MOONEY, J. Irish Stereotypes in Vau PDF

PA L G R AV E S T U D I E S I N T H E AT R E A N D P E R F O R M A N C E H I S T O RY
Irish Stereotypes in
Vaudeville, -
Jennifer Mooney
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by Arthur Frank Wertheim
Irish Stereotypes in Vaudeville, 1865–1905 by Jennifer Mooney
Irish Stereotypes in Vaudeville,
1865–1905
Jennifer Mooney
IRISH STEREOTYPES IN VAUDEVILLE, 1865–1905
copyright © Jennifer Mooney, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-48264-8
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Michael
Contents
List of Figures xi
Acknowledgments xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
1. Introduction 1
2. “Irish by Name”: An Overview of Irish and Ethnic
Performance in Vaudeville 27
3. Performing Irishness at Tony Pastor’s Opera House,
1865–1874 63
4. Representations of Irish Masculinity in Vaudeville 95
5. Representations of Irish Women in Vaudeville 131
6. Conclusion 161
Appendix: Database of Irish Vaudeville Acts 1865–1905 175

Notes 217
Bibliography 237
Index 249
Figures
2.1 Theatre programs showing the prevalence of Irish—and

other ethnic and racial—acts in vaudeville 28
2.2 Harry Kernell 51
2.3 John Kernell 52
2.4 Dan McAvoy 57
2.5 Mrs. Mark Murphy 60
4.1 Kelly and Ryan 99
5.1 George W. Monroe 138
5.2 Gracie Emmett 156
Acknowledgments
T
his book is based on my PhD thesis, carried out at the University
of Ulster Coleraine’s Centre for Media Research. My research was
supported by an award from the Department for Employment and
Learning (NI). Further research visits were made possible by additional
funding provided by the Faculty of Arts Research Graduate School and
by the Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. I
am grateful to Stanley Black and Martin McLoone for their assistance in
securing this funding. As my PhD supervisor, Martin McLoone’s advice,
guidance, and encouragement throughout the duration of my research was
invaluable. My gratitude is also due to Gary Rhodes, Queen’s University
Belfast, who generously provided access to additional research materials,
and to the staff at the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public
Library, the Harry Ransom Centre at the University of Texas in Austin,
and the British Film Institute.
Abbreviations
In citing archival material, the following abbreviations have been used:

BRTD EC Billy Rose Theatre Division, Emerson Collection (NYPL)
BRTD RL Billy Rose Theatre Division, Robinson Locke Collection
(NYPL)
BRTD TP Billy Rose Theatre Division, Tony Pastor Collection (NYPL)
BRTD TW Billy Rose Theatre Division, Townsend Walsh Collection
(NYPL)
HRC TP Harry Ransom Centre, Tony Pastor Collection (University
of Texas at Austin)
LOC Library of Congress
NYPL New York Public Library
1. Introduction
W
henever Ireland and the Irish are portrayed or discussed in
the media, it is often through recourse to centuries-old stereo-
types. When the twelfth-century Norman chronicler, Gerald
of Wales, wrote of the Irish that they were “a wild and inhospitable people”
who were nevertheless incomparably skilled musicians, he was contribut-
ing to the construction of a set of characteristics, behaviors, and personal-
ity traits that would often be returned to. A number of recent news items
illustrate how longstanding stereotypes continue to influence people’s per-
ceptions of the Irish. In January 2011, the Irish American website Irish
Central carried a report headlined “Australian immigrants complain about
fighting Irish image.” Accompanying the report is an excerpt from an
Australian current affairs television show, concerning the reactions of resi-
dents to the behavior of clientele frequenting a bar in their neighborhood.
Against a backdrop of Irish music and Guinness signs, the item includes
CCTV footage of drunken brawls taking place on the street outside the
bar. When one of the residents is asked “Who are these people?” she replies
“Well a lot of them are Irish.” Another resident confirms this perception,
stating that “I’m sure they couldn’t get away with it in County Kerry or
wherever the hell they come from.” In March 2012 the Irish Independent
reported that an Australian employer had placed an advertisement for
bricklayers but had stipulated that no Irish need apply. In May 2012, the
Australian Visa Bureau posted a news item on its website warning that the
“rowdy Irish Down Under” risked having their visas revoked, a warning
that was picked up and debated by Irish media outlets including the BBC
Radio Ulster’s Talkback program.1
Yet in addition to these persistent negative perceptions of the Irish,
in recent years scholars such as Diane Negra and Vincent J. Cheng have
identified Irishness as the safe, respectable face of ethnic America. Cheng
points to the popularity of films such as Michael Collins (1996), The Boxer
(1997), and Waking Ned Devine (1998), and the music of U2, Enya and
Riverdance, to suggest that in the United States, “Irishness is clearly ‘in.’”
2 Irish Stereotypes in Vaudeville, 1865–1905
Similarly, Negra has argued that Irishness had become “the most market-
able white ethnicity in late-twentieth-century American culture.” In her
2001 article “The New Primitives,” Negra suggests that, in an era in which
white working-class identity is perceived to be under threat, Irishness oper-
ates as “the ideal identity credential,” a marker of innocence, nostalgia,
tradition, and family values. The “positive currency,” to use Negra’s term,
of Irishness in America today of course relies on the operation and utili-
zation of certain familiar tropes about Ireland and the Irish. Ireland is a
romanticized rural idyll, a heritage site encapsulating a return to values that
appear to have been lost in modern America. Negra argues that the Irish
in America are representative of a proud, white American working class
for whom family and a sense of history are of crucial importance. What
is particularly interesting about these relatively positive, yet simplistic and
nostalgic representations of the Irish in recent American popular culture is
that they are utilized to bolster American identity at a time of uncertainty
and insecurity in an increasingly multicultural society.2
There is evidence that in early-nineteenth-century America too, rep-
resentations of the Irish also served to strengthen native-born Americans’
images of themselves at a time of insecurity and uncertainty about the cohe-
siveness of the young nation. In his 1986 study of the stereotyped Irishman
“Paddy” as he appeared in American culture during the antebellum period,
Dale T. Knobel sees in representations of the Irish from this period evidence
of native-born Americans’ desire to construct “a distinctive national char-
acter that might provide them with a usable past, with a unifying present,
and with a predictable future.” The marking of ethnic groups, including
the Irish, as “other” against which American-ness could be measured was
part of this process. When native-born Americans in the early antebellum
period characterized the Irish as economically, politically, and intellectually
dependent, they were bolstering their own right to nationhood while at the
same time marking the Irish as unsuitable for American citizenship.3
Importantly, though, it was not just native-born Americans who were
engaged in a process of identity construction in the nineteenth century. As
immigration to the United States increased during the second half of the
century, immigrants themselves were also faced with the task of constructing
a new identity, one that would allow them to find a place in their new soci-
ety while at the same time maintaining a link with their old home. Writing
about images of the Irish in American popular music of the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, W. H. A. Williams suggests that Irish emigrants
arriving in the United States in the nineteenth century found that the ste-
reotype of the savage, drunken Paddy had crossed the Atlantic before them.
Introduction 3
Faced with this, Williams argues, those same immigrants recognised the
need to “construct an image of themselves as Irish and as Americans that
would gain acceptance in the broad mainstream of American culture.”4
Indeed, that Irishness can today be identified as the acceptable, safe
face of ethnic America is significant when one considers historical repre-
sentations of the Irish generally and the history of the Irish as an ethnic
group in the United States specifically. Although migration from Ireland
to America began in the colonial period, as Kevin Kenny points out,
“Irish America before the 1830s was decidedly Protestant in composition.”
Referring to the wave of starving, destitute Famine migrants entering the
United States in the mid-nineteenth century, Lawrence McCaffrey argues
that these new arrivals “pulled down the entire Irish-American community
from the modest heights of respectability that it had worked so hard and
so long to achieve.” To a native Protestant population, wary of all things
Catholic, the Famine immigrants evoked deep suspicion, perhaps best
reflected in the images of the savage and simian-featured Irishman in the
works of Thomas Nast and Frederick Opper. Pointing to the naturaliza-
tion law of 1790, which stated that only “free white” immigrants could be
naturalized, Byrne argues that by the time the Famine Irish began arriving
in the United States, this racialized notion of citizenship had become so
ingrained in the American consciousness that Irish immigrants were iden-
tified not merely as “other” but specifically racially other. Ignatiev cites
examples of racist language being used in relation to Irish immigrants,
with the Irish being referred to as “niggers turned inside out” and black
Americans being referred to as “smoked Irish.”5
The transition of the Irish in America from a group marked as unsuitable
for citizenship to the acceptable face of white, working-class, ethnic America
has been the subject of much scholarly interest. Studies such as Greeley’s
The Irish Americans: The Rise to Money and Power (1981), Lee and Casey’s
Making the Irish American (2006), and Ignatiev’s How the Irish Became White
(2008) trace the various factors at work in the improving position of the
Irish in America. In 2009 a special edition of the Journal of American Ethnic
History, focusing on the Irish diaspora, pointed to the study of the Irish
in popular culture as one area that would merit further research in order
to understand this process of acculturation. This book, therefore, seeks to
examine stereotypes of the Irish in vaudeville—a vigorous form of popular
culture in the latter half of the nineteenth century whose growth in popu-
larity coincided with the growth of the Irish and Irish American population
in the United States. In doing so, it seeks to understand whether representa-
tions of the Irish on the popular stage contributed to the development of
an Irish American identity and how, if at all, they evidence the changing
position of the Irish in America during this period.6
Stereotypes can be defined as “associations and beliefs about the char-
acteristics and attributes of a group and its members that shape how people
think about and respond to that group.”7 Knobel, in his study of Irish
representations on the antebellum stage, highlights a further level of ste-
reotyping based on ethnicity:
Ethnic stereotypes, social rather than personal, are not an individual’s percep-
tion of another individual nor even of a group. They are a group perception of
a group which grows from collective instead of private outlook and experience
and become embedded in popular culture.8
Stereotypes can function as markers of dominant “ingroups” and mar-

ginal “outgroups” within a society and can reveal much about both the
relations between these groups and the status of each. It is recognized
that stereotypes may have at least some grounding in reality. According
to Brown, this “kernel of truth” theory posits that “a group’s culturally
distinctive behavior patterns or the particular socio-economic circum-
stances in which it finds itself could provide the seed-bed in which cer-
tain stereotypical perceptions about it could readily flourish.” However,
stereotypes themselves can also influence group behavior. Once stereo-
types have become established in a culture, they can function as a sort
of self-fulfilling prophecy with group members behaving in accordance
with the expectations placed upon them as a result of those stereotypes. In
addition, an awareness of the dominant stereotypes within a culture can
provide a means of acceptance by that culture. As the psychologist Samuel
Hayakawa argued, “any individual who does not know the stereotypes of
thought and feeling [within a culture] may be said to be a stranger to [that]
culture.” In other words, participation in the established stereotypes of a
dominant “ingroup” is essential for acceptance by that group.9
Stereotypes are often used as a form of shorthand, a way of simplify-
ing a complex environment. Because of this, they can become particu-
larly prominent at times of insecurity, anxiety, and crisis when a dominant
group within a society feels under threat. Of course, as demonstrated by
the contemporary examples above, the media have an important role to
play in their transmission. According to Allport, stereotypes “are socially
supported, continually revived and hammered in, by our media of mass
communication—by novels, short stories, newspaper items, movies, stage,
radio and television.” The media’s role, however, is not straightforward. As
Introduction 5
well as reinforcing already established stereotypes, the media can also act as
a site of contact between ingroups and outgroups and as such can provide a
space in which stereotypes can be negotiated and even challenged.10
This book examines the role of the vaudeville stage in the transmission
and development of Irish stereotypes in the latter half of the nineteenth
century. During this period, the United States experienced marked social
change and upheaval. Alan Trachtenberg refers to the three decades imme-
diately following the Civil War as “a period of trauma, of change so swift
and thorough that many Americans seemed unable to fathom the extent of
the upheaval.” Increasing industrialization and mechanization changed the
nature of work and was accompanied by increasing tension between capital
and labor. Whereas according to the US census in 1800 there were only six
settlements in the United States that were classed as urban areas (having
8,000 inhabitants or more), this had risen to 85 by 1850, 286 by 1880, and
545 by 1900. In 1850, only 12.5 percent of the population lived in these
urban areas. By 1880, this figure had increased to 22.6 percent, and by
1900, one-third of the population lived in urban areas. The population
of the United States increased from 5.3 million in 1800 to 23.2 million
in 1850, 50.2 million in 1880, and by the turn of the twentieth century
stood at over 75 million. One of the major factors that contributed to this
increase in population was immigration.11
WHO WERE THE IRISH IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY

AMERICA?
Whereas up to 1830 the majority of immigrants from Ireland to North

America were Protestant, by 1840 they made up only 10 percent of the total
number. According to Kenny, the 1830s and 1840s marked the beginning
of “the age of mass Catholic emigration” from Ireland. Between 1841 and
1900, 3.6 million Irish people emigrated to the United States, with 1.7 mil-
lion of these coming in the two decades between 1841 and 1860. From
1830 onward, the majority of those leaving Ireland for the United States
were Catholic, initially from the midlands and the south of Ireland and by
the 1880s from the poorest parts of the country in the west. For each of
the four decades from 1820 to 1860 the Irish made up at least 35 percent
of total immigration to the United States, and from 1841 to 1850 that
number rose to almost 46 percent. Although the Irish did continue to
come to the United States in large numbers up until 1930, the proportion
of Irish in the total migration to the United States fell dramatically from
the 1860s. Whereas between 1851 and 1860 the Irish made up 35 percent
of all immigrants, this fell to 19 percent in the following decade and con-
tinued to fall so that the Irish made up only 2.5 percent of total arrivals
into the United States in the decade from 1911–1920. During this period,
the Irish were replaced as the dominant immigrant group in America by
new arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe.12
The Irish Catholic experience in the United States was predominantly
an urban one. According to Lawrence McCaffrey, Irish Catholics pio-
neered “the American urban ghetto” so that by 1870 almost three quar-
ters of Irish Americans were concentrated in seven urban industrial
states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and Illinois. According to Patrick Blessing, by 1920, 90 percent of
all Irish Americans lived in urban areas and Irish immigrants were “almost
twice as likely to live in a city as the US population as a whole.” The over-
whelmingly urban nature of the Irish experience in the United States was in
marked contrast to their largely rural existence in Ireland. However, as the
century progressed, new arrivals from Ireland benefited from the strong Irish
American networks which had by then been established in the cities.13
Kerby Miller notes that the Famine Irish migrants to the United States
were concentrated in “the lowest-paid, least-skilled, and most dangerous
and insecure employment.” Similarly, Kenny suggests that “the history
of the American Irish in the first half of the nineteenth century can be
summed up in two words: ‘unskilled labor.’” This concentration of the
Irish in poorly paid, unskilled work seems to have persisted throughout the
rest of the century, particularly in East Coast cities. In 1870, 40 percent of
Irish-born men working in the United States were employed as unskilled
laborers, compared to 16 percent of the total labor force. In New York in
the same year, three quarters of its laborers were Irish-born. The major-
ity of Irish migrants to the United States in the nineteenth century were
under 35 and most were unmarried. Like Irish men, Irish women too were
concentrated in menial work. In 1850, approximately three quarters of
Irish women employed in New York worked as domestic servants, while
the rest worked in mills and factories, a pattern that had changed little by
the turn of the twentieth century. The Irish who came to the United States
in the mid- to late-nineteenth century were unique in the proportion of
young, single women who migrated. Women made up 52.9 percent of total
Irish migration to the United States, compared to 41 percent of German
migrants, 21 percent of Italians and 4 percent of Greeks. Among Jewish
immigrants there was a comparable male to female ratio, but the evidence
seems to suggest that many more of these came to America as family units,
Introduction 7
rather than the largely single men and women who came from Ireland.
By 1900, over 40 percent of white women working in domestic service
were Irish and of the Irish-born women working in the United States in
1900, two-thirds worked in domestic service. Whereas other white women
considered domestic service beneath them and were willing to take more
poorly paid and dangerous jobs in mills and factories in order to avoid the
stigma of service, Irish women experienced no such concerns.14
The number of foreign-born Irish in the United States peaked in 1890
at 1.87 million. The number of second-generation Irish, that is those born
of foreign or mixed parentage, peaked at 3.37 million in 1900. The experi-
ences of these second-generation Irish Americans were often markedly dif-
ferent from their Irish-born parents. Blessing, for example, suggests that the
children of Irish immigrants moved up the ladder more quickly than their
parents. In his introduction to a collection of essays on Irish American com-
munities from 1880 to 1920, Timothy Meagher contends that “few changes
in Irish-American life during this period seemed so noticeable to contempo-
raries” as the improvement in the socioeconomic status of Irish Americans.
Whereas in the 1850s the Irish in America tended to be concentrated in
low-paid and unskilled work, by the turn of the century, Irish men were
employed across a range of jobs, including professions such as teaching, the
clergy, politics, and the police force. David N. Doyle has argued that by
1900 the Irish had achieved “relative occupational parity” with native white
Americans. One would not want, however, to overstate the extent to which
the Irish prospered in America during this period. Irish women, for exam-
ple, did not fare as well as their male counterparts. In 1850, approximately
75 percent of Irish female immigrants working in New York were employed
in domestic service, with the remainder in mills and factories. By 1920,
81 percent of the Irish-born women in New York continued to be employed
in these occupations and Blessing has argued that the Irish were “the only
immigrant group whose occupational mobility during the late nineteenth
century appeared almost as small as that of American blacks.”15
Yet despite the continued hardships faced by many Irish Americans dur-
ing the latter half of the nineteenth century, there is evidence to support the
existence of an Irish American middle class during this period. According
to Andrew Greeley, this group grew steadily between 1865 and 1895, and
by the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Irish had “‘turned
the corner’ and, economically at least, became part of the mainstream of
American life.” This view is also reflected by a study of black, Puerto Rican,
Jewish, Italian, and Irish populations in New York, which concluded that
on either side of the turn of the twentieth century, “there were sixty or
seventy years when the Irish were everywhere.” The apparent change in
the status of the Irish was noted by some contemporary commentators.
Kathleen Donovan, for example, cites an 1896 piece from The Atlantic
Monthly, which remarked that the lowly occupations previously occu-
pied by the Irish in American society had now been occupied by Italians,
Hungarians, Poles, and Russians and predicted that before long the Irish
would be fully assimilated into American life, “a people one in feeling, and
practically one in race.” This observation reflects another important factor
in the improving position of Irish America in the later decades of the nine-
teenth century. As the Irish came to be replaced as the white ethnic group
by immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe in the later nineteenth
century, they assumed a greater respectability in the eyes of native white
Americans. As Ellen Skerret argues, “not only did new immigrants push the
Irish up the economic ladder, but by comparison they made the Irish appear
more American and less foreign.” For these new “lace curtain” Irish, accord-
ing to Meagher, what was important was less their occupational status than
their state of mind. For William Shannon, the term “lace curtain” was “an
attempt to create and maintain a certain level and mode of gentility” and
“to live down the opprobrium deriving from the brawling hard drinking
and raffish manners of the shanty Irish of an earlier generation.”16
Williams suggests that for these later generation Irish Americans a key
issue was trying to maintain an Irish identity that would also be acceptable
to the white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant majority in the United States. Given
that scholars such as Negra and Cheng have identified a powerful Irish cur-
rency in much recent American popular culture, it appears that this process
was at least to some extent successful. Andrew Greeley has argued that while
the Irish have made significant gains in America, they have done so while
at the same time maintaining cultural patterns from Ireland regarding fam-
ily size and structure, religion, and occupational choices. Rather than being
assimilated into American society, Greeley asserts that the Irish “have become
American and are still Irish.” This book will explore the role that vaudeville
might have played in shaping this complex Irish American identity. Before
doing so, however, I believe it is worth considering how the Irish appeared in
American drama in the years immediately preceding my own study.17
THE IRISH ON THE ANTEBELLUM STAGE: AN

