Ballydesmond Polka No. 1

Ballydesmond sits in Sliabh Luachra, the hill country on the border of Cork and Kerry known for its polkas and slides. It was built in the 1830s as a planned village called Kingwilliamstown, where two new roads met, and took its Irish name later.

The Ballydesmond polkas are usually played as a set, and the numbering depends on who is counting: sessions call this one No. 1, while the Traditional Tune Archive lists it as No. 2 because some players start the set with another tune. It is a polka form of "Maurice Manley's," which is also played as a slide. Kerry fiddlers Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford recorded the set on The Star Above the Garter in 1973.