Lough Gill Quartet

Lough Gill Quartet
Origin	Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Irish Traditional
Years active	1930s, 1940s
Labels	HMV, EMI, RTÉ, Topic Records
Associated acts	Ceoltóirí Chualann
Members	Sonny Brogan Bill Harte Sarah Hobbs James Cawley

The Lough Gill Quartet was an Irish Traditional Music Quartet formed in Dublin, Ireland in the 1930s. The quartet was named after the famous Sligo lake and as a tribute to Michael Coleman who came from Sligo.

The band featured Sonny Brogan and Bill Harte on accordion, Sarah Hobbs on fiddle and James Cawley on flute.

The Lough Gill Quartet recorded four 78rpm records for HMV in or around 1941.

HMV IM946
(A) Jigs : Newport Lass, Leitrim Jig (Matrix No OEL 204)
(B) Reels : Lough Gill Favourites (Matrix No OEL 207)

HMV IM947
( ) Hornpipes: The Flowers of May, The Silver Spire
( ) Hawthorn Bush, Castle Kelly

HMV IM948
(A) Jigs : Memories of Ballymote, The Kiltullagh Jig (Matrix No OEL 203)
(B) Reels : Jenny's Wedding, Toss the Feathers (Matrix No OEL 208)

HMV IM949
(A) Reels : Ballinure Rake, The Market Man (Matrix No OEL 209 I)
(B) Jigs : The Mill Pond, Mist on the Meadow (Matrix No OEL 202 I)

"The Ballinure Rake" was later known as "Sonny Brogan's Favourite".
"The Flowers of May" and "The Silver Spire" from IM947 were re-released in 1986 on the RTÉ/EMI LP "The Irish Phonograph Vol I" (GAE1003).
"The Mill Pond" and "The Mist on the Meadow" from IM949 were re-released on the CD "Irish Dance Music" (Topic TSCD602)

The sleeve notes of the CD "Irish Dance Music" say that this music is described "as representative of the quality music played by a hard core of active traditional musicians in Dublin at the time. Bill Harte and Sonny are reputed to have been among the pioneers who saw the potential for Irish music making in the button accordion pitched B/C and subsequently devised and disseminated the fingering method".

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