OVERVIEW
The stage Irishman was a common character in British drama from the
sixteenth century. One of the earliest examples is Captain Macmorris in
Introduction 9
Shakespeare’s Henry V. The character of Teague, the Irish manservant,

also became a recognizable figure in British drama. According to Maureen
Waters, in her study of the comic Irishman, the extent to which these Irish
characters were portrayed sympathetically or otherwise depended very
much upon the state of Anglo-Irish relations at the time. By the nineteenth
century, however, the range of Irish characters evident on the British stage
had diminished and the typical stage Irishman became the comic Irish
peasant. Maureen Waters cites Maurice Bourgeois’ 1913 description of a
“typical” stage Irishman:
The Stage Irishman habitually bears the general name of Pat, Paddy or Teague.
He has an atrocious Irish brogue, perpetual jokes, blunders and bulls in speak-
ing and never fails to utter, by way of Hibernian seasoning, some wild screech
or oath of Gaelic origin at every third word: he has an unsurpassable gift of
blarney and cadges for tips and free drinks. His hair is of a fiery red, he is rosy-
cheeked, massive and whiskey loving. His face is one of simian bestiality with
an expression of diabolical archness . . . In his right hand he brandishes a stout
blackthorn, or a sprig of shillelagh, and threatens to belabour therewith the
daring person who will tread on the tails of his coat.18
Bourgeois’ description summarizes many of the stereotypes associated

with the stage Irishman. His brogue and uncertain grasp of the English
language point to his ignorance. A manipulative charmer, his red hair,
simian features, weakness for whiskey, and irrational tendency to violence
mark him out as an uncivilized savage. It may also provide a convenient jus-
tification for dismissing stage representations of the Irish as nothing more
than crude stereotypes. However, Waters suggests that in fact Bourgeois’
account of the stage Irishman is itself an exaggeration and finds in her own
study of the comic Irishman a stage figure whose whiskey drinking and
fighting mark him as a harmless figure of fun, rather than the threatening
savage suggested by Bourgeois.19
The stage Irishman of British drama was adopted by the American
stage. Jeffrey Richards cites the first American-authored play featuring
Irish characters as 1767’s The Disappointment. The play featured an Irish
cooper, his wife and his servant. According to Richards the barrel-maker
displays many traits of the British stage Irishman. He speaks with a stage
brogue in dialogue including, “Arra, my dear” and “by my shoul” and is
portrayed as a savage, violent man, telling his servant “By my showl [sic],
I’ll give you shelaley, so I would.” Due to be produced in Philadelphia,
Richards notes that The Disappointment was never staged because “the local
targets of the play’s satire objected to its performance.” Unfortunately it is
not clear what form these objections took but, as I discuss in the next chap-
ter, protests would often accompany the stage Irishman when he appeared
on the American stage in the latter half of the nineteenth century. 20
Dale T. Knobel’s study of the vocabulary used to refer to Irish charac-
ters in American melodrama between 1820 and 1860 is particularly useful
in understanding the nature of the Irish as they were performed on the
American stage and also lends weight to the usefulness of the popular stage
“as a repository of information about public tastes and interests.” He cites,
for example, an 1850 tourist guidebook to New York City, which stated
that six of New York’s seven main theatres “had been turned over to the
‘burlesque and broad fun’ of melodrama and minstrelsy and to Irish char-
acter pieces especially.” Many of the questions Knobel raises about the role
of the stage in negotiating and influencing popular opinion are equally
applicable when one considers the representations of ethnic groups on the
popular stage of the post–Civil War years.21
Knobel argues that some scholars of American melodrama in the period
from 1820 to 1860 view it as “carv[ing] easily through life’s social and
moral ambiguities by portraying new people and new situations in such
simplistic terms that the common man would learn just how to respond to
the unaccustomed.” Similar arguments have been made for American mass
culture generally, and for vaudeville specifically. Albert McLean, for exam-
ple, has suggested that vaudeville was one means by which “the disruptive
experience of migration and acclimatization was objectified and accepted.
In its symbolism lies the psychic profile of the American mass man in the
moment of his greatest trial.”22
As Knobel makes clear, however, one of the ways in which antebellum
melodrama taught native-born Americans how to respond to a changing
society was through the generation and proliferation of stereotypes of white
ethnic groups, similar to those that had previously been applied largely to
black Americans and indigenous peoples. By the end of the 1830s, one of
the most familiar of these ethnic stereotypes was the stage Irishman. As
Knobel therefore suggests, “if melodrama helped Americans make sense
of a changing environment and captured their anxieties, it very likely mir-
rored their perception—their stereotype—of the immigrant Irish.” Knobel
argues that many scholars of the stage Irishman in American drama have
failed to examine what these Irish stereotypes can tell us about native-
born American attitudes toward the Irish. Rather they argue that the stage
Irishman is not an American device at all, but one borrowed from the
English stage and therefore replete with English, rather than American,
prejudices and attitudes. Others suggest that the stage Irishman merely
Introduction 11
performed a comic function within melodrama and that his ethnicity was
essentially irrelevant. The fact that the majority of Irish characters occupied
lower-class positions and had distinctively Irish names like “Paddy,” “Pat,”
“Kathleen,” or “Bridget” suggests that the stage Irishman (and woman)
was merely a stock comic caricature that drew on “an object of popular
ignorance—the ethnic Irish—to produce a stage character capable of elic-
iting laughter exactly when it was called for.”23
However Knobel’s systematic analysis of the vocabulary used to refer
to Irish characters in melodramas of the period shows that the role of the
stage Irishman was much more complex than this “stock character” argu-
ment would suggest. His analysis indicates that the 12 most common
words used to describe the stage Irishman were drunken, wild, fighting,
blundering, loving, red-haired, impudent, florid, ignorant, poor, stupid,
and merry. Knobel finds that overall the descriptions used in relation to
the stage Irishman were overwhelmingly negative with very few connoting
positive character traits. In addition, he finds evidence that the stage Irish
character in American melodrama underwent subtle changes between
1820 and 1860, suggesting that the character was influenced by specific
conditions in the United States and not merely a hangover of English prej-
udice. Between 1845 and 1852, for example, Knobel notes that 20 percent
of the adjectives applied to Irish characters in the scripts studied related to
conflict or hostility, compared with 4 percent of the earlier and later years
of his study. This, he suggests, is likely to have been as a result of the inter-
ethnic and nativist tensions heightened by the Philadelphia riots in 1844
and the growing numbers of Irish immigrants entering the United States
during these years. Ultimately, Knobel concludes:
Characterized by “change” as well as by the properties of “distinction,” “con-

sensus,” and “stability,” the antebellum stage Irishman emerged not only from
theatrical origins but also from social ones. If the stage Irishman represented a
vocabulary of ethnic perception employed outside of the world of melodrama as
well as within, then it also possessed the quality of “diffusion”—it was spread
throughout the language of common culture. It was an ethnic stereotype.24
THE POPULAR STAGE IN

LATE-NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA
Knobel’s assertion that the popular stage can act “as a repository of infor-
mation about public tastes and interests” suggests that there is merit in
studying representations of the Irish in popular theatre of the post–Civil
War period. Entertainment in America in the second half of the nine-

teenth century was a burgeoning business. In December 1858, the New
York Times carried an article entitled “Our City Amusements” in which
the paper’s “strong-minded reporter” ventured out into the city streets to
show readers “how the great mass of our People—the mechanics, labor-
ers, and others who earn their living by work—secure that relaxation and
amusement which, in some form or other, seems a necessity for every class.”
Class, it seems, was at the core of the various entertainments on offer.
Whereas on one evening the writer of the piece was fortunate enough to
hear Mozart’s Don Giovanni, on the next he had the misfortune of listening
to “the screeching of uneducated men and women, babbling poor music,
out of tune, on a dirty little stage in a sawdusted drinking saloon.”25
As well as class, the race and ethnicity of the audience were also, accord-
ing to the Times’ reporter, linked to the quality of the entertainments on
offer. German audiences, he notes, are “incline[d] to good moral drama
and eschew unhealthy clap-trap.” At the city’s Volks Garten, the reporter
found “no single instance of ribaldry or intemperance” among the largely
German audience. Indeed, his only concern about this venue was the
existence of a roulette table, at which “the players were for the most part
Americans and Irish.” Whereas German audiences appear to have preferred
moral entertainments, the Times notes that those “who delight in indelicate
and indecent exhibitions, are chiefly among the lower class of Irish, and
negroes.” This equation of Irish immigrants and black Americans is sig-
nificant and something that I will return to in Chapter 2. What is equally
significant, however, is that as early as 1858 the Times reporter discerns
different classes among Irish immigrants in America. As well as those who
frequented “indelicate and indecent exhibitions,” there were also those
Irish who, along with Americans, enjoyed the more middlebrow entertain-
ments that New York had to offer. In this sense they differed from German
immigrants who, the author notes, rarely mingled with their native-born
counterparts in amusement venues.26
Of course, this article reveals as much about the political leanings of
the New York Times as it does about the nature of entertainment in New
York in the mid-nineteenth century. Nevertheless, it displays an important
perception that particular types of entertainment were associated with par-
ticular classes and ethnic groups. It also seems to suggest that, as early as
1858, many Irish Americans were enjoying the popular amusements that
American cities had to offer. Significantly, they seemed to be enjoying
them alongside members of the native-born American population.
Introduction 13
VARIETY OR VAUDEVILLE?
The reporter investigating the various amusements available in New York

City for the Times in 1858 refers to a range of entertainment venues. These
included what might be termed “legitimate” theatre houses, that is, those
producing serious dramas or operas, theatres reserved specifically for melo-
dramas such as the Bowery or National theatres, beer gardens, circuses,
museums such as Barnum’s with its waxwork exhibits and natural curi-
osities, and concert saloons of varying degrees of respectability. There is
however no mention of vaudeville. The first use of the term vaudeville to
describe a variety bill is uncertain. According to Lewis, the word “vaude-
ville” was used occasionally before the Civil War to describe a show fea-
turing comic songs.27 This is supported by a 1905 article in a St Louis
newspaper, which gave this explanation of the word’s usage:
The first appearance of vaudeville in this country was shortly prior to the Civil
War, and the word was at once Americanized and adopted without formality
as something applicable to the conditions of the time. In England and other
English-speaking countries the term has little or no significance in the form
used here.28
According to Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, the use of vaudeville

to mean “a light and amusing theatrical entertainment interspersed with
songs” is first recorded in the English language in 1827. McLean notes that
in the years following the Civil War, the term was used loosely to describe
variety entertainment. Joe Laurie Jr., on the other hand, suggests that the
first use of vaudeville to mean variety theatre may not have occurred until
1871, with the appearance of Sargent’s Great Vaudeville Company.29
Lewis cites vaudeville as the most popular form of entertainment in
America from the 1880s until the 1910s and refers to its “precursors in
variety entertainment.” For Lewis, what distinguishes vaudeville from
variety is that it was “managed as a business. Entrepreneurs attempted to
apply rational principles, standardize a bill, and duplicate it in a circuit of
regional theatres they controlled.” Certainly, this business-like approach
did characterize vaudeville from the late 1870s onward. In Boston in 1885,
for example, the vaudeville showmen B. F. Keith and E. F. Albee estab-
lished a “continuous vaudeville” program in which variety acts would do
numerous turns throughout the day and evening, allowing patrons to
enter or leave when they liked. The formation of vaudeville circuits, the
Vaudeville Managers’ Association and, from 1906, the United Booking
Office also lend weight to the argument that vaudeville, unlike variety the-
atre, came to be managed as a business. In the early 1900s, vaudeville the-
atres were categorized as either big-time or small-time houses, based on the
number of shows per day (two for big-time, more than that in the small-
time houses) admission prices, and salaries paid to performers. Certainly
by the end-point of my own research, vaudeville was often spoken of in
business terms and was viewed very much as an industry. According to the
St Louis Republic, in 1905 more than $26 million was invested across the
country’s three hundred plus vaudeville theatres and vaudeville employed,
in one form or another, more than twelve thousand people. The same
article suggested that a conservative estimate might put the annual spend
on vaudeville entertainments at $50 million and that “the gross receipts
at all the vaudeville theatres from the three and a half million patrons at
an average of twenty-five cents each, will run to nine hundred thousand
dollars a week.”30
Vaudeville showmen often sought to cast off the negative connota-
tions surrounding variety theatre, and the images of boozy, smoky venues
and risqué entertainments that it implied. According to Snyder, vaude-
ville can be thought of as “variety theatre that entrepreneurs made taste-
ful for middle class women and men and their families by removing the
smoky, boozy, licentious male atmosphere.” Although Lewis suggests that
vaudeville’s claims to refinement may have been overblown, nevertheless
he argues that it had a “veneer of glamour and respectability” and that “by
the 1890s vaudeville was perceived to be the variety show best adapted to
the modern city. It was the distilled essences of the major entertainments,
lowbrow, middlebrow, even highbrow.”31
Efforts to clean up variety entertainment also impacted on the nature of
theatre audiences. Prior to the Civil War, the variety audience was largely
male. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, “women could not with propriety
visit a theatre where liquor was sold, and just before the war there were
quite a number of large theatres used as variety halls were liquor could be
obtained.” In addition to the availability of alcoholic beverages, the nature
of the entertainments onstage could be lewd and bawdy and considered
generally unsuitable for respectable women or children. After the war, vari-
ous efforts were made to attract a family audience. Snyder, for example,
cites an 1873 vaudeville program offering free admission to “ladies” who
were accompanied by “gentlemen.” Another advertised a giveaway of such
household essentials as ham, flour, and coal. In her study of male-female
comedy teams in vaudeville, Staples sees the increasing presence of stylish
female performers on the stage as intended to appeal to a female audience.
Introduction 15
An article in the periodical Midway in 1905 noted that American women

and children spent more than $900,000 each week on vaudeville shows,
thereby proclaiming vaudeville to be “the cleanest and most wholesome
form of entertainment.”32 In the same year, at a dinner of the Theatre
Managers’ Association, one of the speakers echoed this view:
Vaudeville is creative and progressive in its character. In behalf [sic] of the men
who conduct that class of entertainment, I can say emphatically that there are
no other places of amusement where stages are more generally free from sug-
gestive or questionable scenes or incidents than the houses maintained by the
managers of this class of theatrical performances. Indeed, in vaudeville the
relations of the family circle and of good taste are always respected. Each year
sees a further improvement in the class of material offered, and the whole tone
is one of health, energy and prosperity.33
However, while in the later decades of my study there may have been
efforts by some showmen to distance vaudeville from variety theatre, in
the earlier years covered by my research the distinction between variety
and vaudeville is often blurred. As Laurie Jr. suggested, “variety is what
it always was and always will be, no matter what fancy names you give
it.” For the purposes of my research, therefore, I have taken vaudeville as
one term used to describe variety theatre. I have focused on both variety
and vaudeville shows consisting of a range of acts on one bill, as distinct
from legitimate theatres staging stand-alone plays. Here, too, though the
distinction is not always clear. There appear to have been many occasions
when successful vaudeville shows were converted to full-length farce com-
edies for production in legitimate theatres, and other instances when full-
length farce comedies were converted into vaudeville acts. Stars from the
legitimate stage often made an appearance in vaudeville, and vice versa.
On occasion in the following chapters I have referred to archives pertain-
ing to performances in legitimate houses in an effort to illuminate the
nature of the same performer’s vaudeville act. Where I have done so, I have
tried to be clear that this is the case.34
Although widespread use of the term vaudeville to describe variety the-
atre did not begin until the 1870s and 1880s, I have chosen 1865 as the
start of the period covered by my research. There are a number of reasons
for this. First, 1865 obviously marks the end of the American Civil War
and a period of significant social change and upheaval. One might expect
to see outward signs of this expressed and worked through in the popular
entertainment of the time. Throughout this book I have tried to consider
popular stage representations of the Irish against this background of change
and upheaval, not only for native-born Americans but also for the immi-
grants, their children, and grandchildren whose status in American society
also changed markedly during the four decades covered by my study.
In American Vaudeville as Ritual, Alfred F. McLean Jr. argues that vaude-
ville allowed “the disruptive experience of migration and acclimatization”
to be “objectified and accepted.” He goes on to suggest that the devel-
opment of vaudeville “must ultimately be traced to the basic need of the
American people to comprehend the new wave of industrialism and urban-
ization in symbolic terms.” According to Springhall, mass cultural forms
such as vaudeville were “essential for manufacturing a new post-Civil War
national identity based on a combined ideology of white ethnicity, domes-
tic consumerism and middle-class respectability” and that “by developing
a standardized and sanitized popular formula, vaudeville helped pave the
way for the crafted mass entertainment offered by Hollywood.”35
The year 1865 is also a significant year for the development of variety
and vaudeville entertainment. In July of that year Tony Pastor—later to
become one of the leading vaudeville showmen—opened his first variety
theatre in New York at 201 Bowery. A selection of the plays performed at
Pastor’s Opera House is discussed in Chapter 3. When Tony Pastor opened
his first theatre, there were twenty-one theatres in New York City, only
four of which offered variety entertainment. By 1905, there were forty-six
theatres in total in Manhattan, fifteen of which were vaudeville houses—
six of these also featured moving pictures on the program. Over the period
of my study, variety and vaudeville theatre grew significantly in popularity.
According to Fields, by the turn of the twentieth century, every city in the
country with a population of over five thousand had at least one vaudeville
theatre.36
There is no doubt that variety and vaudeville acts relied heavily on eth-
nic comedy and stereotypes. According to Douglas Gilbert:
most of the comedy of the early variety theatre was racial. What we are pleased
to call American stock predominated, and to rib the Irish, the German or the
Negro was but to thrust at a minority which generally took the jibe good-
naturedly.37
For W. H. A. Williams, vaudeville can be seen as a “theatre of assimi-

