The Man Who Wrote "The Ould Plaid Shawl"

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Introduction

The erection of a plaque in his native town of Kinvara to the memory of the poet and song—writer . Francis A. Fahy, has, I believe, been under consideration for some time. The proposal is one which is well worthy of support for, apart from being the author of well—known songs like "The Ould Plaid Shawl," "The Queen of Connemara." "Little Mary Cassidy" and many others, he was a devoted worker in Irish causes all his life.

He was born in Kinvara, where his parents kept a shop, hotel, and post office, on September 29th, 1854, and was one of a family of 17, only eight of whom, however, lived to be adults. His father, Thomas Fahy, had been born in the Burren district across the Clare border, while his mother, whose maiden name was Celia Marlborough, was a native of Rathorp near Gort.

The family was well—known, it has been said, "for their unflinching devotion to the national cause" and young Francis at the age of 15 wrote a play called "The Last of the O'Leary's" which was produced by the local dramatic society in aid of a fund for the families of the Fenian prisoners. In the following year, on December 24th, 1870, his first printed poem appeared in "the nation." Its title, significantly enough, was "In Exile," and it was in exile that he himself was to spend the greater part of his life.

He appears to have spent some time, as a teacher or monitor in the local national school, but in 1873 he obtained an appointment in the Board of Trade Department of the Civil Service in London.

Real Friends

For some years after going there he led a rather lonely life, spending most of his spare time in reading and study. There were no Irishmen in the office where he was employed and it was only when he fell in with some of his fellow countrymen after attending Mass at St. George's Cathedral that he began to make real friends.

During the following years he threw himself heart and soul into the national movement. He had already helped to start a branch of the Home Rule Confederation then in 1882 he founded the Southwark Junior Irish Literary Club. Its object was to give something of an Irish education to the children of Irish parents in London who were growing up without any knowledge of Ireland and for it he wrote a Child History of Ireland in rhyme and compiled a Child's Irish Song Book.

He tells us himself that he got the inspiration for his well known song about the "Little Irish Cailin in an Ould Plaid Shawl" from a little girl of nine so attired who attended the Irish class at the club.

Tireless Worker

From it there developed in 1873 the Southwark Irish Literary Club of which he became the first President. In his book "The Irish Literary Revival," W. P. Ryan regards the foundation of the club as the very beginning of the movement. He tells us that Fahy in those days was an enthusiastic and tireless worker. He had mastered in a short time several modern languages and authors, had coursed through the Irish Language and its literature, written the raciest Irish songs of our time, had worked heart and soul for the club and delivered thoughtful Irish lectures in every quarter of London." After a few years the club broadened its activities and many well known writers found there way there, among them W. B. Yeats, who was then at the beginning of his literary career. Finally in 1891 it developed into the Irish Literary Society at a meeting held in Yeat's house in Chiswick.

In the meantime Fahy had been a frequent contributor to various Irish Newspapers and periodicals including "United Ireland", "The Shamrock" "Young Ireland" and "The Irish Fireside". In 1887 he published a selection of his work in the volume called "Irish Songs and Poems" and a book on Irish connections with London called "Ireland in London" written by himself and D. J. O'Donoghue came out in the following year. He did not, unfortunately, bring out any other work after this but many of the songs he wrote in later years will be found in Fr. Patrick Walsh's collection, "Songs of the Gael". He usually wrote under the pen name of "Dreoillin" in numerous allusions to his own small stature.

Work for Language

He was a fluent Irish speaker and in the days of the Southwark Literary Club he used to run special "Gaelic Nights" on which all the contributions had to be in Irish. He was president of the London branch of the Gaelic League from 1896 to 1908 and Dr. J. S. Crone wrote after his death that "the work he did for the spread and preservation of the old tongue of the Gael in the not altogether kindly environment in London can never now be estimated." He wrote short articles in Irish from time to time. He contributed some to "Sinn Fein" in 1907 and "Fainne on Lae" in 1925 while quite recently I came across some translations into Irish by him in the Republican paper "The Shan Van Vocht," for 1897. A complimentary dinner was given in his honour by the Irish Literary Society on the 18th May, 1924, to mark his seventy birthday and the fifty anniversary of his coming to London. It was attended by 120 guests and many tributes were paid to his services to Irish Literature. He died in April, 1935, after a number of years spent in well earned retirement. He had married Ms. Agnes Duff, and had four sons.

Many of Francis Fahy songs are songs of exile and he never lost his love of his native place. In an article in "The Connacht Tribune" Tourist Supplement, March, 1924, he wrote: "I left Kinvara in '73, a youth of nineteen. Its scenes, its people, their customs, sports, their recreation, their kindliness, and affection, their good humor and lightheartedness, their abiding faith in God are as fresh in my memory after 50 years of exile as things of yesterday and have ever been the inspiration of many songs. I thank God that I have lived to see the first hues of a new dawn brighten over my native hills."

(Sources: the nation, December 28, 1888; W. P. Ryan: the Irish Literary Revival, 1894: D. J. O'Donoghue: Poets of Ireland, 1913; the Irish Book lover, June 1924 and July — August, 1935; The Connacht Tribune, April 6th and 13th, 1935; P. S.O'Hegarty: the Ould Plaid Shawl and other verses, 1949; Private Information.)

P. M. Diskin, M. A.

University College, Galway.