More Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts is a fascinating exploration of traditional tunes, collected during the mid-nineteenth century, from the South of Ireland. The songs were catalogued by the cleric, flautist, uilleann piper and Professor of Irish James Goodman. His extensive collection of over 2000 tunes is now curated by Trinity College, Dublin. 

After successfully resurrecting tunes from Canon Goodman´s first volume of manuscripts, to create their album ‘The Goodman Manuscripts’, Mick O’Brien, Emer Mayock and Aoife Ní Bhriain have now waded even deeper. This time into the second Goodman collection of over a thousand tunes. 

It is a thrilling to hear these melodies, which without Goodman’s studious cataloguing could have easily been lost forever to the devastating impact of the Great Famine. It’s not often I would sit down and listen to a full album of solely Irish tunes, but this album is captivating. It’s full of energy, with up-tempo jigs and reels which would lift any Irish session, contrasting with darker shades, in the slower, more reflective numbers. 

‘Ceann Dubh Dileas (My dark-haired darling)’ begins with a contemplative flute melody played over a rich pipe drone, an arrangement I suspect Goodman would have appreciated. The fiddle eventually joins, highlighting the soaring contours of the melody. 

 
Similarly, the track ‘Humours of Glynn’ has an extended sparse violin introduction before the flute and pipes add meat to the bone.

 

Immaculately arranged, well produced, and thoroughly researched, ‘More Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts’ gives us a rare glimpse of the deep repertoire of traditional Southern Irish music, before the possibility of recordings. 

 
Our gratitude to both the long passed musicologist and the excellent contemporary musicianship that brings such clarity to these tunes. Each instrument given space to flourish, each melody brought firmly back to life. 

 
Overall a fascinating listen for all Irish trad enthusiasts out there!