lation,” a means of introducing various immigrant groups to each other
and to their native-born neighbors. In this sense, Williams argues, ethnic
stereotypes were distilled to their most basic elements and became a tool
to aid easy recognition of onstage character types for people of various
Introduction 17
nationalities. Thus vaudeville created “a brief community of strangers”

who, “in laughing at the stereotypes presented onstage . . . were laughing
with each other.” As such, the stereotypes themselves were rendered unim-
portant. Robert Snyder takes a somewhat less romanticized view of the
treatment of ethnic groups in vaudeville. He argues that “vaudeville was
not as generous as it might have been to ethnic cultures” and that, at its
worst, “it set a precedent for the simplistic treatment of race and ethnicity
that still pervades American entertainment.” Nevertheless, he seems to see
little distinction between the various ethnic stereotypes being performed
on the vaudeville stage. Rather he views ethnicity as it was presented in
vaudeville acts as “synthetic . . . formed from elements of immigrant experi-
ences, mass culture, and the stereotyped national and racial characters of
the American theatre.”38
One of the ways in which ethnicity was marked in variety and vaude-
ville was through the use of standardized “ethnic” dialects. Much of the
material I discuss utilizes this device so it is worth taking some time here
to consider how such dialects might have operated. In a study of Irish
characters on the British stage between 1830 and 1860, Nelson argues that
dialect was equally as important as physical appearance in marking out the
stage Irishman:
one can see some definite efforts to capture the Irish speech. Certain stock
phrases recur, but the efforts to capture the rhythm and cadences of the speech
are inconsistent and often crude. Just as themes and characters became stereo-
typed, so did the language.39
In the United States too ethnic groups were marked as much by dialect
as by physical appearance. Kersten points to a fascination with linguistic
experimentation in the latter half of the nineteenth century within the
United States, evidenced by the proliferation of short anthologies contain-
ing writing in a selection of ethnic dialects. The use of ethnic dialects
could be used to mock the nationalities concerned, to pass comment on
their poor grasp of the English language. However, in the case of Dutch (a
byword for German during this period) dialect texts, Kersten notes that it
is possible to discern a sympathetic treatment of their subjects:
While the strained attempts at meaningful talk appeared hilariously funny

with all their grammatical, phonetic and semantic blunders, they also con-
tained a tragic element. They represented desperate efforts to overcome an
individual’s limited means of expression in order to communicate with a fellow
man. In front of an audience that shared similar experiences, laughing at the

incompetent speaker was not an act of condescension. What is important here
is that the collective laughter created a sense of community in the audience and
elevated the comedians onto a plane where they became symbolic figures of
displacement and alienation.40
This level of pathos, Kersten argues, could not have been achieved by
the use of standard English. In addition, he also suggests that the use of
German dialect allowed writers and stage comedians to cast a critical eye
on contemporary America from the point of view of an outsider.41 In such
cases, the use of dialect, and the comedy arising from it, served to make
this criticism seem slightly less harsh. In vaudeville songs and sketches of
this period, German characters say “dot” for “that,” pronounce “w” as “v”
and vice versa while Irish dialect is peppered with “Arrah’s,” “Begorry’s,”
“dhrops of the craythur,” and suchlike. While it might be possible to see
the use of such ethnic dialects as indicative of a certain romance or pathos,
the speech of black Americans was also stereotyped. In this case the only
romantic element is often the nostalgia expressed for the simpler life of the
slave plantation. Given that this nostalgia was ultimately being voiced by
white performers in blackface make-up, the sentiments are rather more
inimical.
VAUDEVILLE AND EARLY CINEMA: A “VITAL

RELATION”
In terms of the end point of my research, 1905 marks an equally significant

watershed in the relationship between vaudeville and early cinema and
in the development of cinema more generally. Robert Allen points to the
importance of vaudeville in providing “an almost instant national audi-
ence” for the nascent film industry. Tom Gunning has written of cinema’s
“vital relation to vaudeville, its primary place of exhibition until around
1905,” when new venues for the exhibition of moving pictures began to
emerge in the form of nickelodeons. Early films often consisted of short
vaudeville acts and, like vaudeville they tended to rely heavily on ethnic
stereotypes and ethnic comedy. Even with the advent of the nickelodeon,
Gunning points out that films continued to appear “in a variety format,
trick films sandwiched in with farces, actualities, ‘illustrated songs’ and,
quite frequently, cheap vaudeville acts.” Writing about the history of pre-
cinema in Britain, Michael Chanan has argued that “on an ideological
level, film inherited many issues of representation and identification in a
Introduction 19
society still dominated by class interests already found in music hall as the
principal form of popular culture, but it gave them a new slant.”42
In relation to American cinema, vaudeville is often seen as a nega-
tive influence, particularly with regard to the portrayal of ethnic groups.
Cinema, it is argued, inherited crude ethnic stereotypes from vaudeville
that changed and improved gradually over time. Lewis Jacobs, for exam-
ple, outlines what he terms the “progressivism [that] began to appear in the
movies’ treatment of minority groups” from 1910 onward and argues that
cinema began to represent most minorities with a “more human and realis-
tic interpretation instead of the conventional comic caricatures.” For schol-
ars of Irish representations in early American cinema, vaudeville is often
dismissed as the source for some of the crudest and least sophisticated
Irish stereotypes appearing in early American films. Ruth Barton suggests
that the “imbecilic, drunk and swift-tempered” Irish characters of early
cinema drew on popular stage characters of the nineteenth century, and
argues that “without access to the production of films, [the Irish] found
themselves at the mercy of the general run of stereotypes that early cinema
inherited from vaudeville.” Likewise, Kevin Rockett writes that the Irish
in early American cinema were “the butt of jokes and were caricatured in
traditional stereotypical ways.” Rockett argues that these stereotypes “were
often derived directly from vaudeville” and that cinema “helped broaden
the range” of Irish representations.43
Irish characters were certainly a recognizable presence in early films.
Rockett suggests that during the silent film era, as many as 500 American
films were made with identifiable Irish themes or characters. When one
looks at the synopses of Irish-themed films made in the United States
between 1896 and 1905, it is clear that they featured a relatively narrow
range of stock characters and behaviors. Rockett lists eighty-seven Irish-
themed films produced in America during these years. Of these, twenty-
two feature a female domestic, cook or washerwoman often referred to as
Bridget in the films’ synopses. Twelve films feature Irish laborers and nine
have Irish cops as characters (of these nine films featuring Irish cops, all
but two of them pair the cop with a “Bridget” character). Seventeen of the
films depict the Irish as violent, fifteen involve drinking and alcohol con-
sumption, and five deal with politics in one way or another. Fourteen of
the eighty-seven films present Irish characters within the domestic realm,
showing family relationships, while ten deal with class, race, or ethnic rela-
tions between the Irish and other groups.44
However, despite the influence of vaudeville audiences, theatres, and
programs on the development of cinema, Patrick Loughney argues that
there has been little attempt to place films within the wider context of
turn-of-the-century popular entertainment or to examine the relationships
between early films and “their direct antecedents in works of popular fic-
tion or other entertainments that first achieved popularity on dramatic
and variety stages, in vaudeville and burlesque houses, and the many lesser
forms of middle-class entertainment that have passed from the American
scene.” Until recently, there were no detailed studies of vaudeville repre-
sentations of the Irish or of how these related to depictions of the Irish in
early American cinema. Gary Rhodes’ 2012 work Emerald Illusions: The
Irish in Early American Cinema has gone a long way to redress this balance,
drawing important parallels between early films and pre-cinema forms of
entertainment including vaudeville.45
The Irish characters in the earliest American films—the Bridgets, the
Pats, and the Caseys, the cops, and the fighting, drinking, dancing, and
partying Irish—all appeared on the vaudeville stage as well as in popular
songs, comic strips, and other media, and in the chapters that follow I trace
their antecedents in variety and vaudeville theatre. As I will demonstrate,
it is certainly possible to point to some of the sources of early cinema’s Irish
stereotypes and characters in vaudeville. However, through a focus on a
range of archival material including vaudeville programs, sketches, songs,
and plays as historical artifacts in their own right, I suggest that this pro-
cess is not straightforward and that vaudeville was more than simply the
source of early cinema’s negative Irish stereotypes. Instead, I will argue that
these texts can help to illuminate the complex interactions between native-
born Americans, Irish Americans, and other ethnic and racial groups dur-
ing the latter half of the nineteenth century, and highlight the importance
of popular culture in defining and redefining these relationships. I show
that vaudeville depictions of the Irish were not uniformly negative and do
not necessarily comply with the much-maligned stereotype of the stage
Irishman and his cinematic counterpart. Rather I argue that vaudeville
representations of the Irish reveal much about the formation of an Irish-
American identity during a period that witnessed significant changes in
their position in American society.
METHODOLOGY
Popular theatre in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth
century was a varied, lively, and eclectic mix of singing, dancing, comedi-
ans, sketches and playlets, magic tricks and novelty acts in which the per-
formers on the stage interacted boisterously with members of the audience.
Introduction 21
Unfortunately it is impossible to recreate this unique atmosphere from a

distance of almost 150 years, relying largely on paper-based archive mate-
rial such as songbooks, jokebooks, publicity material, and newspaper
advertisements and reviews. There are very few visual clues as to how an
act would have appeared onstage. I am also conscious of the risk of perhaps
overthinking or overanalyzing what might have been essentially transitory
amusements—for some of the material I discuss, particularly handwritten
songs, plays, and gags, it is not certain whether it was performed on stage
at all. Even when we can be sure that material was staged, we may not
always know whether it was performed with any frequency or indeed how
it might have been received by audiences. Because of the partial nature of
the remaining material on variety and vaudeville, particularly from the
earliest years of my study, a systematic content analysis along the lines of
that carried out by Knobel for the years 1820 to 1860 is not possible—
much of the information I have gleaned is drawn, for example, from news-
paper reviews that can often be little more than extended advertisements
for the acts concerned. Nevertheless, bearing in mind all of the above dif-
ficulties and provisos, I believe it is still possible to utilize this varied mate-
rial to shed new light on the ways in which Irishness was performed on the
popular stage in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
By necessity of being based in Ireland for the majority of my research,
online archives proved particularly useful in allowing access to historical
American newspapers, vaudeville scripts, sound recordings, and early films
that I would not otherwise have had access to. As is the case with all online
information, some sites were more valuable than others, allowing detailed
search parameters to be set and search results organized in a variety of
ways. The most useful of these archives, particularly for carrying out a
preliminary search, was the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America
website, which allowed access to a selection of nationwide newspapers for
the period. This was invaluable in providing as wide a geographical base
as possible and ensuring that this book was more than just a survey of
the amusements offered in metropolitan centres like New York. An initial
search of this archive was conducted, constrained to the years 1865 to 1905,
using the following search terms within fifty words of each other—“Irish”
and “vaudeville”; “Irish” and “variety”; “Irish” and “theatre”; “Irish” and
“entertainment”; and “Irish” and “amusements.” The use of the terms
vaudeville, variety, entertainment, and amusements is intended to account
for the fact that the word vaudeville did not come into common usage
until the 1870s and 1880s. Where I believed further research on a par-
ticular performer or act was merited, then this search was conducted both
through the Library of Congress’s website but also in other online archives,
including the New York Times and Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
These search results were then used to compile a database of vaude-
ville performers, acts, plays, and sketches. This database is included as
an appendix and, while it cannot be regarded as exhaustive, it reveals the
significant presence of Irish acts on the variety and vaudeville stage during
this period. Many of these acts have not been written about before and
indeed in a number of cases their names appear only once or twice in the
archives. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the database may prove useful in
supporting further research on these now largely forgotten performers and
plays. This database then allowed me to pinpoint particular acts and per-
formers for further research in the theatre archives held by the New York
Public Library, including newspaper clipping files, scrapbooks, vaudeville
plays, sketches and songsters, notebooks, and publicity material such as
theatre programs. Other useful items included obituaries of vaudeville
performers, which often provided much valuable information about their
stage careers. I have attempted to utilize this primary material in order to
build as accurate a picture as possible of how a vaudeville act or routine
might have appeared on the stage.
To date there have been no studies specifically examining Irish repre-
sentations and the performance of Irishness in vaudeville in any detail,
although broader surveys and histories of vaudeville do provide some use-
ful information on the prevalence of Irish acts. Writing in 1940, Douglas
Gilbert noted that Irish acts dominated early variety theatre in America
and paints a vivid picture of the nature of these performances. “The sons
of Erin,” Gilbert suggests, “as naturals or in character, threw [robust com-
edy] at our grandfathers with slapstick, bladder and fist.” He continues,
describing Irish variety songs as “almost devoid of romantic reference. On
their vigor and thrust, Eire’s native melodies, for the most part maud-
lin sentimentalities, are impaled.” Joe Laurie’s 1953 survey of vaudeville
provides information on a range of Irish acts, but much of the material
is anecdotal in nature. It contains little analysis of the various ways in
which the Irish were represented on the stage, who was involved in these
representations, and indeed how they were received by audiences. More
recently, Robert Snyder’s short chapter on the Irish in vaudeville in Lee and
Casey’s Making the Irish American briefly discussed performers like Kitty
O’Neil, Maggie Cline, Pat Rooney, and George M. Cohan, and argued
that “Irish contributions to vaudeville established a Celtic presence in the
entertainment industry and invigorated the mainstream of American pop-
ular entertainment.”46
Introduction 23
A small number of Irish American vaudeville and variety performers

from the nineteenth century remain well known today and have been the
subject of some scholarly interest. Much has been written, for example,
about Edward Harrigan who has been credited with putting forward a
more sympathetic, realistic version of Irishness in vaudeville. Described by
Moloney as “the nineteenth century’s foremost dramatist of the life of the
Irish in America,” Harrigan’s plays took as their subject the interactions
between the New York Irish and other ethnic and racial groups. Harrigan’s
work is the subject of a number of studies, including those by Kahn (1955)
and Moody (1980), as well as two recent CDs by Mick Moloney (2006,
2009). Likewise Eddie Foy, who appeared in variety as a knockabout Irish
comedian, a clown and blackface act in the 1870s and 1880s and gained
widespread fame in the 1910s when he appeared with his children in a
vaudeville act entitled Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys. Foy’s career
has been well documented by his biographer, Armond Fields. Along with
Harrigan and Foy, Pat Rooney Sr. completed what Cullen has referred to
as “the three grand old Irish Americans of the nineteenth-century musical
stage” whose careers “helped transform the stage Irishman from the red-
nosed, belligerent, comic drunk of the variety saloons into a more natural
representative of his ethnic stock, a more fully rounded character of foibles
and fun.” Although I do refer to each of these three performers on occasions
in the chapters that follow, my own focus is predominantly on those lesser-
known performers and acts who have now largely passed from memory.47
While recognizing that vaudeville as a form of entertainment changed
quite significantly during the period covered by this book—from the
boozy, bawdy variety theatres of the 1860s to a more family-oriented enter-
tainment business by the turn of the twentieth century—in structuring
this book, I have taken a thematic rather than chronological approach.
There are a number of reasons for doing so. First, I hope that this approach
has avoided the book reading as simply a list of vaudeville acts. Second, the
partial nature of the archival material on which the bulk of my research
has been based means that it is difficult to build up a complete chronologi-
cal narrative. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, when beginning
the research for this book I expected to find evidence for the development
of Irish stereotypes and characterizations over time, as both the nature of
vaudeville and of Irish America changed during the later decades of the
nineteenth century. However, as I demonstrate in the following chapters,
what I found instead was evidence that from even the earliest years of
my study, vaudeville’s Irish characters and stereotypes were more complex
than might be imagined.
I therefore begin in the next chapter by providing an overview of Irish

and ethnic performance in vaudeville and examine who was involved in
performing Irishness on the popular stage. I consider the extent to which
Irish and Irish American performers were engaged in performing Irish
stereotypes in vaudeville and question what this performance meant for
notions of Irish or Irish American identity in late-nineteenth- and early-
twentieth-century America. I also discuss the involvement of one eth-
nic group in the performance of another. If, as Hayakawa has implied,
familiarity with a culture’s stereotypes promotes acceptance to that cul-
ture, then Irish performers’ involvement in the representations of other
ethnic groups will be important in illuminating their own position within
American society during this period. In particular I consider the role of
Irish performers in blackface minstrelsy, and ask what effect this might
have had in shaping an Irish American identity and enabling the Irish to
move from an outgroup to an ingroup.
In Chapter 3, I examine the performance of Irishness at Tony Pastor’s
Opera House in New York between 1865 and 1874. Pastor was one of
the leading vaudeville showmen of the nineteenth century and opened his
first theatre in the Bowery in New York in 1865. Among the afterpieces
(longer plays often used to conclude a vaudeville show) performed there,
the Irish featured more prominently than any other ethnic group, either
as characters in plays set in Ireland or those set in America. Noting the
frequent appearance of Irish characters or themes in Pastor’s afterpieces,
Susan Kattwinkel has suggested that these plays offer the opportunity for
further study of ethnic stereotypes in variety entertainment:
There is nothing significantly different about the character types [in the Pastor
afterpieces] from those found in variety specialties—after all, performers were
generally cast in the afterpieces based on their own regular sketches—but the
concentration of those stereotypes into cohesive scripts highlights the types
and attitudes towards those ethnicities.48
I argue that these plays reveal much about how Ireland and the Irish
were portrayed in the earliest days of vaudeville entertainment. They also
illuminate contemporary attitudes regarding the relationship between
Ireland, Britain, and the United States and highlight ethnic and racial
tensions that existed between the Irish in America and other groups, in
particular African Americans.
Of particular interest in the Pastor plays is the way in which the brand
of Irishness they present is bound up with notions of gender. In Chapters 4
Introduction 25
and 5 I consider how gender might have influenced representations of

