Preserving Irish Traditional Music in Chicago: Francis O'Neill

O'Neill's Music of Ireland: Eighteen Hundred and Fifty Melodies, 1903

Music of Ireland, Eighteen Hundred and Fifty Melodies (1903)

Following many years of gathering tunes, O’Neill’s first publication, O’Neill’s Music of Ireland, Eighteen Hundred and Fifty Melodies,[1] was printed in Chicago by Lyon & Healy Publishers in 1903. It was a quality publication, beautifully bound and embossed with a golden harp resting on shamrocks and wrapped in branches of a tree. O’Neill funded the project himself and paid for the publication of each collection. He gave many copies as gifts, and in each he wrote a dedication in his artistic penmanship. 

The Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems, 1907

The Dance Music of Ireland, 1001 Gems (1907)

The overwhelmingly positive reception that followed the 1903 publication led to The Dance Music of Ireland, 1001 Gems[2] in 1907. The second volume of tunes focused solely on dance tunes, for O’Neill felt these had been neglected by previously published collections.

O'Neill's Irish Music: 250 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin, 1908

O’Neill’s Irish Music: 250 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin (1908)

The following year saw a third collaboration with collector, scribe, and arranger James O’Neill. O’Neill’s Irish Music: 250 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin[3] (1908) offered alternative settings of some new and some previously published tunes.

Popular Selections from O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland (1910)

O’Neill’s Irish Music: 400 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin (1915)

Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody: Comprising Forgotten Favorites, Worthy Variants, and Tunes not Previously Printed (1922) 

O’Neill was so impressed on hearing the young Chicago violinist Selena O’Neill that he invited her to do the arrangements for his next three collections: Popular Selections from O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland[4]  (1910), O’Neill’s Irish Music: 400 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin[5] (1915), and Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody: Comprising Forgotten Favorites, Worthy Variants, and Tunes not Previously Printed[6]  (1922).  

Irish Folk Music, a Fascinating Hobby, 1910

Irish Folk Music, a Fascinating Hobby, with Some Account of Allied Subjects incl. O’Farrell’s Treatise on the Irish or Union Pipes and Touhey’s Hints to Amateur Pipers (1910)

In addition to the music collections, O’Neill also wrote about the music, the players, and other aspects of the tradition. In Irish Folk Music, a Fascinating Hobby, with Some Account of Allied Subjects incl. O’Farrell’s Treatise on the Irish or Union Pipes and Touhey’s Hints to Amateur Pipers[7] (1910), O’Neill discusses the tunes themselves, the process of collecting, the people who contributed them, the difficulties encountered in identifying accurate names for each one, and the stories behind many of the melodies.  

Irish Minstrels and Musicians, 1913

Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913)

Irish Minstrels and Musicians[8] (1913) is an examination of Irish folk music history with a focus on the harping and piping traditions and key musicians from the 1600s to 1913 in Chicago, Ireland, and beyond.