Traditional music from James Molloy

THERE are many noted pieces of Irish literature, some of which have won Nobel Prizes for their authors. Likewise, there have been many Irish films. Some may have been painfully ‘stage Irish’ but some of them won Oscars. The Quiet Man may not be everybody’s cup of tea but it has proven a very popular and enduring film, was nominated for seven Oscars and won two. Similarly, Ulysses might not be everybody’s favourite bedtime reading but it is considered a classic. While it may not be very well known, there is a strong musical link between both.
The Isle of Inisfree is forever associated with The Quiet Man but there was another tune used as a theme during the film. When Michillín takes Sean Thornton and Mary Kate Danaher for a drive in his jaunting car at the start of their courtin’, the background music used is The Days of the Kerry Dances. One of the most frequent musical references in Ulysses is Molly’s song, Love’s Old Sweet Song, which is sung by Molly Bloom. The link is that both songs were written by an Offaly man, James L Molloy.
Love’s Old Sweet Song was one of the most popular songs of the late 1800s. It is estimated that in the early 1900s every house in these islands with a piano had a copy of the sheet music of the song and it has been widely recorded by, among others, Richard Tauber, Bing Crosby and John McCormack. Apart from Ulysses, it was the inspiration for three films of the same name in 1910, 1923 and 1933. The lyrics had been written by Graham Bingham, a professional writer from Bristol. Composers then sought permission to write the music and Molloy was chosen.
Molloy’s most frequent collaborator was Frederic Weatherby but he also worked with W S Gilbert. He was more a composer – Loves Old Sweet Song and the Old Refrain – than lyricist but in some songs that are still remembered, such as The Kerry Dances and Bantry Bay, he wrote both words and music. Unfortunately, the offices of his publishers, Boosey and Hawkes, were bombed during the Blitz on London during the Second World War and much of his work was lost.
James Molloy’s father was a doctor from Offaly, where his family were wealthy, property-owning Catholics. His mother, Maria Lyman, was from Dublin. Molloy senior practised as a doctor in Dublin but it is possible that our songwriter was born in Clonalour in Offaly. After their father died at the young age of 31, the family divided their time between both grandparents’ homes in Offaly and Dublin.
As a young man, James Molloy enrolled in the newly opened Catholic University in St Stephen’s Green. At that stage, degrees from the Catholic University were not considered legal and Molloy continued his studies in London, Paris and Bonn.
He was then called to the Bar in 1863. He never practised law but instead became secretary to the British Attorney General. At this early stage he was already composing and he went on to become a most prolific writer.
James Lyman Molloy, the man who wrote songs that are now considered traditional old Irish tunes, was born on August 15, 1837 – 174 years ago this week.