the Irish across a range of vaudeville material. Questions of gender, and
in particular masculinity, have dominated much recent scholarship on
Irish representations in popular culture. Rains notes that in general “the
foundational beliefs of ethnic identification are, in fact, profoundly gen-
dered constructions” and demonstrates the ways in which images of Irish
and Irish American masculinity and femininity have changed during the
twentieth century to reflect not only the changing position of the Irish in
America but also to meet the ideological needs of a wider American soci-
ety. In Hollywood cinema of the 1920s and 1930s, Rains notes, there was a
tendency to utilize Irish American women to support a wider assimilation-
ist agenda, portraying them as acceptable, nonthreatening, and attractive
ethnic Americans who could easily become Americanized through mar-
riage. Irish American men, on the other hand, represented a violent under-
world and an uncontrollable and unacceptable masculinity at odds with
the American ideal. However, during and after the Second World War
the image of the fighting Irish in America became associated with bravery
and patriotism. Irish American women no longer held the same appeal
and instead the most positive images of Irish femininity were restricted to
Irish women in Ireland. Rains suggests that this change in the depiction
of Irish femininity may have been in response to the increasing freedom
of women in American society. Against the changing roles of American
women, Irish colleens were positioned as “instinctive nurturers and home-
makers, as romantic partners appropriate for heroic Irish-American men”
and ultimately suggested the promise of “an imaginative retreat to Ireland
as a source of non-threatening femininity.”49
In her study of gender and cultural hierarchy in vaudeville, Kibler sug-
gests that an awareness and analysis of gender representations and ste-
reotypes can bring a deeper level of understanding to bear. She argues
that such an analysis “shows that the immigrant clowns were not entirely
negative figures who soothed patrons’ nativist fears of the strange, urban
masses” and that instead they point to an overall hostility toward feminine
authority and “represented the pride of members of ethnic and working
class groups in their battles with female social climbers.” In Chapters 4
and 5 I examine, respectively, representations of Irish men and women in
vaudeville and consider how an awareness of gender might contribute to a
deeper understanding of vaudeville’s Irish stereotypes.50
2. “Irish by Name”: An Overview
of Irish and Ethnic Performance in
Vaudeville
T
heatre programs held in the New York Public Library’s Billy Rose
Theatre Division demonstrate the prevalence of Irish performers in
vaudeville shows. In 1868, Tony Pastor’s theatre at 201 Bowery in
New York had a double song and dance act by the Hibernian Boys and a play
entitled Might and Right, or The Days of ‘76. This play included the charac-
ters Pat Rierdon, described as “an Irishman, full of fight, and no friend to
the redcoats,” and his sweetheart Bridget O’Brien, and is discussed in more
detail in the next chapter. During the week of October 21, 1878, the bill at
Pastor’s had a decidedly Irish air. Harry and John Kernell appeared in an
Irish piece entitled O’Donahue’s Sinecure, Murphy and Morton performed
Irish songs and dances, and a sketch called Unwelcome Visitors featured
the characters of Jack Krousmeyer and Mike Maloney. The Irish flavor of
acts continued into the following week, when the Peasleys appeared in an
Irish sketch called Mollie’s Victory and a Miss Flora Moore was billed as an
Irish comedian, imitator, and “the unequalled lady Irish singer and graphic
delineator of Camp Meeting Hymns.” The bill also had Kelly and Ryan,
the Bards of Tara, in their character creations “The Two Nurses,” “Going
to the Ball,” and “The Shamrock Guards.”1
In December 1878, Pastor’s Broadway Theatre had Ferguson and Mack,
“original and eccentric Irish comedians”; Sheehan and Jones, in an “absur-
dity” featuring characters named Driscoll, Murphy, and McManus; and a
“screaming farce” entitled Dutch and Irish Rivals. Clearly along the same lines
as Unwelcome Visitors, this sketch featured the characters Jacob Krausmeyer
[sic], “a love sick [sic] Dutchman,” and Pat Maloney, “an Irish masher.”
Another undated program advertises a forthcoming “Irish comic extrava-
ganza.” In April 1888, Proctor’s Criterion Theatre had the first American
appearances of Farrell and Wilmott “the Irish dancing masters” and The
Figure 2.1 Theatre programs: On the left, a program for Tony Pastor’s theatre,
w/c December 20, 1878. On the right, an undated vaudeville program. Both illus-
trate well the prevalence of Irish—and other ethnic and racial—acts in vaudeville.
Source: Kernell and Kernell Scrapbook, BRTD TW, MWEZ x n.c.4547.
“Irish by Name” 29
Two Armstrongs, “the greatest of Irish knockabout comedians.” An undated

program for the Walnut Street theatre includes the Irish-born Billy Barry “in
his original and laughable Ethiopian interlude” and the Irish jig dancer Kitty
O’Neil. Harry and John Kernell also appear, this time billed as “the great
and only North of Ireland comiques, in their specialty a sidewalk conversa-
tion, introducing their original Irish repartee, songs, dances.”2
In addition to Irish acts, ethnic and racial acts more broadly were standard
fare on vaudeville and variety bills in the second half of the nineteenth cen-
tury. In September 1878, when Tony Pastor’s company performed at Poole
and Donnelly’s Grand Opera House in New York, seven of the thirteen acts
advertised on the bill had an obviously ethnic or racial element. There were
two blackface acts—Bryant and Hoey, “the King and Emperor of Musical
Coons,” and Billy Barry in a “laughable Ethiopian interlude”; Watson and
Ellis, “a German team”; three Irish acts—Kitty O’Neil again, the Kernell
Brothers “in their own peculiar North of Ireland dialect entertainment,”
and the Bards of Tara, Kelly, and Ryan, “in their marvelous and original
Irish sensation changes.” The program was rounded off with a sketch enti-
tled Germany vs. Ireland. In addition to these acts, Pastor himself performed
some of his own repertoire of comic songs that, as I discuss in more detail in
the next chapter, were also likely to include ethnic material.3
When examining the portrayal of ethnic groups in popular culture, the
extent to which those same groups have leverage to shape their represen-
tations is an important consideration. According to Ní Éigeartaigh “cul-
ture . . . is often the primary means through which members of a diaspora
can begin to celebrate their liberation from fixed definitions of identity
and nationality, while simultaneously constructing new definitions more
appropriate to the contemporary migrant subject.” It may be though that
this is only possible if diasporic peoples can participate freely in that cul-
ture and are in a position to at least partly shape those constructions them-
selves rather than have “new definitions” imposed upon them by other,
more dominant, groups. In addition, it is important to consider the partic-
ipation of one ethnic group in the stereotyping of another. Going back to
Hayakawa’s assertion that knowledge of the dominant stereotypes within
a particular culture is essential to becoming part of that culture, then by
extension it is possible to argue that the participation of an outgroup mem-
ber in the stereotypes of an ingroup may be seen as an attempt to gain
acceptance or entry into that ingroup.4
In this chapter, I consider the ethnicity of those involved in the perfor-
mance of Irishness on the variety and vaudeville stage and question how this
might have impacted on Irish audiences’ responses to Irish stereotypes—in
essence, I question whether there is any evidence that these stereotypes

were more or less acceptable to Irish audiences if they involved Irish-born
or Irish American performers. In doing so, I seek to draw attention to a
number of lesser known and forgotten Irish performers on the nineteenth-
century stage and discuss the range of roles they played. I also suggest that
humor in vaudeville could be derived from the blurring of ethnic identities
and boundaries, with non-Irish performers portraying Irish characters and
Irish performers portraying characters of other ethnicities and nationali-
ties. However, I want to begin this chapter by considering the participation
of Irish performers in one particularly dominant and insidious racial ste-
reotype of the nineteenth-century stage—blackface minstrelsy.
IRISH PERFORMERS IN BLACKFACE
The Irish were far from alone in being stereotyped on variety and vaude-
ville stages and, as I discuss later in this chapter, ethnicity itself was far
from fixed with many performers varying their act from an Irish to a
Dutch to a Hebrew act by simply adopting new costumes or dialects as
appropriate. The Irish themselves were also involved in portraying other
groups on stage, and it is perhaps in blackface minstrelsy that their influ-
ence is most notable.
As people who had suffered political, economic, and religious dis-
crimination at home—and were viewed as racially “other” in the United
States—it is tempting to think that Irish immigrants to America should
have been sympathetic to the plight of black Americans, with whom they
were often equated. However, instead of showing solidarity with their
black neighbors, some historians argue that the Irish in America took the
opposite path. Roediger suggests that Irish workers in America sought to
distance themselves from their black counterparts through a two-way pro-
cess. “On the one hand,” Roediger writes, “Irish immigrants won accep-
tance as whites among the larger American population. On the other
hand . . . the Irish themselves came to insist on their own whiteness and on
white supremacy.” Ignatiev argues that the Irish in the United States made
a conscious decision to become “white” and that “while the white skin
made [them] eligible for membership in the white race, it did not guaran-
tee their admission; they had to earn it.” One way in which they did this
was through first moving in on the lowest paid jobs that had previously
been carried out by black workers. Then, through their strong ties to labor
unions, the Irish tried to ensure that black Americans would be excluded
from these occupations. As a result, at the same time as black workers were
being forced into “the ranks of the destitute self-employed,” working as

chimney sweeps or bootblacks, native-born and Irish immigrant workers
“were being transformed into the waged labor force of industry.”5
The idea that Irish immigrants in the United States made a conscious
decision to become white is controversial. Kevin Kenny, for example,
argues that it overestimates the extent of individual agency among work-
ing-class Irish immigrants and underestimates the influence of the wider
social and cultural context of the United States in the nineteenth cen-
tury. Kenny, without denying the extent of racist tensions between Irish
and black Americans, suggests that the Irish in America were operating
within a social and racial structure that had existed before they arrived
and could not realistically have been expected to overturn that hierarchy.
Likewise, Luke Gibbons suggests that when Irish immigrants participated
in hegemonic racist stereotypes in their new homes, they were attempting
to identify “with the existing supremacist ideologies, derived mainly from
the legacy of British colonialism from which they were trying to escape.”
Gibbons argues against any notion that the Irish were by nature racist,
instead suggesting that “what the immigrant Irish brought with them from
the homeland were not the habits of authority fostered by the colonizer
but, in fact, a bitter legacy of servitude and ignominy akin to that expe-
rienced by native and African Americans.” For the Famine-era migrants
in America, equated with black Americans upon their arrival, “the need
to define themselves as white presented itself as an urgent imperative . . . if
they were not to be reduced to servitude once more.”6
Nativist and racial tensions between native-born Americans, Irish
immigrants, and black Americans boiled over into violence on a num-
ber of occasions throughout the nineteenth century. In the summer of
1844, riots broke out in Philadelphia when native-born workers along with
local Protestant Orangemen burned three Catholic churches. As Kenny
points out, these riots reflected wider anti-immigrant sentiment at a time
of economic depression when Irish immigrants were accused of pricing
native-born, skilled artisans out of work. Violence between black and Irish
workers was common during the 1850s and early 1860s, coming to a head
in July 1863 with the New York draft riot. Resentful of conscription into
the Union Army to fight for the abolition of slavery (which the majority of
the Irish in America opposed) when black men were themselves excluded
and those wealthy enough could avoid the draft, predominantly Irish work-
ers launched violent attacks on black workers resulting in a large number
of deaths and casualties. Despite their resistance to the draft, however,
Higham suggests that the Civil War marked something of a turning point
in native-born Americans’ attitudes toward the Irish. As well as fighting

in the war, immigrants provided essential labor in the expanding economy
of the postwar years. Nativist fear of the new arrivals was instead largely
replaced with a widespread belief that immigrants (as long as they were
white) could easily be assimilated and Americanized. Anti-Catholic and
anti-immigrant nativism did recur in the 1880s and 1890s with the estab-
lishment of the American Protective Association, although Higham sug-
gests that by the mid-1890s many Catholic Irish immigrants had become
assimilated into American society and were “too important for the press or
mainstream politicians to alienate.” 7
Whether or not Irish Americans made a deliberate and rational choice
to become white, it is clear that they were able to improve their position in
America and begin to move up the ladder in a way that black Americans
were unable to do. If, as Roediger argues, Irish workers “won acceptance as
whites among the larger population,” how was this acceptance achieved?
Might it be the case that the popular stage played a part in this process?
Robert Nowatzki attributes the relative success of the Irish in America dur-
ing this period, at least in part, to their involvement in minstrelsy.8
Minstrel shows predated vaudeville, gaining widespread popularity in
the 1840s and 1850s, although after the Civil War performers in black-
face also appeared in variety and vaudeville shows. Typically, a minstrel
show would consist of three parts. The first would be made up of songs
and jokes, the second part was known as the “olio” and would consist of
novelty performances such as comic dialogues or “wench” acts (a white
male performer appearing as a black woman), and the third section would
feature a narrative sketch. The first stand-alone blackface minstrel show
is believed to have taken place in New York in 1843, when the Virginia
Minstrels played at the Bowery Amphitheatre.9
One of the founders of blackface entertainment, Thomas “Daddy” Rice,
was the first performer to “jump Jim Crow.” This was a dance that he had
apparently seen performed by a black man in Cincinnati in 1831 and coined
the term that would later become associated with the discriminatory laws
enforcing racial oppression and segregation in the United States. Prior to
his success with the Jim Crow character, Rice had been a stage comedian.
Presumably familiar with the stage Irishman, it would seem that Rice saw
the potential of “Jim Crow” as an alternative to well-worn Irish stereotypes.
As his encounter in Cincinnati is recalled in a 1911 survey of minstrel per-
formers, Rice wondered whether “as a national or ‘race’ illustration, behind
the footlights, might not ‘Jim Crow’ and a black face tickle the fancy of pit
and circle, as well as the ‘Sprig of Shillalah’ and a red nose.”10
There were parallels between blackface entertainment and Irish stage

stereotypes. Roediger writes that black Americans were often associated
“with preindustrial joys, with entertainment prowess and with ‘natural
humor.’” This description could easily be applied to stage characterizations
of the Irish. Toll describes the typical finale of an 1850s minstrel show
as featuring “Negro low-comedy types with their malaprop-laden dialect,
and nearly always ending in a flurry of inflated bladders, bombardments
of cream pies, or fireworks explosions.” This too bears remarkable similar-
ity to the depiction of the stage Irishman, speaking in a thick brogue and
appearing with his shillelagh in knockabout comedy acts. Indeed, Peter
Quinn suggests that “on stage, Paddy and Sambo were both childlike
buffoons—lazy, superstitious, given to doubletalk, inflated rhetoric and
comic misuse of proper English.”11
Minstrel shows often featured Irish as well as black characters portrayed
by performers in blackface makeup. Nowatzki suggests that this was more
than the mere adoption of the stereotyped stage Irishman. Rather it was
a way for native-born American minstrel performers to characterize the
Irish as “dark-skinned Others.” Toll notes an 1843 minstrel show in which
“Paddy” was depicted as “de biggest fool dat eber walk.”12 Minstrel shows
also mined racial and nativist tensions for material. In the 1850s publica-
tion the New Negro Forget-Me-Not Songster, a song entitled “Philadelphia
Riots” has as its chorus the line “I guess it wasn’t de niggers dis time” and
references tensions between native-born Americans and Irish immigrants:
Oh, de Natives dey went up to meet

At de corner ob second an’ Massa-street,
De Irish cotch dar starry flag,
An’ tare him clean up to a rag.
Oh, de peaceful Natives go away,
An’ meet up dar anudder day,
Den de Irish get half shout all round,
An’ den dey shoot de Natives down.13
In the same songster, “De Southwark Rebolution” addresses Irish animos-

ity and violence toward both black and native-born white Americans, and
includes the following lines:
Oh when de mob an’ de Irish nation

Attacked our colored population
Dey broke our heads and burnt our hall
An’ de darkies hab to bear it all.
But de Irish shoot white natives down,

