sheet music, archival information and more