The Earl's Chair was first recorded by Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Bridie Lafferty and Peardar O'Loughlin in 1959. (An Historic Recording of Irish Music). The following notes come from that beautiful CD reissue:

Notes to The Earl's Chair ... from Don Meade, Manhattan

... "According to Jack Coen, a flute player from Woodford, Co. Galway long resident of the Bronx, The Earl's Chair  was composed by the late Woodford Flute player Patrick 'Patto' Moloney. Moloney originally called the tune Down between the Two Derryoobers" but later replaced this reference to two woodlands near Woodford with the more manageable title used here. "The Earl's Chair" is a throne-like rock formation in the Derrycrag Wood. Jack says the name was derived from its use by the Lords Clanricarde as a picnic spot during hunting outings. Peardar O'Loughlin first heard the reel, in a setting altered slightly from Moloney's original, from button accordion great "Joe Cooley"


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