An’ spill dar blood around de town;
Our rulers, while dese wounds were sore
Allowed dem guns to shoot down more.
...
Dese Pats has trampled on de nigger,
An’ thought they’d cum a taller figger,
An’ walk upon white natives too,
But de natives saw de trick clar through.14
Both these songs refer to the nativist riots that took place in the Kensington
and Southwark suburbs of Philadelphia in the summer of 1844, when
increasing tensions caused by economic hardship and rising nativist sen-
timent spilled over into full-scale riots. Native-born workers joined forces
with local Orangemen, burned Catholic churches, and fought with Irish
workers. In each of these songs white, native-born minstrels seem to be sug-
gesting that the real threat to American stability is not African Americans
but the Irish immigrant working class.15
Like vaudeville, minstrel shows gained popularity at a time of rapid
social change in the United States. For some historians, the blackface mask
was less an expression of straightforward racism than a means to work
through the anxieties brought about by these changes, to test boundaries,
and to generally behave in ways that would otherwise not have been per-
missible without the mask. Lott argues that blackface minstrelsy was “less
a sign of absolute white power and control than of panic, anxiety, terror
and pleasure.” If whiteness was a prerequisite for American citizenship,
then the increasing numbers of immigrants coming to the United States
who were ostensibly white, yet who were characterized as savages on a par
with black Americans, perhaps served to undermine the ideal of white-
ness and, by extension, “American-ness.” For white American men, whose
status was being threatened by this social upheaval, “to wear or even enjoy
blackface was literally, for a time, to become black, to inherit the cool viril-
ity, humility, abandon or gaité de coeur that were the prime components of
white ideologies of black manhood.”16
On the other hand, of course, blacking up served to reinforce and reaf-
firm the superiority of whiteness. Publicity material for minstrel shows
would depict the performers both in and out of makeup, ensuring that
audiences were under no illusion as to the actual whiteness of the perform-
ers under the burnt cork. Ironically, as Roediger argues, “blackface min-
strels were the first self-consciously white entertainers in the world. The
simple physical disguise—and elaborate cultural disguise—of blacking up
served to emphasize that those on stage were really white and that white-
ness really mattered.”17
Although minstrel shows, to begin with, tended to depict Irish immi-
grants as at least on par with, and on occasions more threatening than,
black Americans, it seems that minstrel entertainment was also trying to
make sense out of and redefine “whiteness” to take account of increas-
ing immigration and a growing working class. Terms that were once used
to refer to particular types of white people, such as “coon” and “buck,”
were appropriated by minstrels as racial epithets. The character of Mose
the Bowery B’hoy is an interesting case in point. Maureen Murphy cites
the character as representative of Irish immigrants on the American stage
between 1848 and 1858, and describes him as he appeared in plays such
as A Glance at New York (1848), The Mysteries and Miseries of New York
(1850), and Linda the Cigar Girl (1856) as a “boaster and brawler, heroic
firefighter, and guardian angel of the greenhorns and of Linda the Cigar
Girl.” Usually a volunteer fireman with one of the many crews operating
in American cities before regulated fire departments were established, the
character of Mose might more broadly be viewed as representative of a par-
ticular type of unregulated, white working-class American man. Indeed
Lott suggests that “although the b’hoy’s rubric invoked Irishness, no single
ethnic profile defined him.” However, in the 1850s Mose began to appear
as a blackface character in minstrel shows and in songs such as “Wake Up
Mose” and “De Darkey Fireman’s Song.”18 Roediger suggests that along
with the words “coon” and “buck,” “Mose”
had trajectories that led from white to black. More than that, each of them
went from describing particular kinds of whites who had not internalized cap-
italist work discipline and whose places in the new world of wage labor were
problematic, to stereotyping Blacks.19
Saxton refers to four men—Thomas Rice, Dan Emmett, E. P. Christy,

and Stephen Foster—as the founders of blackface minstrelsy and suggests
that minstrel performers were typically urban, middle-class Northerners
from old-stock American families. Both Dan Emmett and Stephen Foster,
however, had Irish ancestry although each was born in the United States
before the wave of nineteenth-century Catholic emigration from Ireland
began. As such, the extent to which either would have considered him-
self Irish is uncertain. However, as Irish immigration to the United States
increased, so too did the wave of Irish performers entering minstrelsy
and the numbers of Irish immigrants in the audience. Cullen points in
particular to E. P. Christy’s minstrel show as providing a haven for Irish
entertainers escaping Ireland during the Famine. In 1860, they sang a song
entitled “The Bonny Green Flag,” which included the lines “Here’s to the
bonny green flag, and long may it wave/ With the Stars and the Stripes in
the land of the brave.”20
The 1911 book, Monarchs of Minstrelsy, lists some of the key blackface
performers of the nineteenth century and illustrates the Irish presence in
minstrelsy. It lists twenty-four performers who were born in Ireland. R. M.
Hooley, for example, was born in Ballina and came to America in the 1840s.
Hooley managed a number of minstrel companies and opened his own
theatre at 201 Bowery in 1865 (in premises later to be taken over by Tony
Pastor). Carroll Johnson was born in Carlingford in 1851, first appeared on
stage around 1866, and performed in both black and white face. In the late
1880s he appeared on the “legitimate” stage in the Irish dramas The Gossoon
and Irish Statesman. His obituary in the New York Telegraph referred to him
as “one of the pioneers of minstrelsy.” Sheet music for songs performed by
Johnson suggest the ways in which the sentimental and romanticized por-
trayal of Irishness existed alongside the racist conventions of blackface. They
include, for example, “My Little Irish Queen,” a sentimental ballad about
his Irish sweetheart, and another entitled “Wish You Could Hab Seen Dat
Nigger’s Eye.” The sheet music for this song is illustrated by two photographs
of Johnson, one in full blackface makeup wearing a top hat and frock coat
and carrying a cane and the other without make up in a refined dinner jacket
and bow tie, looking every inch the American gentleman.21
Billy Emerson was born William Emerson Redmond in Belfast in
1846. Monarchs of Minstrelsy refers to Emerson as “the acme of versatility,
the personification of grace, the quintessence of greatness.” According to
papers held in the New York Public Library’s Robinson Locke Collection,
Emerson was “the king of minstrelsy,” made famous by his 1867 song “I’m
as Happy as a Big Sunflower.” At one time he was apparently “the most
famous minstrel in the world” and “easily the most popular minstrel man
in the United States.”22 Like many other blackface performers, Emerson
also performed in Irish character. A Billboard article dated December 8,
1906, and headlined “Billy Emerson’s Best Bit” reminisces about a skit in
which Emerson imitated a burnt-out prizefighter managing sparring exhi-
bitions. The sketch as it is reproduced suggests the preponderance of Irish
men in boxing, with its Irish dialect, Irish names, and taste for drinking:
Gintlemen: I am sorry indeed to hav’ to inform ye’s that Mr Hickey will not be
able to spar tonight . . . Av coorse his name is on the bills, and yees’ll expect to
see him . . . But iv there’s onything that we can do to make the uxabition a grond
success, ye can bet ye’r sweet life we’ll do it. D’y’see? Hickey went out las’ night
wid some uv the by’s and got a lettle bit too much uv the b-o-o-z-e . . . Meself
and Duffy’ll do the windup (Ducks head and vanishes).23
Billboard notes fondly that this sketch, “with Emerson’s inimitable dry
Irish cough, grimace and walk . . . was one of the choicest bits in his exten-
sive repertoire.”24
Dan Bryant (born O’Brien), along with his brothers Neil and Jerry,
was another popular minstrel performer. Although apparently born in
New York, his father was “a typical old Irishman.” As with Johnson and
Emerson, he had a career in both the legitimate theatre—appearing in The
Colleen Bawn, Shamus O’Brien and Rory O’More —and in minstrel shows.
In one clipping, Bryant is referred to as “the idol of the Irish population
wherever he played. He had all the lovable traits of the Irishman, impul-
sive, kind, charitable, witty and generous.” When he played in Dublin, a
review noted that “a better Irishman has not been seen on the boards of
the Theatre Royal for a long time.” If his Irish character act was celebrated,
so too was his contribution to blackface minstrelsy. According to the New
York Spirit of the Times in 1870, “the good old jollity of negro minstrelsy is
preserved at Bryant’s. Nowhere else can the broad, extravagant and peculiar
humor of the plantation be enjoyed at present.” Bryant’s songs include the
minstrel songs “Belle of Broadway,” about the “lubly Rosa,” and “Kingdom
Coming,” in which a plantation slave’s “massa” runs away when he sees “de
Linkum gunboats.” He also sang the sentimental Irish ballads “Limerick is
Beautiful” and “I’ll Never Forget Thee, Dear Mary.”25
Other prominent Irish minstrel performers included George H Primrose
(real name Delaney) of Primrose and Dockstader’s minstrels, Barney Fagan,
George Christy, and Chauncey Olcott. Olcott’s career is dramatized in My
Wild Irish Rose (1947), which charts his rise from blackface entertainer to
renowned Irish tenor. This film is particularly evocative of the Irish involve-
ment in minstrelsy. When Olcott first encounters Haverly’s minstrels, they
are dressed in green coats, with an Irish manager and an Irish wrestler as
part of the troupe. Harry Kernell and Bobby Gaylor (both of whom made a
career of performing Irish characters on the stage) also performed in black-
face, as did the Russell Brothers, best known for their long-running Irish
servant girl sketch that I discuss in Chapter 5.26
Edward Harrigan, the writer and performer often credited with improv-
ing the representations of the Irish on the stage, performed in minstrel
shows, and his Mulligan Guard plays often dealt with the interactions
between Irish and black Americans. Mulligan Guard’s Surprise, for example,
includes the song “The Full Moons,” about “de secret order of Full Moons”
in which the members of the black secret order warn “Hibernians give us
room.” The chorus of the song asks the audience to “imitate dem darkies/
In de order of Full Moons” and tells them the password of the order is
“Ireland.” Touching on the racial tensions between the Irish and African
Americans, the song continues:
De object of dis order is

Not to study stars,
But prevent Irish people
From riding on the cars.27
Another Harrigan song called “Slavery Days” differs from what one
might expect of a minstrel show song. Toll notes a tendency in blackface
shows of the 1850s to represent African Americans as contented slaves and
essentially harmless, vulnerable children who need to be looked after. After
the Civil War, the emphasis of minstrel shows shifted “from Southern
plantations to Northern cities, from blacks to whites,” and in this social
criticism it was not uncommon for blackface performers to rue the end of
slavery and express concerns about the impact of the freed slaves on job
opportunities and social stability in the North.28 While the overall tone
of the song remains paternalistic, “Slavery Days” highlights the cruelty of
slavery. The singer remembers “dem years dat passed away,/ when dey tied
me up in bondage long ago” and recalls how:
Dey took away my boy, he was his mother’s joy,

From a baby in de cradle we him raise;
Oh, dey put us far apart, an’ it broke de old man’s heart,
In dem agonizing, cruel slavery days.29
Importantly, the song plays down any suggestion that the ex-slave may
seek retribution for the “misery and woe” he experienced. Instead he vows
to follow “de golden Scripture” and forget and forgive.30
The more typical representation of slavery in minstrel shows was that
of the happy slave, as seen in the song “When Us Four Coons Are Wed.”
This was written by John T. Kelly, of the vaudeville team Kelly and Ryan,
and described as “a plantation character song and dance.” It depicts the
boisterous celebrations of a wedding party:
Of all the happy darkies that ever yet was born,

There’s none that’s half so joyful, for we are crazy gone;
There’s music in the kitchen, there’s music everywhere,
Each nigger’s full of kissing, for there’s honey in the air.

Tonight we’re nearly crazy, for to-morrow am the day,
We’re going to be married and throw ourselves away,
You’ll see them all a marching—we’ll be at the head,
Dar’ll be a great commotion, when us four coons are wed.31
One possible reason why so many Irish performers entered blackface

minstrelsy is suggested by Ignatiev:
It is surely no coincidence that so many of the pioneers of blackface minstrelsy

were of Irish descent, for the Irish came disproportionately into contact with
the people whose speech, music and dance furnished the basis, however dis-
torted, for the minstrel’s art.32
In other words, the fact that both Irish and black Americans lived in
close proximity to one another in the same or neighboring areas meant
that the Irish were well placed to caricature their neighbors. Certainly the
proliferation of Irish and Irish American performers in blackface minstrel
shows suggests that the Irish were engaged in a process of learning and par-
ticipating in white America’s racial stereotypes. Going back to Hayakawa’s
point about the importance of understanding cultural stereotypes in order
to become part of that culture, the involvement of Irish Americans in
blackface minstrelsy might signal an attempt to move from an outgroup in
American society to become part of the dominant white ingroup.
While there were certainly racial tensions between the Irish and black
Americans and while it would be difficult to try to justify blackface per-
formance as anything other than entertainment that drew on inherently
racist beliefs, it is perhaps possible to suggest other reasons as to why Irish
performers may have been so keen to don the burnt cork. Lott has argued
that the Irish elements of blackface afforded immigrants “a means of
cultural representation from behind the mask.” Echoing Noel Ignatiev’s
thesis that the Irish in America had to become white, Nowatzki argues
that “Irish-American performers paradoxically signaled their whiteness
and American-ness in their use of blackface.” Toll, however, queries why
African Americans, whose numbers in minstrelsy also increased after the
Civil War, were not able to guide their stereotypes in positive directions
in the same way that the Irish were. Ultimately, he concludes that “native
white Americans had no deep-seated need to keep the Irish in ‘their place’
or to justify the place they were kept in as they did with blacks.” Through
minstrelsy the Irish were able not only to influence and redefine their own
“place,” they were also able to reinforce the “place” of black Americans.33
ETHNIC “CROSS-DRESSING” IN VAUDEVILLE
Charles Musser has referred to the performance of one ethnicity by another

in vaudeville and early cinema as “ethnic cross-dressing” and cites as one
example of this the Jewish vaudeville performer George Fuller Golden,
who adopted an Irish brogue and made a career performing monologues
about his friend Casey.34 The fact that ethnicity in vaudeville was flexi-
ble and unstable is well illustrated by “The Hibernian Ballet Dancers,” a
song performed by the Irish vaudeville team Kelly and Ryan, known as the
Bards of Tara. The song begins:
I see you all laugh at us, and wonder who we are,

Like all the rest you think that we are French;
For we’re styled on the bills Mons. and Mlle. Cham de Marr,
But our real names is Mike and Mary Lynch.
My father was an Irishman, but he led a German band.35
Variety and vaudeville theatre relied heavily on stereotypes to enable

performers to present easily recognizable characters without investing too
much time on exposition. Almost all ethnic and social groups in America
were subject to this stereotyping, whether to a greater or lesser extent. The
Saturday Evening Post in 1922 reminisced about the golden age of vaude-
ville. Initially, according to this article, the predominant comic character
on the variety stage was German. This character, however, soon gave way
to the stage Irishman whose “blunder [and] volatile humor” the writer
describes as “irresistible.” The writer recalls:
the Irish impersonator was applauded and undisturbed until he forfeited sup-
port by his exaggerations; until Irish-Americans revolted at the extravagance
of green whiskers and egg-sized lumps raised on bald heads by cave-man shil-
lalahs [sic]: after which the Irishman in turn gave way to the stage Jews.36
The notion that stereotypes of one ethnic group replaced those of

another is supported by an 1899 article in the Salt Lake Herald, noting
that Jewish characters were replacing caricatures of African Americans and
the Irish on the stage. It suggested that “for every good Irish or negro
story that is told on the stage at present, you hear at least ten good Jew
jokes.” One variety theatre manager insisted that “Irish sketches have been
so done to death that, unless they are exceptionally good, audiences don’t
take to them now.” Hinting at the role audience protests may have had in
this development, the manager suggested that one reason for the increasing
popularity of Jewish characters on the stage was that Jewish audiences were
“much more ready to laugh at themselves” than the Irish were.37
It is clear then that the Irish were not the only group to be stereotyped
by vaudeville performers. Dutch or German characters were also com-
mon, and by the 1880s and 1890s, as “new” immigrants from Italy and
Eastern Europe began to arrive in America in greater numbers, Italian and
Jewish characters began to replace the Irish and Germans in vaudeville
songs and sketches. Black Americans, of course, continued to be repre-
sented by white performers in blackface as vaudeville continued the tradi-
tions of the minstrel show. Vaudeville performers often assumed multiple
ethnic and racial identities in their shows. The Polish-born team of Weber
and Fields, for example, began their careers performing in blackface, in
Dutch and Irish costumes and speaking in various dialects. Their opening
theme song would announce “Here we are a colored pair,” “an Irish pair,”
or a “Dutch pair” as appropriate. However, as Cullen points out, what-
ever the costume and the dialect, their knockabout act was essentially the
same each time. Similarly when Mrs Maas’s Troupe appeared in the Opera
House in Columbia, South Carolina, the local newspaper was impressed
by Mr Maas’s performances as “a perfect darkey, an inimitable Dutchman,
[and] a rollicking Irishman.” An act called The Columbian Four appeared
on stage doing “clever imitations” of Chinese, English, German, Irish,
Scotch, and African Americans.38
Many non-Irish performers built a career out of their “Irish” stage per-
sonas. Johnny and Emma Ray performed together in a “diverting little
absurdity” entitled Casey the Fireman. In this sketch, Casey is mistaken for
someone else by “a lady of quality” and invited for dinner. During the meal
Casey buttered his bread with a carving knife, drank wine from a cham-
pagne bucket, and “played the ignoramus in a dozen other foolish ways.”
A review of the sketch was generally positive, although it concluded that
it was little more than “a mere peg for Johnny Ray to hang his basket of
Irish specialties upon.” Ray himself was not Irish—he was born in Wales
and came to the United States at fourteen. Nora Bayes, who popularized
the song “Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly” and had a “genuine Irish voice”
was born Leonora Goldberg to German parents. According to Staples, in
her study of male-female vaudeville teams, non-immigrant teams often
performed in acts that drew on Irish or other immigrant experiences.39
Being Irish in vaudeville was far from a hindrance. The Irish play-
wright Dion Boucicault noted in 1877 that the Irish “are more popular
in the theatre than ever. Young actors and singers take Irish names for
the benefit of the fashion.” There are some interesting examples of this
in the world of variety and vaudeville. Walter van Brunt was a singer and
vaudeville performer who made a career out of impersonating Irish ten-
ors. He eventually assumed the name of Walter Scanlan after a deceased
Irish tenor. When he was later charged with bigamy, the judge in the case
declared that he should have taken the name of a bad actor because “he
may sing Irish songs, but the Irish are a pretty decent people as a rule.” The
first African American Broadway star and writer of the hit minstrel song
“All Coons Look Alike to Me” was born Reuben Crowders but changed
his name to Ernest Hogan to take advantage of the popularity of Irish per-
formers in minstrelsy. Joe Laurie Jr. also refers to the black vaudeville team
of Murphy and Francis, who billed themselves as “Though Irish by Name
We’re Coons by Nature.” When this team performed their “Real Coon
Habits” in the Orpheum in Los Angeles in 1905, the LA Herald promised
that they would give “pictures of the ‘cullud gemman’ as he is, not as the
usual blackface paints him.”40
Based on the synopses of the American-produced films listed in
Rockett’s Irish Filmography for the decade from 1896 to 1905, eleven seem
to have been concerned at least in part with ethnic or racial interactions.
Dutch and Irish Politics (Lubin: 1903) and How Murphy Paid His Rent
(Lubin: 1903), for example, are described as drawing on an “old story”—
tensions between German and Irish immigrants. That the plot of both
films is referred to as an “old story” might point to its prevalence in vaude-
ville sketches of the late nineteenth century. In 1870, Tony Pastor’s Opera
House staged A Dutchman in Ireland. Programs for Pastor’s Broadway
Theatre for 1878 include the sketches Germany vs. Ireland and Unwelcome
Visitors, both featuring characters called Krausmeyer and Maloney. In
1880, Pastor’s theatre staged Go West or The Emigrant Palace Car, which
his company then took on tour later the same year as Go West on the
Emigrant Train. In his biography of Tony Pastor, Fields writes that “more
than any other skit to date, ethnic humor dominated” and that the touring
version of the play “introduce[d] a new kind of ethnic comedy to audi-
ences around the country.” The play’s cast of ethnic characters included
Heffernan Mulvany, an emigrant from Ireland, and Hans Munchauser, an
emigrant from Germany, together with their wives Bridget and Katerina.
The enmity between the two ethnic groups is used for comedy effect when,
in confusion over a lost trunk, Heffernan knocks Hans overboard, declar-
ing that “another bath’ll take the smell of Sour Krout [sic] off him.”41
In the song “Pat and the Dutchman,” Pat, an Irish fisherman, rescues
a shipwrecked German sailor. Because the sailor “of English or Irish knew
not C from D” and “Paddy knew nothing out of his own tongue,” the two
communicate through signs. Pat later catches the sailor kissing his wife.
He demands to know why she didn’t try to stop him and she replies “how
could I . . . when I couldn’t speak Dutch.”42 The Irish-sounding performers
Murphy and Shannon, described as “the original German team,” sang a
Dutch character song entitled “How Differend Dings Will Be” in which
the German protagonist vows to do things differently the next time he
marries. Interestingly the things he promises not to do in future echo some
of the stereotypical traits of Irish men as represented in vaudeville:
Upon my own wird I’ll never flirt,

