The Three Jacks: Music

• MP3 short clip, hi-fi play (broadband)
• MP3 short clip, lo-fi play (modem)

We close the album with the tune which – so legend has it – was O’Carolan’s very first and which marked the start of his career.


One of Turlough’s hosts was unimpressed with his playing of the standards and encouraged him to write tunes of his own. The master of the house left on a short trip and, on his return, Turlough presented him with this piece, which combines elements of an old Scottish folk song with aspects of the baroque style, popular at the time. The master of the house was thrilled with the work and Turlough had found his niche.


The title, in Gaelic, means “Big Fairy Castle, Little Fairy Castle” and commemorates a battle between rival groups of “fairies” – (a much beefier and bellicose brood of supernatural beings than their effete modern American counterparts). This tune is part of the standard repertoire of just about every Irish band. We give it a rather non-standard “anthemic” treatment.