I don’t know any other pennywhistlers in my local area here in Utah so I don’t get a chance to hang out in a session and jam with other trad players. But one day I will come across a session and I want to be prepared for the experience. Who knows? Perhaps a wandering band of Irish fiddlers will knock upon my door and beg me to play with them. What songs will I need to know to keep up? And is there a book or two that collects them?
If you are looking for Session tunes (and I’ll break it to ya now, LOTS of folks are gonna ride ya for calling a tune a song), go hit www.thesession.org and look for the most popular tunes on the tunebook.
Every town has a different list of specifics though. L.E. has a good book with 121 of them to get you started, if you would prefer a tutor for them.
Honestly though, ask any ten folks here on the board about tunes you need to know and you will get about 10 completely different answers.
Of course, what do I know. I avoid most sessions and have a longtime obsession with obscure polkas.
I second his question.. I was wondering myself that too, and for the same reasons (i.e. lack of sessions in my area)
Danny Boy 
Buy LE McCullough’s 121 Favorite Irish Session Tunes. I’ve been around a few different session groups and people tend to know these ones. Around here, beginners tend to know these ones.
Tony
mmmmm :
Calliope House
Donny Brook Fair
Silver Spear
Kid on the Mountains ( very hard song)
Blarney Pilgrim
Kesh jig.
Morrison`s jig
The Soldier Song
Foggy Dew
Sean South ( I think)
luck!!
irish washer woman , kesh jig, saint patricks day
Here is a collection of the tunes commonly played in my area.
There are several in there that seem to be pretty common in
most geographical regions, from discussions I’ve seen here.
boys of bluehill
…preferably in medly with "When Irish Eyes are Smilin’.
Tom
cut in a hip hop style with “Has anyone here seen Kelly”
Here’s a decent list:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~updf/celticwknd/page8.html
(By the way, the Irish weekend for which that list was created was fun, too.)
Would “My Wild Irish Rose” fit in that medley?
LE McCullough’s book was on my list, but now it’s at the top. Thanks for mentioning it, Tony.
AlonE ~ Great list. Thx.
Cavefish ~ Ah, finally one I know! St. Patricks Day. Phew. Now I only have a few hundred more to learn. 
fearfaoin ~ Fantastic list, especially since it includes sheet music. Thanks a ton.
azw ~ That’s what I call organized. A set foundation for your sessions for others to come prepared for… I even know a few of them, so I’m feeling less daunted.
Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I’ll be sure to dig into all of them, especially Danny Boy…
Just found this one - good PDF sheets of many tunes, some different from the Pinecone book:
http://www.novasession.org/Bog%20Kit/bwindex.htm
I’m sure it’s been posted before, but I’ve missed it 'til now.
Wow, me too! Outstanding site!
excellent thanks! I like getting random lists of songs, easier to get my self to learn tunes, then just searching randomly throughout the internet, and of course its alwasy helpful to know ones that others have more of a possiblity of knowing
The ultramontane canon: http://comhaltas.ie/shop/detail/foinn_seisiun_book_volume_1/
The Comhaltas site is fantastic - I’ve already forwarded the link to a number of friends. Thank you!!!
indeed! Great contents and very well designed.. Thanks!