The Galway Rambler

Reel (single reel), G, Traditional Irish
Also known as: Bainis An Phíobaire; The Pipers Wedding.
TrailJams Tune of the Week: December 11, 2022; July 6, 2025

The Galway Rambler is a traditional Irish reel with a happy strut to it.

A rambler is someone taking a ramble — a walking or hiking tour. In Ireland, the tradition of “rambling” also means to visit your neighbors’ homes.

Recordings

• Video – The Tune Makers with Charlie Lennon: ‘The Galway Rambler’ and ‘The Bucks of Oranmore’ – The Tune Makers are Liz Carroll (fiddle), Máirtín O’Connor (button accordion), & Dave Flynn (guitar).
• Video – Séamus McGuire & John Lee: Little Jimmy McKiernan’s / Dessie O’Connor’s / The Galway Rambler – from the album An Ríl Ar Lár. (The Galway Rambler starts at time 1:39 in this recording.)
• Video – John Whelan: The Old High Reel / Toss The Feathers / Galway Rambler – from the album Celtic Roots. (The Galway Rambler starts at time 1:28 in this recording.)

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.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Fermoy Lasses Reel Set: The Galway Rambler (G) / The Fermoy Lasses (Em) / The Boys of Malin (A)
• Devanney’s Goat Reel Set: Devaney’s Goat (D) / Galway Rambler (G) / Swinging on a Gate (G)
• Devaney’s Goat (D) / Galway Rambler (G) / Last Night’s Fun
• Fermoy Lasses / Reconciliation / Galway Rambler
• The Galway Rambler / The Bucks of Oranmore
• The Galway Rambler / The London Lasses
• The Man Of The House / The Galway Rambler / The New-Mown Meadow

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Kitty Hayes: Reels: the Galway Rambler, the London Lasses – from the album A Touch of Clare – Traditional Irish Concertina Music
  • Video – Tony O’Rourke: Maud Miller/ Galway Rambler/ Morning Star – played on tenor banjo with piano backing. From the album The Maid at the Well. (The Galway Rambler starts at time 1:00 in this recording.)
  • Video – Mossie Martin: The Galway Rambler / The London Lassies – two reels – played on fiddle at moderate temo.
  • Video – Comhaltas: Galway Rambler – session session recording. From Foinn Seisiún Book 3. (The video is an excerpt from the audio recording of a 3-tune set: Comhaltas: Devanney’s Goat / Galway Rambler / Last Night’s Fun .)
  • Audio – Stephen Ducke: The Galway Rambler (Reel) – played on tin whistle. From the book Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Video – Tunes from Doolin: The Galway Rambler (Reel) – played on concertina
  • Video – The Whistler: The Galway Rambler (Reel) – played on tin whistle
• Books
  • Book – Comhaltas: Foinn Seisiún, Volume 3 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – Grey Larsen: 300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Kevin Burke (Fiddlevideo): The Galway Rambler – Trad Irish Fiddle Lesson. (Partial lesson; full lesson requires a subscription to Fiddlevideo.)
  • Lesson – Irish Fiddle: The Galway Rambler – video demonstration of the tune played slowly on fiddle, with ornamentation. Video shows split-screen closeups of right and left hands.
  • Lessons – Online Academy of Irish Music: The Galway Rambler – taught on tenor banjo and tin whistle. Play-along virtual session. (Requires subscription to OAIM.)
  • Lesson – Shannon Heaton: Learning Irish Flute – Tune of the Month with Shannon Heaton – Galway Rambler [Reel] – taught phrase-by-phrase on flute, with advice on posture and body position. Phrase-by-phrase instruction begins at time 7:22 in this recording.
  • Lesson – Luke Gannon: The Galway Rambler – taught phrase-by-phrase on button accordion
  • Lesson – John Whelan: The Galway Rambler – button accordion: approximately one-hour video and audio recordings of phrase-by-phrase teaching of the tune plus a PDF file of the notation. (Purchase.)
• Other Resources
  • Web page: The Session: The Galway Rambler (Reel) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information.
  • Web page: irishtune.info: Galway Rambler – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng.