Old Hag at the Klin

The Old Hag at the Kiln — Irish title An Chailleach sa Tornóig — is a traditional Irish slide in the mixolydian mode, better known in the tradition as Dinny Delaney's, after the piper with whom it is most closely associated.

Denis "Dinny" Delaney (1841–1919) was a blind uilleann piper, born in Tulrush in County Roscommon. Orphaned at a young age, he lost his sight at thirteen following a bout of smallpox, and learned the uilleann pipes from a travelling musician named Mickey Willis. He spent most of his life in Ballinasloe in County Galway, where an annual festival keeps his memory alive today. In 1916, he was arrested for playing Repeal of the Union outside the police barracks in Mountbellew in the aftermath of the Easter Rising — his pipes were smashed during the arrest, prompting a nationwide subscription to have them repaired.

The tune circulates under half a dozen titles — The Hag in the Kiln, The Old Hag, Denis Delaney's — which is common in the Irish repertoire, where a single air can accumulate names across regions and generations. As a twelve-quaver slide, it is particularly prized in the Sliabh Luachra tradition, and pairs readily with other slides in session sets.