Irish polkas are attractive because they're usually simple tunes with a nice melody. They're in 2/4 timing, the same as many Scottish bagpipe marches. In fact, many pipe marches have been imported to Ireland and turned into polkas; one example is The Barren Rocks of Aden.

Ryan's Polka is a popular Irish tune and can often be heard at sessions all over the world. On the whistle it's often tricky to switch between octaves, especially if there a lot of C shaps in the tune. With Ryan's, - rather like we did with Drowsy Maggie - the trick is to leave certain fingers down. In the first bar, you can leave all your right-hand fingers on the lower three holes without it affecting the notes, so that the B and C sharp notes are played like this:

Ryan's Polka

I'll Tell Me Ma

This is actually the air to a popular Irish song:

I'll Tell Me Ma

Irish Polkas

THE POLKA WAS INTRODUCED into the ballrooms of France and England in 1843. The Times of London described it as embracing the "intimacy of the waltz combined with the vivacity of the Irish jig." Polka - from the bohemian word pulka, which means half - refers to the little half step or close-step that is characteristic of this dance.

I don't think the polka as a dance had any lasting effect in Scotland, although the schottische, which has lasted, is a form of polka. The Irish polka is almost a different animal; it has developed into a dance and tune form peculiar to Ireland, and Irish polkas - the tunes - have become a popular part of repertoires all over the world. In the Sliabh Luachra area of Kerry in the south-west of Ireland, the polka is the predominant dance tune, unlike the rest of Ireland where the reel reigns supreme. In fact, the reel in Kerry ranks a poor fifth in poularity after polkas, jigs, slides and hornpipes.