At ITMA, we are trying to find ways to make searching for the content you want easier. All of the media sounds, images, prints, and videos in A Grand Time have been assigned tags. This means you can filter your search by song theme, type of performance, instrument name, performer, gender of the performer, and more.
The thematic categories are based on those already established for ITMA's Góilín Song Project. Several other categories have been added based on the material present in A Grand Time.
Use this page to learn what each tag means.
Songs that relate the events and/or commemorate the people involved in the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland.
Songs and ditties intended for children. These are usually short and have simple rhyming schemes.
Songs, usually American in origin, about cowboys, horses, and frontier lifestyles. These will normally be popular songs and composed during the 20th century.
Songs that describe disasters (nature, work, etc.).
Songs that describe the emigrant experience and/or the process of emigrating. Includes songs that reference forced migration, transportation, migration for work, or migration for personal interest.
Songs that reference highwaymen, outlaws, and unlawful events. These may be celebratory or offer condemnation.
Songs that describe historical events and/or the political climate surrounding a particular event or period of time.
Songs performed with the intention of comedy, including satire, folly, and serious subject matter treated humorously.
Songs that describe historical events that are specific to a particular locality and that may not be widely known outside of that locality. Includes songs that were locally composed.
Songs about courtship, love, and marriage. These may be serious or comedic, happy or tragic.
Songs that describe murder.
Songs that describe Napoleon, the Napoleonic Wars, and/or the Pennisular Wars.
Songs that celebrate, recall, or condemn particular individuals. These include historical accounts, nostalgic/sentimental songs, and fictional characters.
Songs that celebrate particular locales. Includes songs that suggest nostalgia for a particular place.
Songs that describe religion, sectarian conflict, and/or religious doctrine and people.
Songs about going to sea, shipwrecks, and/or a sailor's life.
Songs that reference leisure, drinking, fighting, gambling, and other forms of recreation.
Songs that reference sport.
Songs that describe going to war, being at war, and/or the life of a soldier.
Songs that are used for work and/or describe working conditions.
The type of performance. E.g., Instrumental (Music played on an instrument) ; Song ; Lilting (e.g., chin music, gob music, lilting) ; storytelling (recitations, stories, and spoken word).
Name of the instrument performed or depicted.
Music for dance, still or moving images of dance, and/or descriptions of dance.
Descriptions relating to the process of collecting songs, music, stories, and related oral traditions.
Name of creator(s). For example, the name of the singer, musician, composer, photographer, featured subject, etc.
The gender of the performer (e.g., male, female, other).
Name of the country/region being described and/or where the action is set. For A Grand Time this typically includes Ireland, Newfoundland, Scotland, and the United States.
Irish Traditional Music Archive /
Taisce Cheol Dúchais Éireann
73 Merrion Square
Dublin 2
Ireland
D02 WK75
T +353 (0)1 661 9699
