The Road to Lisdoonvarna

Slide, E Dorian, Traditional Irish

The Road to Lisdoonvarna, a traditional Irish slide, is a favorite among session tunes. The village of Lisdoonvarna is in north County Clare, and the road, Ireland’s N67, also runs through Oranmore, Milltown Malbay, Galway, Ennistymon and Ballyvaughan.

Recordings

• Video – Dulahan Ireland: The Road To Lisdoonvarna (Slide) – fiddle & tenor banjo with guitar. (Dulahan is the duo of Joe and Adele Green, County Mayo, Ireland.)
• Video – The Elftones: Road to Lisdoonvarna / O’Keefe’s Slide / Swallowtail Jig
• Audio – Baron Collins Hill (MandoLessons): Road To Lisdoonvarna (Fast​)​: Mandolin & Guitar – mandolin with guitar backing. This track is part of a MandoLessons lesson.

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.

• Murphy’s Road Slide Set: The Road to Lisdoonvarna (E Dorian) / O’Keefe’s Slide (A Dorian) / Denis Murphy’s Slide (D)
• The Road to Lisdoonvarna / O’Keefe’s / The Cuil Aodha
• The Star Above the Garter / The Road to Lisdoonvarna
• O’Keefe’s Slide / The Road to Lisdoonvarna
• The Butterfly / The Road to Lisdoonvarna

References and Resources

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

• Books
  • Book & Audio – Tom Morley: Learn to Play Irish Trad Fiddle
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Baron Collins Hill (MandoLessons): Road to Lisdoonvarna – mandolin lesson with video, sheet music, and play-along tracks
  • Lesson – Tom Morley: Learn an Irish Trad Fiddle Tune – The Road To Lisdoonvarna – fiddle lesson
  • Lesson – Peakfiddler: Irish Fiddle – Road to Lisdoonvarna Part 1/3 – fiddle lesson (part 1 of 3) with sheet music and backing tracks. Lesson continues in Part 2 of 3 and Part 3 of 3.
• Additional Resources
  • Article: Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell – a friendly and brief explanation of musical modes.
  • Article – Wikipedia: Lisdoonvarna – a brief article about the town of Lisdoonvarna