Planxty Irwin

Turlough O'Carolan (1670 to 1738) wrote this for Colonel John Irwin (1680 to 1752) of Tanrego House on Ballysodare Bay, County Sligo. Carolan's song mentions Irwin's fighting in Flanders, so Donal O'Sullivan dated it to around 1713, after the colonel came home from the wars.

The Irwins had been given their land under the Cromwellian settlement and fought on the Williamite side, yet their Catholic neighbors the Croftons took them in when they needed shelter. Thomas Moore later borrowed the air, without credit, for his song "Oh! Banquet Not." It is still one of Carolan's most played tunes.