It's always bugged me that the well-known traditional Irish tune, "The Butterfly," is listed on the soundtrack for The Secret of Roan Inish simply as "Fiona."

It implies the spritely melody was written by composer Mason Daring, who incorporated several traditional tunes into the soundtrack for the darling Irish film. However, anyone listening to the soundtrack would have to open the liner notes and look for footnotes to see which tunes Daring borrowed from the Irish playbook. (Hint: there are several.)

Otherwise, it's a lovely soundtrack, a fitting backdrop to the delightful film about selkies on the west coast of Ireland. It's melancholy at times, joyful at others, and it perfectly captures the mood of magical realism that permeates the story of an old fisherman and his wife, their granddaughter and her cousin in a small Irish fishing village and the nearby island their family once called home.

Surprisingly, Daring is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not Ireland as one might suspect. He certainly hit the right notes with his composition and selection of traditional music. Rather than going for an orchestral soundtrack, most of the score sounds like something you'd hear at a lively pub session. It sets the tone without becoming obtrusive.

His score work also includes such diverse projects as Eight Men Out, The Opposite of Sex, Nova and Frontline.

Music on Roan Inish is performed by the Hawthorne String Quartet, Maire Breatnach and Eileen Loughnane (vocals), Maire Breatnach and Sandal Astrauski (fiddle), Ronan Browne and Declan Masterson (uillean pipes), Mel Mercier (bodhran), Aine Ni Dhubhaill (harp), Cormac Breatnach, Billy Novick and Marcus Roberts (flute, whistle), Niall O'Callanain (bouzouki) and Gerard Foley (cello).

This is a fine album for fans of the movie as well as anyone who enjoys a good Irish tune.