A Critical Edition of the Irish Music Manuscripts of Philip Carolan c1839-1910

The Philip Carolan Manuscripts were compiled in Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, c1863 to c1873. They comprise hundreds of tunes which were mainly transcribed by Philip Carolan, a local farmer and fiddler player, but were never published. After the death of Philip Carolan the manuscripts remained in the possession of his family and therefore their contents have been uninvestigated until now. This study of the manuscripts combines an investigation of both paleographical and musical data with a view to obtaining an appreciation of the collection itself and the insight it can offer to the repertoire of an Irish musician in rural Ireland in the closing decades of the 19th century. As an initial step, a catalogue of the Carolan Manuscripts is compiled and the papers, rastrographies, handwritings and bindings are classified to facilitate further study. The background to the manuscripts, and the life and times of Philip Carolan are also investigated as a means of understanding the context in which the manuscripts were written. An examination of the textual and non-textual data to be found in individual manuscripts helps to establish the provenance of the manuscripts and also gives a comprehensive view of the composition of the collection. An assessment of the relationship between the Carolan manuscripts and the printed sources that he used also yields new insights into the formation of the collection. A critical edition of the Carolan Manuscripts is presented with a copious Critical Commentary and various indices.