This collection contains Joe Lamont's recordings of live performances of Irish traditional music in the greater New York City area in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as recordings from radio and dubs of phonograph discs. A Webcor reel-to-reel tape recorder was used to create the open-reel recordings. Phonograph disc dubs include published recordings and potentially some unpublished. Some of the recordings were shared with Lamont by contacts in the US and Ireland. A few photographs of Lamont are included in the collection, as are Lamont’s tracklists, which include details on performers and musical selections for each open-reel tape.

Lamont’s recording and collecting activities focused on traditional Irish instrumental music performed on fiddle, accordion, flute, and whistle. Tunes such as reels, jigs, waltzes, hornpipes, slow airs, and set dances are performed in solos, duets, and groups, sometimes with piano accompaniment. A few recordings feature informal group singing at social gatherings. Selected events of the Paddy Killoran Club are included, and Lamont’s fiddle playing can be heard on a few recordings.