Star Of The County Down


This is my instrumental version of Star Of The County Down, played here in waltz time. I don't get around to doing anywhere near as much fingerstyle guitar playing as I'd like to these days but I've been wanting to record this one for awhile so......
A few months ago I sent my 1983 Maton FG100 to the Maton factory here in Melbourne for a major renovation. There was a small crack on the top, the nut had lifted, and the frets were heading toward becoming ''fretless''! It was more or less unplayable. The guitar had been neglected for many years, but I still had memories of the rich and balanced tone it had when it was new and was hopeful that it could be brought back to something like its original tone, and so it proved to be the case They did a fine job on it, as is usual for Maton, and I've been getting back into the fingerstyle once again.
On this tune I'm tuned to Open D: D.A.D.F#.A.D(sixth to first).

Rebecca O'DeaStar Of The County Down

Bold Thady Quill/Maid At The Well

I learnt the first jig from the Mulcahy Family who have been a rich source of tunes for me over a long period of time.They have a great way of playing tunes. The second tune is normally played in G but I was messing about with it one night and it somehow ended up in F! Anyway the capo is on the second fret so that brings it back into G. For those interested in a technical analysis of this tune it is Lesson 29 of my podcast: https://irishguitarpod.com/lessons/ The photo at the end of the clip is of one of the many religious sites that dot Ireland's countryside. This one is somewhere in Conamara, an area of much wonderful music.

Rebecca O'DeaBold Thady Quill/Maid At The Well

Banjo Jamboree

Tony at Banjo Jamboree, Guildford September 2018

Rebecca O'DeaBanjo Jamboree