Nor go out on a spree.
Und should we have some disturbunce
In our small leedle family,
Instead of being mad und being sad,
I’ll call my wife to me.43
As I shall illustrate in Chapter 4, flirting, going out drinking (“on a

spree”), and encountering domestic difficulties are often associated with
Irish men. Whether Murphy and Shannon were actually Irish or sim-
ply adopted Irish-sounding names is unknown. However, this song sug-
gests that flirting and drinking were not perceived as universally Irish
traits. Rather they were perhaps seen as more generally immigrant and
un-American behaviors. Of course, if Murphy and Shannon were them-
selves Irish, it may be possible to argue that this was a case of Irish perform-
ers taking a typical representation of Irish masculinity and applying it to
another ethnic group.
The relationship between Jewish and Irish Americans provided much
subject matter for later Hollywood films. According to Meagher, between
1921 and 1930, twenty-two films featured Irish Jewish relationships,
including The Cohens and the Kellys (1926) and its various sequels, and
the film version of the stage play Abie’s Irish Rose (1927). With their sub-
ject matter of intermarriage and interaction between two of the largest
ethnic groups in America, Thomas Cripps has argued that “by the end
of the silent era, the symbolic marriage of Jew and Irishman outstripped
all other ethnic themes.” For Cripps, these Irish Jewish relationship films
reinforced Hollywood’s assimilationist ideology showing as they did the
union between young, Americanized, later generation immigrants, and
that through them studios were able to “put the traditional vaudeville ste-
reotypes in the service of Americanization.”44
Irish and Jewish relationships and interactions formed the basis of a num-
ber of vaudeville acts and sketches. The play Casey’s Wife began touring in
1898. Suggesting that this was one of the first such plays to feature Jewish
and Irish interactions, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in March 1899 referred to
the play as “a rather novel idea in combining Irish and Hebrew characters in
equal numbers.” Described as a “Celtic-Hebraic comedy,” the play centred
on the marriage of Roderick Casey Jr. to Rebecca Levinsky. Drawing on
a common racial stereotype, a program for the play notes that Rebecca’s
“race as Casey’s wife is lost by a nose.” Stereotypical Irish characters and
themes are also hinted at—Roderick Casey Sr., the program notes, has been
involved in some trouble with real estate and the play includes the character
Dennis Shea, “the Alderman, whose pull isn’t strong enough to extricate
Casey.” At one point a horse falls onto the stage as the result of an explosion.
The character of the miserly Levinsky hurries to take off its shoes before it is
carted away.45 A summary of the plot is given in the Daily Eagle:
Casey’s tribulations arise from the notion that on a spree he has been married
to one of the Hebrew charmers, a point about which his memory is hazy but his
fears are extremely active. Both an aged and plain Israelite and her young and
prepossessing daughter play upon these fears by insisting that he has married
each of them in turn, thus rousing before Casey’s mind visions of Sing Sing on
a charge of bigamy.46
A similar theme occurs in the 1903 play The Irish Pawnbrokers. Here the
humor seems to have arisen from the mismatching of ethnic traits and ste-
reotypes. It featured two “typical Irishmen of the better class [as] partners
in the pawnbroking business,” a business typically associated with Jewish
immigrants. The play centres on a case of mistaken identity between a
father and son, both called Levi Murphy, and a mother and daughter, both
named Angelena O’Flaherty. This mismatching of Jewish and Irish names
again suggests that the play’s humor derived from the clash of Irish and
Jewish cultures and ethnic stereotypes. A similar play on expectations can
be seen in the song “Levi Kassiday.” Kassiday is “a primo judge of Dublin
wine” and has a nose “as bright as the red blue sky.” The song is of the type
that appears to be fairly standard in vaudeville, insisting that “a man you’ll
never find/ like Levi Kassiday.” But again, as with The Irish Pawnbrokers,
the pairing of the Jewish name Levi and the Irish name Cassidy (or in
this case Kassiday) is significant. Certainly it might have been humorous
to contemporary audiences, but more deeply it hints at and appears to
promote an assimilationist agenda. Sketches and plays like these seem to
suggest that in America the pairing of Irish and Jewish immigrants is pos-
sible and that their separate ethnic identities can be merged into something
altogether more American.47
In the second decade of the 1900s, the vaudeville team Morris and
Allen performed an act that also appears to have drawn its humor from
pulling various disparate ethnicities together. They were described as “two
Jews singing Irish songs with a little talk and some bagpipe playing” and
apparently appeared on stage in kilts and “Hebe make-up.”48 A contem-
porary description of the pair’s act suggests that this melding of ethnic
characteristics was brought about by necessity:
[Morris and Allen] hit upon a novel idea to overcome the violent antagonism
of a few years ago against Hebrew actors, having fun by exaggerating Irish
traits and physiognomy. This animosity almost assumed riot proportions when
a team billed as O’Brien and Casey were revealed to be Hebrews after their
Galways and T. D. pipes had been torn from their faces. Instead of trying to
look Irish, Morris and Allen employ whiskers, gestures and a style of over-the-
ears plug hat wearing to make them resemble collar button vendors in evening
clothes sufficiently correct to be worn by a Rothschild. But where does the Irish
come in, you inquire? It’s no riddle. They sing Irish songs.49
The Irish character was such a staple feature of vaudeville that even
Yiddish-language theatres featured Irish character sketches. An article
from the New York Dramatic Mirror in 1903 reports that in a recent pro-
gram shown at one of these houses, a sketch appeared entitled Dooley the
Hod Carrier. The performers “were made up as monkey-faced Irishmen,
with carroty whiskers, and spoke with what sounded like an Irish brogue,
although the dialogue was in Yiddish.” This act seemed to go down well—
the paper reports that “the jests that were emphasized with skull-cracking
and knockabout business were wildly applauded. They wound up the spe-
cialty by singing ‘Mr Dooley’ in Yiddish, and were encored repeatedly.”50
Up until now, this chapter has examined the role of Irish performers
in representations of other groups, and the involvement of performers of
other ethnicities and nationalities in the portrayal of Irishness on the stage.
However, if Irish characters in vaudeville were being portrayed by Irish or
Irish American performers, is it the case that these acts might have a differ-
ent significance than those performed by native-born Americans? Might
Irish performers have utilized the platform offered by vaudeville to mold or
steer Irish stereotypes in more positive directions? In much the same way
that Irish sports fans today dress as leprechauns complete with giant green
hats and fake red beards, it may be possible to see the same ironic approach
to Irish stereotypes in vaudeville if these were being performed to a sig-
nificant degree by the Irish themselves. These stereotypes might have been
exaggerated by Irish performers to such an extent that they were rendered
ludicrous, impossible to be taken seriously. On the other hand, Irish per-

formers may have sought to soften already established stereotypes, using
their own background in an attempt to put forward depictions of the Irish
that they could claim were more “realistic” and that presented a safer, reas-
suring, and more positive image of the Irish community in America.
There is evidence to suggest that both performers and audiences recog-
nized these issues. On April 28, 1887, the Irish vaudeville team of Barry
and Fay were performing their comic sketch McSwiggan’s Parliament in
McCaull’s Opera House, Philadelphia. In the second act of the play, the title
character falls into an alcoholic stupor and dreams that he is King of Ireland.
He resolves to blow up the rest of the world, declaring himself “a campaigner,
a dynamiter, a moonshiner/and everything that’s bad.” Following the explo-
sion only Ireland remains. Members of the Irish parliament, dressed in green
togas and with King McSwiggan at their head, propose various pieces of leg-
islation, including the confiscation of all English property and demands that
“the Chinese must go.” According to the New York Sun, one of the members
of McSwiggan’s parliament “had carmine hair and a nose that looked like a
large carrot.” These features, indicative of the exaggerated stage Irishman,
together with the play’s treatment of the political aims of Irish nationalists,
provoked anger among Irish Americans in the audience and they began to
hiss and throw eggs and fruit at the stage.51
Both Barry and Fay tried to defend the play and their performances on
the basis that they themselves were Irish. Hugh Fay argued, “I’m a member
of Clan-na-Gael, and I or my partner did not mean to offend them or any
other Irish society.” Billy Barry reiterated his partner’s point:
I’m Irish to the backbone; so is Fay. We wouldn’t offend the Irish people know-
ingly. It’s unfortunate. The people didn’t seem to understand that we were
illustrating an Irishman’s dream—an Irishman like O’Donovan Rossa, a dyna-
miter, whom every good Irishman has no respect for.52
Ultimately the play was cancelled, with the manager of the theatre
declaring that “the people are so agitated over Ireland’s wrongs that it is
not safe to have a play produced that is a burlesque of them.”53
A similar response was provoked fifteen years later when, in December
1902, various Irish societies in Waterbury, Connecticut, protested against
the “extreme caricatures” of Irish men in vaudeville. At the city’s Jacques
Opera House, two vaudeville actors were chased from the stage, one of
whom had played the part of “a crazy Irishman, with red Galway whis-
kers, an exaggerated brogue and green waistcoat.” What made this insult
even worse, it seems, is that this actor was himself Irish, a man named
Sullivan from Cork. Each of these incidents illustrates an important ques-
tion regarding the performance of ethnic stereotypes. Is it more acceptable
for an Irish performer to portray a stereotyped representation of the Irish
than, say, an English performer? Certainly Barry and Fay seemed to think
so, as did a correspondent to the New York Times in May 1902. In a letter
entitled “The Stage Irishman” the writer complains that, “when portrayed
by some fat-witted Englishman, as it usually is, [the character] is at once
monstrous and disgusting in the extreme.” On the other hand, he points
out that in America “the character of Pat is nearly always intrusted [sic] to
a son of the green isle,” a fact that, he suggests, imbues the stage Irishman
with humor and good nature. For Irish American organizations like Clan
na Gael and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, however, the participation
of Irish performers in crude Irish stereotypes seemed to add salt to the
wounds.54
IRISH PERFORMERS AND IRISH ACTS IN VAUDEVILLE
Vaudeville and variety performers, certainly from the early period of my

study, have now largely passed from memory. Where information is avail-
able, it tends to be drawn from contemporary advertising, recollections,
and memoirs or secondary material. Although in some cases these do refer
to a performer’s ethnic origins it is more often the case that they don’t.
Recent publications such as Anthony Slide’s Encyclopedia of Vaudeville
(1994) and Armond Fields’ Women Vaudeville Stars (2006) do include bio-
graphical detail where it is available. In addition to the lack of biographical
detail, another important consideration is the way in which “Irishness” was
defined in nineteenth-century America.
I have identified a few variety and vaudeville performers it seems were
actually born in Ireland. The comedian Billy Barry, whose performance
in McSwiggan’s Parliament provoked protests, was born in Ireland around
1850 and brought to New York as a young child. Barry appeared on stage
in Canterbury Hall in Washington DC during the Civil War and then
again in Detroit in 1868. He joined Tony Pastor’s company at the Bowery
Theatre in 1872 and teamed up first with Harry Kernell and later with
Hugh Fay. As Barry and Fay they played in the Irish farce Muldoon’s
Picnic. When Fay died in 1894, Barry continued on his own, appearing
in plays such as McKenna’s Flirtations, Bradley’s Money, and, with much
success, Rising Generation, which apparently earned him between $60,000
and $70,000 per season. According to a notice about that play in the
Scranton Tribune, Barry could “justly be called the leading Irish come-
dian of America” with his performances being “not only irresistibly funny
but [also] thoroughly natural and artistic.”55 In a review of the same play,
The Times described Barry as “an old favorite among our comedians.” The
review continued:
Mr Barry’s name in this play is Martin McShane, and he is an Irishman with a

brogue and a dudeen. The Irishman lives in, and about, New York, where, after
Ireland, his nation is most at home and during the course of the play he finds
himself rich and the fun begins.56
I will discuss in more detail how vaudeville addressed the rising Irish
American middle class in later chapters. However, I cite this example now
because I believe it illustrates an important point. Although he was born in
Ireland and was billed as an “Irish comedian,” by the end of the nineteenth
century, Barry was perceived, by at least some Americans, as one of “our
comedians.”
The majority of Irish vaudeville performers for whom biographical
information exists were not born in Ireland. The performers that Cullen
refers to as “the three grand old Irish Americans of the nineteenth-century
musical stage” were just that—Irish Americans. According to Cullen,
Edward Harrigan, Eddie Foy, and Pat Rooney Sr. “helped transform the
stage Irishman from the red-nosed, belligerent, comic drunk of variety
saloons into a more natural representative of his ethnic stock, a more fully
rounded character of foibles and fun.”57
Harrigan’s father was a second-generation Irish Protestant from
Newfoundland and his mother was a Yankee. The family of Eddie Foy
(born Edwin Fitzgerald) came to the United States from Ireland in 1855
and he was born the following year. Pat Rooney Sr. was born in England
to Irish parents in 1848 and came to America sometime in the late 1860s
or early 1870s. While I am not suggesting that Harrigan, Foy, and Rooney
cannot be considered as “Irish,” it is important to remember that the lives
and outlook of all three performers were likely shaped at least as much
by their experiences in America than by their Irish background. Of the
three, perhaps Foy’s early experiences most closely resembled that of mid-
nineteenth-century Irish immigrants in America. Like many Irish families
in America, Foy’s was fatherless, his father having died in an insane asy-
lum in 1862. Eddie began dancing and performing as a young boy and
at sixteen teamed up with Jack Finnegan. Despite appearing as a typical
Irish double act in whiskers and plug hats and performing Irish songs and
dances, Fitzgerald and Finnegan decided to use less obviously Irish stage
names and instead performed under the names of Edwards and Foy.58
While it is difficult to be certain about the biographical details of vari-
ety and vaudeville performers, there is no doubt that by 1865 Irish acts
were a familiar and popular feature on both the “legitimate” and the vari-
ety stage in America. In 1859, J. H. Ogden, one of the first Irish song and
dance men to appear in variety theatres, played to full houses in New York,
Philadelphia, and Washington for the then princely sum of $60 a week. By
1877, the song and dance team of Kelly and Ryan was commanding $150
a week. By the time variety’s more refined cousin, vaudeville, became the
most popular form of entertainment in the United States, Snyder suggests
that Irish acts were “a striking presence.” According to Joe Laurie Jr. the
majority of the early variety performers in America were Irish or German
and 95 percent of all two-men acts in the early days of variety were Irish.
Gilbert suggests that as variety transformed into vaudeville, Irish acts also
predominated, followed by blackface and Dutch or German dialect acts.59
Although stage depictions of the Irish in the nineteenth century tend
largely to be viewed as exaggerated and crude stereotypes, there is some
evidence to suggest that by the second half of the century, contemporary
audiences were tiring of the typical “stage Irish” acts. Barney Williams, for
example, was born Bernard O’Flaherty and appeared with his wife as “the
Irish and Yankee comedy couple.”60 Reviews of their acts would suggest
that, while enjoying a stereotypical portrayal of Irish characters, audiences
also appreciated it when such stereotypes were performed in a measured
way. According to an 1863 review:
There is now in this country no actor who assumes the rollicking Irish charac-
ters, which our people so delight in, that can at all be compared to Mr Williams.
He has made the language, the habits, the ideas, the national prejudices, and
peculiarities of the Celt, a thoughtful study.61
In July 1864, Dan Bryant, already an established blackface performer,

appeared in New York’s Wallack’s Theatre in a play entitled The Irish
Emigrant. As reported in the Daily National Republic, under the heading “A
New Irish Comedian,” the show was a success with the New York Evening
Post claiming that “without exaggeration or vulgar burlesque, [Bryant]
kept his hearers constantly bubbling over with laughter by his quiet and
faithful, yet intensely amusing, delineations of the raw Irish ‘greenhorn.’”
In August 1864, when J. H Ogden performed at the Canterbury theatre in
Washington DC, a local newspaper told the public to “expect something

refreshing in the way of genuine Irish wit and satire.” In January 1874,
New York’s Theatre Comique had a sketch entitled Keegan’s Tailor’s Shop,
which portrayed “with a broad pencil the contrast between the American
Irish and the old-fashioned folks of the Emerald Isle.” The character of
an old Irish woman was apparently particularly noteworthy, as she was
“played with such fidelity and broad humor as to create peals of laughter
and applause.” Although these newspaper reports may have amounted to
little more than advertisements for performers and theatres, nevertheless
these examples would seem to suggest that as early as the 1860s a more
positive, sympathetic portrayal of Irish immigrants was being welcomed
by audiences and the press. Interestingly, Dormon notes a similar phe-
nomenon in the vaudeville stereotypes of the new Italian and Jewish immi-
grants in the 1880s and 1890s, and cites a number of examples of Jewish
acts in particular receiving praise for being “true to life.”62
This trend continues into the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century. The Philadelphia-born Kernell Brothers—Harry and John—
performed a comedy and song-and-dance act throughout the 1870s and
1880s that was clearly very popular. They appeared in many of the major
vaudeville houses, and Harry in particular was praised for his more sympa-
thetic and refined Irish characterization and realistic Irish accent. Looking
back on their act in 1901, the St Paul Globe remembered fondly their Irish
stories that “have never been equaled in humor or style by any vaudeville
team.” The brothers both moved into management, and Harry toured with
his own vaudeville company in the late 1880s and 1890s.63 In December
1891, Harry’s company played at the Lyceum Theatre in Washington DC.
A flavor of his own style of Irish act can be gleaned from the local press:
Mr Kernell is a favorite and an acknowledged Irish comedian, whose imper-

sonations are marked with refinement and are classed among the most artistic
portrayal of character on the variety stage. He has mastered the dialect of the
north of Ireland and made a thorough study of the native character and presents
several characterizations in which he is probably unequalled. Mr Kernell always
brings out the happy side of Irish life, selecting characters that possess the merit
of quaintness, and avoiding the typical buffoon, for whom no apology can be
made, and who, in fact, has nothing to do with the wittiest race in the world. He
has, in a measure, raised the Irish character to the position it enjoys on the stage
and will long be associated with the best impersonations of his time.64
That Harry Kernell’s act differed markedly from the usual vaude-
ville Irishman is reiterated in a review in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which
considered that “his idea of the Irishman is agreeably different from that of
variety show tradition—a bellicose person, incessantly lunging about him
with clubs, fists and boots, and seeming to find pleasure only in hurting
somebody.” When he died in March 1893, the obituaries remembered his
act with similar fondness. His North of Ireland dialect was “remarkably
true” and his costume was that of a “sedate” Irishman in “silk hat, high col-
lar and ‘ribbon’ whiskers.” Another credited him with inventing “the mod-
ern Irishman, with a high hat, frock-coat, side-whiskers, a quiet manner
and a North of Ireland dialect,” whose “jokes, songs and dances . . . never
Figure 2.2 Harry Kernell.

