Tim, I have John McCormack singing The dawning of the day, and as the great man died on 1945, you will have a job trying to locate an earlier version.
I have heard this song at many a Feis throughout the late 1950s and always performed by Tenors, and McGrath the only person who got in the way may have been the fat lady coming out a wee bit early, give me a fine Tenor singing this song in preference to some guitar twanging warbler.