Adding to my handy roundup of roundups, as the Irish tag has become unwieldy, here’s a selection of my dabblings in Irish music, which feature some exhilarating tracks that will brighten your days.

Ciaran Carson’s exquisite Last night’s fun has inspired several posts, including

• On tune titles: Ask my father
• A paean to the fry-up, and the music of time
• On competition—topped by the story of the three fiddlers
• More early music, with a quote from 1185 that could be contemporary
• Chinese mouth-organs and Irish flutes.

And this charming recollection, told to me at a session in an Armagh pub, has a Carsonesque lilt to it.

i got further into the swing with

• More Irish fiddlers
• Women in early Irish music

• The Irish pub session (dating from post-war London!)
• On the bogus neologism craic
• sean-nós singing, old and new.

To whet your appetite, here’s an irresistible playlist:

See also under Indian and world fiddles. And while I’m here, may I remind you of the great Flann O’Brian (more under Myles tag), and various fine Irish jokes such as these.