Irish and Celtic MIDI Song Files
A list of the best web sites hosting MIDI files for Irish and Celtic music, mostly free downloads.
You can turn any of these files into free sheet music with easy-to-use sheet music software.
Celtic Tunes - This large selection of excellently done Celtic music was sequenced by Ron Clarke. The MIDI files are easy to download. You can also download collections of several tunes at a time in zip files. Be sure to check out Ron's other pages by exploring the links at the top of the home page. The "More Celtic Reels" and "More Celtic Tunes" links will take you to other great collections.
Tadpole Tunes - This page contains a collection of pieces composed and sequenced by Ron Clarke. Mr. Clarke characterizes these works as "jigs, reels, polkas, hornpipes, waltzes, slides, and slip jigs." They are quite traditional in tone, with a touch of whimsy.
Ancient Music of Ireland - This extensive site has several pages of fascinating Irish music in well sequenced MIDI files. Choose an option from the "MIDI tunes" section at the top of the home page to reach the music. You can also download collections of several tunes at a time in zip files.
Turlough O'Carolan,Irish Harper - This part of Lesley Nelson-Burns' site has the works of Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan, sequenced by many different contributors (all acknowledged following their filenames). You can also download of the MIDI files in a single zip file.
Jordan O'Connell Memorial Celtic Midi Archive - This site offers a nice collection of standard Irish tunes. Don't be taken aback by the "New MP3…" heading-- it's a link to a different page. If you enjoy these MIDI files, be sure to check out the "Second series" link, where you'll find more sequences in a similar vein.
Folk Music of Ireland - This well organized site of folk music from many lands has a tremendous wealth of information here (history, lyrics, etc.) to go with the tremendous number of MIDI files that Lesley Nelson-Burns has made available. You can surf through the site and learn a lot; or if you are looking for a particular tune, there is a search engine specifically for this site.
Taylor's Traditional Tunebook - This web site, also hosted by Lesley Nelson-Burns, contains all the sequences of various traditional music that Barry Taylor had done. It has a drop-menu of the various groupings (Irish traditional, Scottish traditional, etc.) that are available, and each category has a zip file of all the available tunes that it contains. These MIDI files are the ones that many other sites have used as the basis for their arrangements of these traditional tunes.
Hetzler's Fakebook - Celtic Tunes - Edward Hetzler's web site provides many 100s of nicely prepared MIDI files. A link in the left-hand column of the web page, for "Celtic Tunes", takes you to the pages that specifically have Celtic tunes.
Sessioneer Tin Whistle Website - This website provides some great resources besides all the excellent tin whistle MIDI files. The left-hand frame provides the navigation for this well-organized site. To find the MIDI files, scroll down past the "Tin Whistle Guide" to the "Tune Archives" section. You can search for a tune, or browse the tunes by category (reels, jigs, other, all). The tunes are arranged nicely in a table, with the MIDI files in the far right column. Just click the filename to download it. To get to the next page of the multiple-page listings, click the arrow in the upper right of the song table.
Emerald Tracks Professional Irish MIDI And MP3 Backing Tracks - This website offers "high quality, professional Irish MIDI and MP3 backing tracks of popular Irish music. Our catalogue includes everything from old traditional Irish favorites to the latest Irish hits in the charts. Our backing tracks are available in two formats: General MIDI and MP3." Please note that this site charges a fee for their files.
Also see our Folk and Traditional pages.
With the shutdown of GeoCities, a number of excellent webpages which hosted MIDI files have been lost. If you know of the new location for a website that once was here, please let us know about it!














