Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)

 

“Londonderry Air” is a tune collected by Jane Ross of Limavady, a market town in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, and published in The Ancient Music of Ireland in 1855.  The tune became famous when Frederick Edward Weatherly added lyrics and named it “Danny Boy” in 1913.  The original source was likely an ancient Irish tune in ¾ time named Aislean an Oigfear (“The Young Man’s Dream”), a song which comes from the same area of Northern Ireland near Limavady and shares the memorable high part in its refrain.  With its melodic range and emotional intensity, “Londonderry Air” is a perfect showcase for slowhand banjo.

​

The photographs accompanying the vide show sites around Londonerry or associated with the title "Danny Boy."  See the credits below.

 

 

Photo credits (in order they appear in video)

All from Creative Commons

 

1. Alex Renaldi—Independent Hostel in Londonderry

2. Aliceson—DerryDoors

3. Beatriz Alves Correa—Derry

4. Beatriz Alves Correa—Derry

5. djwess—Danny Boy

6. Guiseppe Milo—The Laughter of Our Children

7. Mark Hillary—Danny Boy

8. Nick—Derry, Northern Ireland

9. Phillip McErlean—Autumn in Ervey Wood

10. Richard Berg—012 Danny Boy