Cooley's Reel

The reel is named for Joe Cooley (1924 to 1973), a button accordion player from Peterswell, County Galway, who played with the Tulla Céilí Band and later moved back and forth between Ireland and American cities. He was famous for the energy he put into every tune.

Nobody agrees on where it came from. His brother Seamus said the two of them heard an old concertina player at a house session in Clare in the 1940s, then stayed up all night piecing the tune together from memory: Joe made the first part and Seamus the second. Other stories credit Mayo fiddler John McGrath, or accordion player Joe Mills, who is said to have called it "Luttrell's Pass" after a spot near the 1691 Battle of Aughrim. Cooley recorded it paired with "The Wise Maid," and the two are still often played together.