Figure 2.3 John Kernell.

o’erstepped the modesty of Irish nature” and who “abhorred the stuffed
stick and slap and dash style of acting.” The Kernells’ act, though, did not
eschew the stereotypical stage Irishman altogether. It would appear that
Harry’s more genteel Irish type was offset by his brother who would appear
onstage with a red wig and speak in a broad brogue.65
The Kernell Brothers are an interesting case in point when it comes to
pinning down the ethnic background of vaudeville performers. An article
written about the brothers’ act in 1922 questioned whether Harry and John
were really brothers and referred to both of them as Irish. This prompted
Harry’s son to respond that “although they were proud of the Irish blood
that flowed through their veins, they both were fortunate enough to be
born in Philadelphia, which, I would say, made them Americans.” As I
have shown, much of the publicity material relating to their act refers
to them as North of Ireland comedians or remarks on their North of
Ireland dialect. Yet two of the existing songsters that bear their names,
Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster (1875) and The Kernells’ Sidewalk
Conversation Songster (1880), give no suggestion of how this might have
manifested itself on stage. Certainly there is no evidence of any politi-
cal or religious significance to their North of Ireland act. Indeed the first
song in Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster, which it notes was sung by
Kernell himself, is entitled “Clarence McGowan’s Troubles” and begins
with the lines “Here I am an Irishman/ From Ireland I came.” In 1881
and 1882, Harry played the title role in Muldoon’s Picnic. The play does
seem to draw material from sectarian differences, but it is Kernell, that
“North of Ireland” comedian, who plays the part of an Irish Catholic.
In the sketch, the Reverend Brown is asked to go to Muldoon’s house
to christen his baby. When Muldoon discovers that he is Presbyterian,
“Muldoon and Mulcahey, who are both drunk . . . beat him unmercifully.”
All the Presbyterian ministers in the neighborhood gather on the day of
Muldoon’s picnic to avenge the beating. “A rough-and-tumble fight ensues
which terminates the piece.” Despite the impression given by this plot syn-
opsis, the Buffalo Evening News considered that Kernell’s Muldoon was “a
severe, dignified Irishman . . . worthy of Harrigan himself.”66
It is difficult to ascertain, then, the nature of the Kernells’ North of
Ireland act. In the songs and sketches about which information is avail-
able, Harry Kernell seems to portray a relatively straightforward version of
Irishness. It may be that he adopted a North of Ireland dialect to differen-
tiate his act from the many other Irish vaudeville performers, but there is
no evidence to suggest a political or religious element to his act. However,
Harry Kernell was not entirely alone in utilizing a North of Ireland dialect.
In St Paul, Minnesota in 1880, Pet Cummings appeared as part of Nellie
Harris’s Novelty Company and Female Minstrels and was billed as “the
greatest of all North Ireland’s comedians.” The New York Clipper mentions
that one Patrick Neeson “long ago attained note as a delineator of North-
of-Ireland eccentricities.” A one-time partner of Edward Harrigan, Sam
Rickey’s specialty was also a North of Ireland dialect.67
Like Harry Kernell, a number of other performers were praised for their
realistic treatment of the Irish. In March 1898, Gilmore and Leonard,
“Ireland’s Kings,” appeared in St Paul, Minnesota, in Hogan’s Alley,

described by the local newspaper as “a feature taken from real life.” In
April 1898, when they appeared at the Linden Theatre in Scranton, Ohio,
the local newspaper welcomed Morton and Slater’s Irish comedy sketch as
“really what it purports to be, something rare in these days of misfit Irish
vaudeville tongues.” In 1899, the Irish comedians Conroy and McDonald
played at Proctor’s under the billing “The Celtic Comedy Kings.” They
were also billed as “Great Character Comedians.” Little information
remains about the detail of their act, other than that it was a “refined act
of Hibernian fun.”68 Writing in 1905, the Irish comedian Mark Murphy,
who performed in vaudeville with his wife, described his own desire to
faithfully represent Irish characters in his sketches:
Readers of Puck and Judge, and patrons of melodrama and burlesque, must
believe that a real Irishman talks with a mouthful of mush and wears green
whiskers. I am one of those Hibernians who makes it his business to combat
this general belief. I am Irish naturally and my wife is Irish artificially. We have
lived among the Irish all our lives, and have yet to hear the real Irishman say
“phat” or “phor.” I have too much respect for my kind to burlesque them.69
Bobby Gaylor was another variety performer who seemed to make a

career playing a more refined type of Irish character. A photograph of
Gaylor from 1904 shows him dressed in a plaid suit and hat, his overcoat
and cane suggesting a higher class of Irishman. The accompanying arti-
cle describes Gaylor as an Irish impersonator who “develops the humorous
characteristics of the highest type of Irish American citizen.” Gaylor began
his career in variety theatres out West, appearing in Dodge City in 1878.
By 1888, however, he was performing in a variety show at New York’s Star
theatre where he revealed “a new type of stage Irishman.” Shortly afterward
Gaylor moved away from vaudeville to perform in full length comedies,
although in some cases these appear to have utilized Gaylor’s reputation as a
variety comedian. In 1889 he appeared in a production of Dion Boucicault’s
play After Dark at the People’s Theatre in New York. Gaylor’s role in this
play, however, seemed to draw on his experience as a variety performer—he
played an Irish comedian in a scene set in an English music hall and also
took part in a sparring contest. His popularity as an Irish comedian grew
so that by 1893 Dion Boucicault apparently considered Gaylor “one of the
best and most natural stage Irishmen I ever saw.” In the early 1890s, Gaylor
also appeared in the lead roles in An Irish Arab, in which he played the part
of a vizier with “the most intensely Irish mannerism and facial make-up,”
and Sport McAllister, a satire on New York politics.70
In contrast to the “sedate” Irishman performed by Harry Kernell, the

“refined” Celtic humor of Conroy and McDonald, and Bobby Gaylor’s
“highest type” of Irish American, a photograph of the vaudeville team
Murray and Mack in the Paducah Evening Sun reminds us that the popular-
ity of such acts did not completely replace the stereotypical stage Irishman.
Murray and Mack have somewhat simian features and Galway Sluggers. The
photograph was used to advertise their show Around the Town, described in
the same article as “a typical Murray and Mack entertainment—full of girls,
pretty scenery, costumes, and appropriate lighting effects” and “not over-
burdened” with plot. Their other shows included Finnegan’s Ball, advertised
as a “whirlwind of Irish fun,” the farce comedy Finnegan’s Courtship, and
Shooting the Chutes. It seems that this particular brand of comedy proved
successful for the two performers. In 1903 the Yakima Herald reported that
the team’s first year performing Finnegan’s Ball earned them over $75,000.
The same article carries an illustration for another of their performances, A
Night on Broadway, which shows a cartoon of the two comedians dressed in
plaid suits and plug hats being led away by a policeman.71
Dan McAvoy’s career also serves as an interesting counterpoint to the
more refined Irish characters praised by the contemporary press. McAvoy
appeared onstage with his wife in the team McAvoy and May and after her
death continued to perform both in vaudeville and in legitimate theatre.
McAvoy’s act seems to have been of the slapstick variety—during one per-
formance he began to throw pillows about the stage and it was reported
that they hit the musicians. An article entitled “A Long, Sad Farewell” from
Broadway Weekly hints, in its sarcastic tone, at the way in which McAvoy’s
turn in the legitimate theatre was viewed by at least some writers:
It is with trembling lips, moist eyes and a wild clutching of the heart that
Broadway Weekly learns of the great catastrophe to Broadway and the entire
metropolis. Mr Daniel McAvoy is to leave “Mr Bluebeard.” Mr McAvoy has,
by his quiet refined methods, his high-class comedy, his total lack of facial
contortion and his sweet, melodious voice, entwined himself around the heart
of every lover of all that is best on the American stage . . . there is, after all, only
one sweet, shrinking and ever fragrant dramatic flower—Mr Daniel McAvoy.
So long, Mr McAvoy; we’ll try to stand it.72
One particular incident in McAvoy’s career is fascinating in terms of

popular reaction to the stage Irishman. In 1904 McAvoy was involved in a
legal wrangle over his play His Honor, The Mayor of the Bowery, described
in one clipping as “a hodge-podge of nonsense, a sort of vaudeville farce.”73
McAvoy was scheduled to perform his play at New York’s Fourteenth Street
theatre but the manager, J. Wesley Rosenquest, cancelled the performance.

Rosenquest insisted in court that he had cancelled the play merely because it
was bad. McAvoy, however, cited other reasons for the play’s cancellation. In
December 1904 he threatened to sue Rosenquest for accusing him of making
“a baboon out of an Irishman.” McAvoy offered a $10,000 bet, insisting:
I never wore any green whiskers, red whiskers, or any whiskers whatever on the
stage during the only three performances yet given of His Honor, the Mayor of
the Bowery . . . I will bet anybody that amount of money that I never wore any
make-up on my face—whiskers, grease paint, or anything else. I didn’t even
wear a wig.74
In addition, McAvoy insisted that his costume was merely “exaggerated

evening clothes,” that the play wasn’t even an Irish play, rather a farce com-
edy, and that the only Irish character was the title character, Dennis O’Brien.
McAvoy claimed to be upset by the accusation that he had created a “dis-
graceful, flannel-mouthed burlesque on [his] own race.” Referring to a lith-
ograph put forward by Rosenquest in support of his decision to cancel the
play, McAvoy argued that “it was simply an artist’s idea of an Irish Indian”:
We went to a lithographer and asked him to get up a burlesque on a stage

Indian with Indian feathers, blanket and that sort of thing. None of us ever
imagined the artist would give us an Indian with whiskers and an Irish face.75
McAvoy threatened to file $10,000 damages for slander against

Rosenquest, for “declaring that I have a monkey face.” McAvoy insisted that
he had not worn any makeup or green whiskers for the part—“there are some
lengths to which even burlesque cannot go, and that is one of them.”76
The dispute between McAvoy and Rosenquest highlights how conten-
tious the issue of Irish representations on the stage had become by the early
twentieth century. One newspaper reported the row under the headline
“McAvoy’s Face Is A Legal Issue: Fiery Whiskers Surrounding a Simian
Physiognomy are Perilous to Mr Rosenquest’s Theatre . . . Riot Might
Follow Play.” The article refers to Rosenquest’s concern that McAvoy’s
performance might have provoked a riot, particularly as the lithograph
of McAvoy made up as an Indian “looked more like a baboon than
McAvoy disguised as the big chief of an amusement enterprise.” McAvoy,
meanwhile, was keen to convince Judge Fitzgerald (presumably an Irish
American himself) “that he did not hold the race up to public ridicule.”77
This incident clearly illustrates that by 1904, unflattering portrayals of
the Irish on the stage were becoming increasingly unacceptable. Indeed,
in January 1905 The Gaelic American wrote about McAvoy’s forthcoming

appearance in the same play in distinctly threatening terms. Declaring
that audience members were entitled to hiss if a performance displeased
them and that “the right to pelt rotten eggs or to thrash a ruffian on the
stage” was equal to “the sacred right of insurrection against intolerable tyr-
anny,” the paper continues in fairly incendiary terms:
Revolutions are not made with rosewater, and the stage Irishman—the ape, the
gorilla, or the chimpanzee paraded as a type of the Irish race—will not take him-
self to the manure heap where he properly belongs on a mere gentle remonstrance
or a verbal protest, no matter how strong. Ruffianism anywhere can only be put
down with the strong hand, and the stage Irishman will be put down, even if it
takes broken arms, fractured skulls, fines and imprisonment to do it.78
Figure 2.4 Dan McAvoy: “Fiery whiskers surrounding a simian physiognomy.”

Source: Dan McAvoy clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1376.
Through this call to arms, The Gaelic American hoped to bring the
stage Irishman “nearer to the beginning of the end.” 79
It wasn’t only male Irish acts that were a major presence on the vaude-
ville stage. Irish female acts, performing either alone or with male part-
ners, were also common. I will look in detail at the way Irish women were
portrayed in vaudeville in Chapter 5. However, it is worth mentioning
here some of those female performers who appeared regularly on stage
in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Maggie Cline, “the Irish
Queen,” is perhaps the most well known of the solo female Irish American
vaudeville performers. She performed throughout the golden age of vaude-
ville in the 1880s and 1890s and was particularly famous for her signature
tune “Throw Him Down, McCloskey.” According to Fields, Cline’s act
“appealed to the popular audience of the day, Irish men who enjoyed her
rough-and-tumble songs, Irish brogues and comic skits.”80
A contemporary of Cline, Annie Hart was born in Dublin and first
appeared on stage in 1873, using “the Celtic dialect with comical effect”
in her performances. Returning to the stage in the 1900s, Hart provoked
nostalgic thoughts for the variety theatre of the past. When she appeared at
Pastor’s in June 1903, she “was a reminiscence of the days of the early 70s,
when vaudeville was called ‘variety’ and there were no moving pictures.” This
sentiment was echoed when Hart appeared onstage again in 1914. According
to the Pittsburgh Leader, it was 20 years previously that “the Irish songstress
with her Celtic melodies stood in the spotlight and occupied a prominent
position, if not that of a headliner, on nearly every bill in which she appeared.”
Another undated clipping refers to Hart’s characters Nora O’Flaherty in The
Day Clerk and Bridget O’Sullivan in The People’s Choice, and remarks on the
ability of her Irish jigs and songs to “bring back memories of the old sod.”81
Other Irish female single acts to appear on the vaudeville stage included
Annie Gerard who appeared in Pittsburgh in 1891 billed as “The True
Irish Girl.” Kitty O’Neil appeared on stage in an Irish dancing act. Gracie
Emmett moved to vaudeville around 1900 following a career in legiti-
mate theatre. In vaudeville she became associated with the character of
Mrs Honora Murphy in the long running sketch Mrs Murphy’s Second
Husband. This sketch was reputed to have been the longest running vaude-
ville act, with Gracie Emmett performing her character on 5,000 occasions
in the United States as well as touring England and Australia in 1905.
Emmett was born Cynthia J. Coyle in Buffalo, New York. It is not clear
whether she was of Irish descent but her association with the character of
Mrs Murphy, whom she was still playing into the 1920s, ensured that she
was known as an Irish comedian.82
Male-female Irish teams together with Irish family teams were also a
common feature on vaudeville bills. The team of Daly and Devere appeared
throughout the 1890s and early 1900s in a variation of an Irish servant girl
sketch named variously The Janitress or Bridget’s Word Goes. They were,
according to an Ohio newspaper, “two of the cleverest comedy sketch art-
ists in the ranks of vaudeville.” When they appeared at the Auditorium in
Marietta, Ohio, in February 1898, Mr Daly played an Irish washerwoman
while Miss Devere was noted as being “a very pretty young woman [and]
a splendid singer and versatile actress.” The team also played Hyde and
Behman’s in Brooklyn in April 1898, presumably in the same act. In the
1890s, Jim and Bonnie Thornton began appearing together as a vaudeville
team and would continue to do so over the next 20 years. James was a
prodigious songwriter perhaps best know for writing “When You Were
Sweet Sixteen,” but also a notorious alcoholic whose wife spent much of
her own career trying to keep him sober. In the early 1900s, James B. and
Fanny Donovan were billed as the “King and Queen of Irish Comedy.”
According to a contemporary review, their performance was “as far away
as possible from the baboon faced Irish characters that are being done to
death in vaudeville.” Mr and Mrs Mark Murphy appeared together in such
sketches as The Seventh Son, Why Doogan Swore Off, The Coal Strike, and
Clancy’s Ghost. Again their act was welcomed as being something out of
the ordinary. Variety in 1903 reported that the Murphys’ act offered “the
essence of real Irish humor that is a thing apart from the spurious imita-
tions of the ordinary witticism of knockabouts wearing green whiskers and
talking with an insistently rolling ‘R.’”83
Sam and Kitty Morton began performing as a team in 1881 and con-
tinued to appear with their children as The Four Mortons well into the
1920s, prompting one writer to refer to them as an “institution” and “the
Barrymores of vaudeville.”84 A flavor of their act can be gleaned from the
following review of a 1919 performance entitled Then and Now:
The Four Mortons (Sam, Kitty, Martha and Joe) joined old variety methods
with modern vaudeville as they have been doing for some years. [Sam and
Kitty] proudly point to a record of thirty-eight years on the stage and have
always been bright and welcome entertainers in a field that is becoming smaller
every season. Sam’s method of broad, low comedy with the old-time Irish
humor, has no equal on the stage today. His old quips and stories gain new
flavor each season. Mrs Kitty Morton as ever was a capable feeder to her hus-
band’s rollicking fun, her facial play responding to his lines and business and
completing the picture. Their dancing steps of the vintage of the early varieties
still showed suppleness with no hint of age.85
Figure 2.5 Mrs. Mark Murphy: “Irish artificially,” but with her husband
performed “the essence of real Irish humor.”
Source: Mr and Mrs Mark Murphy clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1570.
Another undated clipping refers to The Four Mortons as “stars of

unusual brilliancy” and continues:
the humor of Sam, the father; the excellent dancing of Kitty, the mother; the
beauty and sprightliness of Clara, the daughter, and the good comedy and
acrobatic dancing of Paul, the son, furnishing a full half hour of the most
enjoyable amusement. In the line of good, eccentric Irish character acting Sam
Morton is unexcelled. He is both droll and unctuous in his humor, while his
impersonation of the comical old Irishman is immensely funny. His scolding
interview with his wife is splendidly done, and his make-up and actions as the
rich contractor on a seaside vacation are both inimitable.86
It is clear then that Irish acts and characters featured heavily in

