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"The Four Courts", in Gaelic "Na Ceitre Cuirt" is an Irish reel in G Major. The parts
are played ABC.
The Four Courts is a building in Dublin situated on the banks of the river Liffey and located on the site of a medieval abbey. It was designed by architect James Gandon, started in 1786 and, when it was completed in 1802, it became the seat of the Irish justice system. The four courts themselves were the Chancery, Exchequer, Common Pleas and the King's Bench. Currently it is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building features a six-columned Corinthian portico and a lantern dome. It was occupied by the rebels during the Easter Week insurrection and was in the area of some of the heaviest fighting. The building was occupied, then destroyed by explosion and fire, in 1922 during the Irish civil war but was rebuilt over the next ten years to the original design. O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903) gives the tune in two sharps, which was corrected in his later work Dance Music of Ireland (1001). Musician and researcher Paul de Grae notes that variants of the first strain occur in "The Sligo Chorus", "Jennie Rock the Cradle", "Jacky Latin/Jackie Layton" and "Within a Mile of Dublin". It was printed in O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies (1903) and O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907). It was recorded on Rodney Miller's Airdance (2000), De Danann on The Rambling Irishman (1974), James Keane on Roll Away The Reel World (1980) and Frank Quinn (78 RPM) (1924). |