William Forde (1797–1850), a native of Cork city, divided his professional life between Cork and London. As a performer he specialised in concert flute and piano, and he was also a composer and arranger, a promoter and musical director of concerts and festivals, a teacher of music and singing, an editor of numerous collections of classical and popular music for London publishers, and the author of a range of instructional manuals and theoretical works on music. But from 1840 Forde was increasingly attracted to the collection and study of Irish traditional music. Collecting at first in Munster, he later wrote music from Irish singers and musicians in London, and undertook a major collecting trip to Connacht during the Famine year of 1846. His collection of Irish melodies, the largest made until his time, remained unpublished at his death.

In 2021, ITMA published "The Forde Collection: Irish Traditional Music from the William Forde Manuscripts" edited by Nicholas Carolan and Caitlín Uí Éigeartaigh.

The Forde Collection presents 922 pieces of pre-Famine Irish traditional music noted in the 1840s by the Cork classical musician William Forde, with essays on the collector and the editorial procedures of the edition, appendices and indexes.

It is available to purchase from the ITMA shop online or at ITMA premises in 73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.