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OH MY BOAT CAN SAFELY FLOAT ...
During his lifetime, Francis Fahy (1854-1935) achieved worldwide fame, most notably for songs such as The Queen of Connemara and The Old Plaid Shawl.
His lyrics, like those of Percy French, became renowned both here and across the Atlantic. Even today they strike a chord in the hearts of Irish people everywhere.
Francis Fahy left Kinvara, Co Galway, at the age of 19 to work in the civil service in London. Not long after his arrival there, he joined with others in spearheading the Irish Revival Movement. He was one of the principal founders of the Irish Literary Society, which attracted WB Yeats and Douglas Hyde, amongst others. This inspired the establishment of a national Irish theatre soon after.
Fahy also immersed himself in the Language Revival Movement, and became the first president of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) in London.
He was constantly engaged in promoting all things Irish amongst emigrants. Apart from his own poetry work (he published two volumes of poetry and songs, and co-wrote Ireland in London) he also organised classes and wrote books for children (The Child's Irish Song Book, The Irish Reciter etc.).
A contemporary described him thus:
Fahy had inexhaustible humour and ready wit... His acquirements and gifts were as diverse as his character. 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, turned off squibs and sketches welcome to the laughter-loving, had worked heart and soul for the (Southwark) Club, planned many projects beyond it, and delivered thoughtful Irish lectures in every quarter in London.
(WP Ryan, The Irish Literary Revival)
During the last century, Francis Fahy's popular compositions were performed regularly on the wireless, e.g. Little Mary Cassidy, Donovans, Husheen and The Irish Lullaby. Jackie Small's version of Galway Bay went on to become one of Dolores Keane's greatest hits in the 1980s. Francis Fahy left a fruitful legacy that is still being explored today.
The New Play
The play is inspired by a speech Francis Fahy delivered in 1921 when he was invited by the Irish Literary Society to a dinner in his honour. The 67-year-old expatriate had lost nothing of his amusing wit and candour. In his 'Reminiscences' speech, Francis Fahy looks back with great sincerity, effacement and not a little humour on his efforts and achievements since landing in England almost half a century earlier.
Speaking with a Kinvara accent which never left him, he talks of the world of literature that opened up to him in those early years, and of the many lectures and debates attended by such luminaries as W.B. Yeats and Bernard Shaw.
He describes his many visits to Parliament, due to his commitment to Home Rule, and includes keen descriptions of O'Donnell, Parnell, O'Connor and the like.
Also touched upon was his campaign to persuade parents to opt for Irish names for their children, not to mention the many innovative publications published in his name.
Fahy's story provides us with a fascinating account of the cultural renaissance taking place at the end of the 1800s. His origins were in Kinvara, a seaport town that enjoyed significant trading links with Connemara and beyond.
In Kinvara, too, the concept of the Abbey Theatre was first mooted between Lady Gregory, Yeats and Martyn.
The 1921 'Reminiscences' speech has now been published in The Yeats Annual, in London.
Kinvara's contribution to honouring the work of Francis A Fahy is the play, a dramatic interaction of songs and dialogue - a performance to make us all proud. A compilation album of Fahy's songs is also currently available.
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