120 BPM sounds quite fast.
Some good points here:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/18725
quoting Gary:
I spent an hour or so timing some of the videos at > http://comhaltas.ie > (actually downloads of the audio). I included many of my favorites and mostly excluded ceili bands, though I threw in two Under-18 bands out of curiosity. The format is Players, Rhythm, Video Clip #, Tempo. I don’t think this site will allow me to line things up, so sorry if it’s hard to read. Tempo is in beats per minute with two beats per bar. Listed from slow to fast in each rhythm.
Michael King hornpipes 244_2 72
Tara Breen hornpipes 244_1 76
Edel Fox hornpipes 260_1 77
Dylan Foley hornpipes 251_4 77
Bronwyn de Paor hornpipes 241_3 78
Maeve Flanagan hornpipes 250_2 84
Peter Horan hornpipes 252_5 92Mairaid Corridan jigs 258_2 101
Maeve Flanagan jigs 242_3 110
James Mahon jigs 241_2 111
Sorcha Costello jigs 265_5 113
Kylie Moynagh jigs 257_3 113
Emma Sweeney jigs 241_4 116
Mike & Mary Rafferty jigs 242_5 116
Rowsome Family jigs 249_4 117
Billy McComiskey jigs 243_3 119
Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington jigs 252_6 121
Seamus Bugler & Paddy O’Donoghue jigs 257_5 125
John Whelan jigs 250_3 126
John McEvoy & John Wynne jigs 245_1 128
Mulcahy Family jigs 252_3 129Carmel O’Dea reels 241_1 90
Carmel O’Dea reels 241_1 96
Erin McGeown reels 244_3 97
Kylie Moynagh reels 257_4 97
Maeve Flanagan reels 256_3 97
Bronwyn de Paor reels 241_3 97
Keith Gildea reels 244_5 98
Joan Hanrahan & Dympna O’Sullivan reels 266_5 99
Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington reels 252_4 99
Ernestine Healy reels 245_2 103
Joe & Joannie Madden reels 242_6 103
Fr. Charlie Coen reels 251_5 103
Jack Talty & David O’Brien reels 266_3 104
Session led by Billy McComiskey reels 250_5 104
Brian Conway & Maeve Flanagan reels 242_2 104
Joe & Joannie Madden reels 243_2 105
Laura Beagon reels 266_1 106
Billy McComiskey reels 242_4 106
Eugene Bender reels 250_1 107
Sean Walsh reels 245_4 107
O’Raghallaigh, O’Mahoney reels 240_6 107
Dylan Foley reels 252_2 107
Garry Shannon reels 246_3 108
5 young American fiddlers reels 250_4 109
Rose Flanagan & Dylan Foley reels 252_1 109
Deirdre & Eimear Reilly reels 258_5 109
Bobby Gardiner & Marcus Maloney reels 249_2 110
Tigh Na Coille Ceili Band reels 256_5 110
MacDarra O’Raghallaigh reels 254_1 110
Cruinniu reels 246_1 110
John McEvoy & John Wynne reels 245_1 111
Peter Staunton reels 245_3 111
Fergus McGorman reels 244_4 111
Mulcahy Family reels 248_1 111
Michael King reels 244_2 112
Tara Breen reels 244_1 112
Innis Og Ceili Band reels 256_6 112
Mick O’Connor & Oliver Diviney reels 241_5 113
John McEvoy & John Wynne reels 246_5 114
John Whelan reels 243_1 115
Brian Conway, Joannie Madden & Billy McComiskey reels 242_1 117
My rule of thumb for reels would be roughly:
Below 96 - unusually slow
97-103 - slow but not uncommonly so
104-112 - normal
113-120 - fast but not uncommonly so
Above 120 - warp speed
For reference, the time it takes to play 32 bars (typically AABB at 8 bars per part) is:
40 seconds = 96 bpm
39 seconds = 98 bpm
38 seconds = 101 bpm
37 seconds = 104 bpm
36 seconds = 107 bpm
35 seconds = 110 bpm
34 seconds = 113 bpm
33 seconds = 116 bpm
32 seconds = 120 bpm
31 seconds = 124 bpm
30 seconds = 128 bpm