BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist

Subject: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: Fiolar
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 07:49 AM

'Catters may be interested to know that there is a statue to the musician and folklorist Francis O'Neill(1849 - 1936), better known perhaps as "Chief O'Neill" made famous by that great tune "Chief O'Neill's Favourite." Born in Co. Cork he joined the Chicago police in 1873 and between 1901 and 1935 was superintendent of the force. He was instrumental in publishing several collections of Irish music including "Music of Ireland" (1903)and "1001 Gems of Irish Melody" (1907) among others. The statue which is life-size can be seen near his birth place at Tralibane, Co. Cork and was unveiled in March 2002.

Subject: RE: BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 08:10 AM

There's an excellent biography of him titled "A Harvest Saved - Francis O'Neill and Irish Music In Chicago" which was written by Nicholas Carolan (of the Traditional Music Archive in Dublin) and issued by Ossian Publications, Cork. It's full of fascinating photographs and historical reference notes as well as the text. Anyone interested can email [e-mail] for further info. It's well worth a read -

Subject: RE: BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: michaelr
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 11:22 AM

Folk-florist... that's funny!!
Aw, it's just a typo -- too bad.

Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: masato sakurai
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 11:49 AM

This seems to be the statue: Captain Francis O'Neill Memorial.

~Masato

Subject: RE: BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 01:55 PM

There's also a Chief O'Neill's Pub and Restaurant in Chicago and a Chief O'Neill's Hotel (with café & bar) in Dublin.

Subject: RE: BS: Francis O'Neill, Folkflorist
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 02 - 04:53 PM

Chief O'Neill's is a grand place. I've a nephew who used to bartend there. Another fine thing to do is to take a tour of the places that have made Chicago such an important city in Irish music history.