GALWAY IN SONG

by Tom Kenny

Our first illustration today is of the cover of the sheet music for the song ‘Galway Bay’ as sung by Bing Crosby. It was written by Dr. Arthur Colohan, apparently in memory of his brother who was drowned somewhere near Seapoint. I have also been told that it got its first airing in the Hotel at the top of Prospect Hill. It seems Colohan, a medical student, was in there with a group of his fellow undergraduates when he told them he had written a song and sat down at the piano to play and sing it for them. The legend is that they fell all over the place laughing. He of course had the last laugh as his song became one of the world’s best sellers, topping the charts in Britain in1950.

The song is still hugely popular, it has been recorded by a great many singers and has spawned many copies, some dreadful. There was even a parody written by Noel Henry’s showband and which was a very popular item when sung by Paschal Spelman –

“Maybe someday I’ll go back to Ireland

If only my ex-wife would pass away

Sure she has me poor heart broke with naggin’

And she’s got a mouth as big as Galway Bay”.

There was an earlier song, also called ‘Galway Bay’ written by Francis Fahy, a poet from Kinvara. This much-loved lyric has in recent times been recorded by Dolores Keane. She has slightly varied the original tune, but hers is such a powerful production that it will probably be accepted as the classic version.

“The blessings of a poor old man be with you night and day,

The blessings of a poor old man whose heart will soon be clay. 

There’s one request I will make of God upon my dying day,

My soul to soar for ever more above you Galway Bay”.

Another beautiful Galway song is “My dear old Galway Town” written by Tommy Joyce.  I first heard Ned Joyce, the billposter, singing this beautifully and if you ever heard Sonny Molloy’s version, you would have been hard pushed to control your emotions.

“There’s a little spot in Ireland where the fairies can be seen

To frolic in the meadows and dance upon the green,

It’s a place of tranquil beauty, of fame and high renown

Oh, I most deeply love it, my dear old Galway town”.

Anyone who frequented Nora Crúb’s, Galway’s first nightclub known as the Casbah will surely remember Dilleeen singing, with the help of a dhropeen, as follows –

“I am a Claddagh boatman, right humble is my callin’

Night and day, round Galway Bay in my small little boat I’m trawlin”.

There are many other songs that celebrate aspects of Galway – “The Galway Shawl”, ‘A Shawl of Galway Grey’ and “Bring me a Shawl from Galway”, the sheet music cover of which is our second illustration. “The Wild Flower of Galway Town” is another evocative melody and “Galway by the Sea” by Fred E. Wheatley and “Good Old Galway in 1916” are two other songs we have come across, as are “Beautiful Galway” by Roger Conlon and an anonymous one titled “My Own Galway Bay”.

The Claddagh is celebrated in Dilleen’s aforementioned song, in Arthur Colohan’s “Claddagh Ring” and if you really want to rouse up a gang of Claddonians, just start singing “Here’s a Toast to Your Claddagh”.

“The Galway Races” is a traditional folksong that dates from the nineteenth century. It is sung almost to the tempo of horses galloping. In recent years, “A Galway Girl” has become a kind of anthem.

This city has been very lucky to have had the late Christy Fitzgerald living here for so long – he composed countless ballads about characters, sports people and places around Galway, and all of them could be set to music.

I am sure there are many other old songs on the subject of Galway --- these are some I already know about --- if you come across any others, I wold love to see them.