Denis Murphy's Polka

Denis Murphy (died 1974) was a fiddler from Gneeveguilla, County Kerry, in the Sliabh Luachra region. His father played flute and his two brothers and five sisters all played fiddle, and he learned from the travelling fiddle master Pádraig O'Keeffe. Murphy said polkas may be easier than reels, but they have their own little secrets.

The tune is older than his name on it: Michael Coleman recorded it in a set called "Casey's." It probably first took Murphy's name on an early Chieftains album, since the band learned polkas and slides from Murphy and Johnny O'Leary. Planxty paired it with "John Ryan's Polka," and the two still go together.