American variety and vaudeville theatre in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Many of these appear to have been of the stereotypi-
cal variety, performing knockabout comedy routines in Irish costumes and
speaking with an exaggerated brogue. On occasions when Irish performers
were themselves involved in crude and unsophisticated representations of
the Irish, this had the potential to provoke vehement protests from audi-
ence members and Irish American organizations. On the other hand, at
the same time as they were contributing to the racist stereotyping of black
Americans, Irish performers had the opportunity to shape and refine crude
stage Irish types into a more genteel, sympathetic character. One particular
collection of vaudeville plays provides further evidence that the nineteenth-
century popular stage was not merely the site of some of the crudest and
most basic Irish stereotypes. As I shall demonstrate, the plays performed at
Tony Pastor’s Opera House in the 1860s and 1870s suggest that, at least on
some level, vaudeville showmen were aware of Irish Americans within their
audiences and attempted to engage with issues of concern to them.
3. Performing Irishness at
Tony Pastor’s Opera House,
1865–1874
T
ony Pastor, one of the leading vaudeville showmen of the late nine-
teenth century, opened his first theatre in New York in July 1865.
Situated at 201 Bowery, Tony Pastor’s Opera House was located in
what from the 1840s was a predominantly poor, working-class area largely
populated by African Americans and German and Irish immigrants. By
the time of the Civil War, the Bowery was “a mecca for saloons, gambling
parlors, opium dens, flophouses, brothels, pawnshops, second-hand stores
and low-brow entertainment venues featuring blackface minstrelsy, bur-
lesque and cabarets.” Pastor would stay at this location until 1875, when
he moved further uptown to a more salubrious venue at 585 Broadway. As
shown in the previous chapter, programs for Pastor’s Bowery theatre reflect
the ethnic nature of much variety entertainment of the period.1
Pastor himself had performed in circuses, minstrel shows and vari-
ety bills from a young age and continued to appear on stage in his own
establishments. In addition to ethnic humor, his performances were full of
topical references to events of the day, both at home and abroad, and were
often intensely patriotic. Pastor’s material contained frequent references to
the Irish. An 1864 collection of his songs, for example, includes a number
of comic pieces that might be regarded as typical variety fare, with titles
such as “Paddy Denny’s Pig,” “Miles O’Reilly’s Love Letter,” “A Broth of
a Boy is O’Blarney,” and “Beautiful Biddy of Sligo.” In addition to these
comic songs, however, Pastor also performed songs critical of anti-Irish
prejudice, such as John F. Poole’s “No Irish Need Apply,” nostalgic ballads
like “The Rale Ould Style,” and songs that praised the Irish contribution
to the Union side in the Civil War such as “The Returned Volunteer,”
“The Irish Volunteer,” and “Young America and Ould Ireland.” This last
song overtly links the fortunes of Ireland and America. An Irish American
“soger” proclaims “Sure it’s Union I fight for till Ireland is free.” The final
verse of the song is particularly explicit about the benefits to be gained by
the Irish for their contribution to the American Republic:
Sure there’s hope for ould Ireland, when Irishmen learn

How to handle a gun, or a bayonet turn;
And, by this and by that, if we once get the chance,
There’ll be rifles in England that don’t come from France!
Sure it’s friends we have here, when we need ‘em,
Who, when starving, sent bread for to feed ‘em
And they’ll help us to fight for our freedom—
America’s Irish brigade!2
In his biography of Tony Pastor, Fields notes that Pastor’s own perfor-
mances in the early 1860s almost always included Irish songs or sketches
and that when Pastor formed his own company, its first run in New York
included Amelia Wells singing Irish songs; Sam Ryan, an Irish comedian;
and Tim O’Brien in a farce comedy called The Irish Emigrant. Although
other ethnic groups were represented in Pastor’s songs, none featured as
prominently as the Irish. It is unsurprising, then, that when Pastor opened
his own theatre in 1865, Irish material continued to appear regularly.
Programs at Pastor’s consisted of the usual mix of singers, dancers, and
comedians. In addition, they might often include a longer drama, known
as an afterpiece, to close the bill. One of the sketch writers Pastor hired
at his Opera House was John F. Poole. Poole was born in Dublin in 1833
and came to the United States aged twelve. Many of the plays discussed
below were written by Poole, and his Irish background appears to have
been influential in their sympathetic portrayals of Ireland and the Irish.
These sympathetic depictions might also, however, have been influenced
by the ethnic makeup of Pastor’s audiences. As Kattwinkel points out,
Irish neighborhoods made up a significant proportion of Pastor’s theatre’s
catchment area and, as such, his establishment “was ideally situated to be
a primary source of both entertainment and education” for poor, working-
class Irish immigrants in New York.3
Throughout Pastor’s tenure at 201 Bowery, Poole and other writers such
as William Carleton, W. B. Cavanagh, and Frank Dumont drew on Irish
events and Irish characters for inspiration. The Tony Pastor collection held
in the New York Public Library’s Theatre Division includes a list of 229
original scripts performed at Tony Pastor’s Opera House between 1865
and 1874. Of these, twenty-two can be positively identified as being con-
cerned with Ireland or the Irish. The titles of a further three plays also hint
Performing Irishness at Tony Pastor’s 65
at Irish content, although with no other details remaining, it is impossible

to be certain of this. No other ethnic group features as prominently as the
Irish in this list of plays. Only eleven titles refer to German or “Dutch”
characters and there is one reference each to Poland, Scotland, and Italy.4
As Kattwinkel notes, the afterpieces that feature Irish characters can
be divided into two categories—those that are set in Ireland, which
Kattwinkel refers to as “little more than Fenian battle cries,” and those
that are set in America. Kattwinkel points to other Pastor plays that are
set in America but also feature Irish characters. In addition to these, I have
identified two further plays set in the United States and featuring Irish
characters that have not been discussed elsewhere—the undated Might and
Right, or The Days of ‘76 and The Steerage, or Life on the Briny Deep.5
Of the Irish plays performed at Pastor’s, twelve scripts survive in the
Tony Pastor collection at the University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom
Centre.6 As very few of these plays have been written about in detail, I
believe it is worth discussing the surviving scripts at some length. My dis-
cussion of these plays is based primarily on my own analysis of the original
scripts, many of which are in a poor condition and difficult to decipher in
places. Unless otherwise indicated, the quoted material in this chapter is
taken from these original scripts. In some instances I have had to make an
assumption about the most likely word or words used and have used square
brackets to indicate where this is the case. Where the script is so badly
damaged as to be illegible, I have used ellipses to indicate this. Unless oth-
erwise stated, performance dates are taken from information held in the
New York Public Library’s Tony Pastor collection.7
It should be said that the plays themselves share similar plots, character
types, and themes. Those set in Ireland are fairly standard melodramas
and feature the kind of stock characters one might expect from that genre.
There is the male hero—an honest, salt of the earth type—who has to
rescue the fair and innocent female from the clutches of the villain. This
villain might be another Irishman but is more often a British army offi-
cer. Most of the plays feature young lovers and one or two characters who
seem to be played purely for comic effect. The peasantry are hospitable and
fun-loving, always ready to welcome strangers and celebrate with a song, a
drink, and a dance.
However, it is in their depictions of class relations and politics in Ireland
that the plays are particularly interesting. Almost all of the Irish-set plays
make at least some reference to the cause of Irish nationalism. This is
unsurprising given the activities of various Irish nationalist organizations
in both Ireland and America during the period in question. As Kevin
Kenny points out, the history of the American Irish in the later decades
of the nineteenth century was heavily influenced by events in Ireland as
well as the United States. Following the ill-fated uprising of the Young
Irelanders in 1848, a number of participants sought exile in the United
States. There, John O’Mahony founded the Fenian Brotherhood in 1858
as a sister organization of James Stephens’ Irish Republican Brotherhood,
founded in Dublin in the same year. Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenians
launched a number of failed attacks against British forces in Canada. A
Fenian uprising in Ireland in 1867 was also defeated. Although there was
not universal support for the Fenian movement among Irish Americans,
Kenny suggests that among urban working-class Irish Americans “there
was substantial support . . . for tying the cause of nationalism to radical
social reform in both Ireland and America.”8
However, while the Irish-set plays performed at Pastor’s seem to appeal
to an Irish nationalist sentiment—and certainly refer to topical events
both in Ireland and America—there is little evidence of a desire for radical
social reform. The English government is presented as the root of all of
Ireland’s problems. English characters in the plays are rigid and uptight, in
contrast with the relaxed and laidback Irish. On the other hand, the social
divisions within Ireland itself are played down. The aristocracy are fair
and generous and sympathetic to the nationalist cause. In Life in Ireland,
for example, a family is facing eviction because of high rents. However,
it transpires that these rents are being inflated by a dishonest land agent.
At the end of the play, it is the landlord who uncovers this dishonesty and
ensures that justice is done.
This depiction of positive relations between the peasantry and aristoc-
racy in Ireland is perhaps explained by the context of the plays’ perfor-
mance. For American audiences, to witness the injustices of English rule in
Ireland was to be reminded of their own country’s history and its hard-won
independence. The Irish plays performed at Pastor’s Opera House draw a
parallel between the United States and Ireland and present America as a
place of refuge for the Irish, an escape from English oppression and tyr-
anny at home. In doing so, they not only welcome Irish Americans already
in the audience—they also seem to remind native-born Americans of the
reasons why those immigrants are there and suggest that they should be
proud of their own country’s reputation as a land of freedom. This vision
of the American melting pot as depicted in the plays, however, might not
have been as effective if class tensions were to raise their head. Americans
might be expected to welcome new arrivals fleeing political oppression
who would gratefully contribute to the industrial growth of their new
home. Any suggestion of class conflict, however, might have called the
immigrants’ loyalty to the United States, and to capitalism more broadly,
into question.
PLAYS SET IN IRELAND
Unfortunately, not all of the scripts for the “Irish” plays performed at
Pastor’s remain. One of Poole’s earliest sketches for Pastor, entitled The
Fenian’s Dream, or Ireland Free at Last was performed in December 1865
and ran for one month.9 Although the script for this play does not survive,
a contemporary review lists the various scenes and songs performed. It
seems that the play took the form of a whistle-stop tour through recent and
current Irish events and ended optimistically with an imagined Ireland
free from British rule:
The new Irish drama entitled The Fenian’s Dream, or Ireland Free at Last,
will be represented in splendid style, notwithstanding that Tony Pastor must
have read in the New York Herald that the English government has the Pigeon
House Fort, near Dublin, which commands the battlefields of Clontarf, dou-
bly manned and its guns doubly shotted. He intends, however, to play and
have sung today The Genius of Erin, a Vision of the Past; ‘98—Vinegar
Hill—” The harp that once through Tara’s Halls”; ‘48 – Tipperary, the Year
of the Famine—Mavourneen Dheelish; ‘65—Dublin Castle, struggle for Irish
Independence; Columbia and Erin Hand in Hand—St Patrick’s Day; Grand
Tableau—The Fenian’s Triumph; Ireland Free at Last.10
The play’s references to recent and current events in Ireland, the roman-
tic nationalism it seems to have espoused, the representation of America
as a friend to Ireland, and the optimistic ending in which “the Fenians
triumph” all seemed designed specifically to appeal to the Irish in Pastor’s
audience.
Another of the plays that does not survive is Stephens’ Escape, or English
Rule in Ireland. However, again contemporary reviews can provide some
idea of the play’s content. The play opened at Pastor’s Opera House in
January 1866 and concerned James Stephens, the founder of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood who escaped from prison in 1865. The New York
Herald described the action of the play in the following terms:
the exciting new Irish drama called Stephens’ Escape, or English Rule in Ireland ,
will be produced at this favorite resort this evening . . . Mr Josh Hart . . . will
personate the famous Head Centre of the Irish Fenian Brotherhood, who
now promenades so gracefully in the Boulevards of Paris, and has just hon-
ored Earl Cowley, the British Minister in France, by leaving his card at his
residence . . . This piece alone would crowd the neat little Opera House to its
utmost.11
As with its review of the 1865 play The Fenian’s Dream, the New York
Herald is keen to emphasize the topical nature of these plays. It seems
that this topicality also appealed to Pastor’s audiences. According to
Fields, Stephens’ Escape “attracted a good deal of audience participation
with boos and cheers in appropriate places for the Irish heroes and English
villains.”12
Fields refers to another play by Poole, Young America in Ireland (1866),
not listed in either of the Pastor collections at NYPL or the University of
Texas.13 Again the only additional information I have found relating to
this play is from a contemporary review in the New York Herald:
The plot is not new, and is rather shallow. George Washington Sprout (Tony
Pastor), a specimen of young America, takes a tour through Ireland, and meets
Murtagh Kearney, an agent of the IRB, who uses his time very profitably in
inciting insurrection. To this, Sprout lends a willing aid. Kearney is arrested,
imprisoned, and escapes to America with his affianced, where a marriage ends
the piece. On this plot is built a series of mirth-provoking scenes. Dancing,
songs and rollicking fun infuse a spirit into the piece which is lacking in the
plot . . . The piece was uniformly applauded throughout, and is a success.14
Although none of these plays survive, their descriptions point to some

common themes that recur often in those that do—criticism of English
rule in Ireland, support for the nationalist cause, the representation of
America as a place of refuge for the Irish, and of course all played out
against a backdrop of much singing, dancing and drinking.
Turning to those plays that do survive, Ireland in 1866, or The Dark
Hour Before Dawn was written by Poole and was performed at Pastor’s Opera
House in March 1866. A melodrama set in Ireland, the plot centres on Shan
O’Brien, “an outcast and a wandherer,” wrongly accused of murder and
recently escaped from a penal colony to clear his name. The villain of the
piece, the real murderer, Hugh Grogan, remains at large. Andy Dillon, the
son of the murder victim, was adopted by the local magistrate McConnell
and is in love with McConnell’s daughter Ellen. In addition to the hero,
villain, and young lovers, the cast also includes members of the Irish peas-
antry—Pat McCabe (“a broth of a boy”), Biddy McGuiness, and Dan—a
Yankee from Connecticut called Jedediah Beetroot and Fitzpercy, a visitor
from England. The script itself is written in dialect, with the Irish characters
speaking in brogue and Fitzpercy in an exaggerated English accent.
The play opens in a public house, the Harp and Shamrock, where Pat,
Biddy, and Dan are enjoying “a drop of the craythur” and toasting “the
Green above the Red.” Into this scene wanders Fitzpercy, newly arrived in
Ireland and lost. This “Henglishman,” as he refers to himself, is immedi-
ately set apart from the jovial Irish. He refuses their hospitality, turning
down the offer of a drink and complaining that it is “a houtrage” to his
delicate constitution when he is given “Hirish potatoes and red ‘errings.”
Fitzpercy’s aloof attitude arouses suspicion and distaste among the locals.
When Fitzpercy refuses his offer of a drink, Pat tells Biddy,
Bedad that’s a quare fellow. He can’t drink Irish whiskey, because it is too
strong for his English taste. Well I hope the day will soon come when they find
ould Ireland itself too strong for them.
In contrast to the English Fitzpercy, the Yankee Jed accepts his welcome
to Ireland graciously. Pat tells him that, as an American, he is no stranger
in Ireland just as “[Boys] and girls from Ireland always find . . . a welcome
in America.” Jed confirms this to be the case, insisting that there is “room
enough for all creation” in America. Unlike Fitzpercy, Jed happily takes a
drink from Pat and raises a toast to America. The play suggests that both
Ireland and America have a common enemy in the English. In response
to Jed’s toast, “all but Fitz cheer.” When the locals dance together, the
American happily joins in but “Fitz stands aloof.” As the dancers gather
together in a ring, Fitz “is forced into the middle of it and one of the
dancers—a man made up for a woman . . . embraces him. He struggles
against it.” This is the only point in the script when it is emphasized that a
female character is to be played by a man. Presumably it would have been
obvious to audiences that this was a man in drag and the effect would have
been to complete the humiliation of Fitzpercy.
As well as highlighting the hope offered to Ireland by the United States,
the play also deals with efforts to secure Irish independence at home. Shan,
an escaped prisoner wrongly convicted of murder, has returned to Ireland
to try to clear his name. He blames the English for his harsh treatment and
vows to join the Fenian cause:
But I have one hope left. I may yet shtrike a blow against the cruel English laws
that sint me into misery and despair. I may yet, crushed outcast as I am, strike a
stout blow for my country’s liberty, for Ireland’s regeneration. There are Fenian
exiles in this country. Could I meet one, I could be safe.
The play suggests that the majority of Irish people are good, honest,
fun-loving, and hospitable. The English are the cause of Ireland’s prob-
lems, not the Irish people themselves. The aristocracy is represented by
the character of O’Connell, a magistrate. When Fitzpercy comments that
O’Connell is “not one of the lower hordes,” O’Connell reminds him that
whatever his position, he is also an Irishman. O’Connell is kind and gen-
erous, offering shelter to Shan and adopting Andy following his father’s
murder. This is a level of generosity that the English Fitzpercy cannot
comprehend:
Hexcuse me. I cannot himagine what hextraordinary hattraction there can be

in a hirish boy to hinduce hanybody to hadopt ‘im.
One of the scenes in the play takes place at a Fenian meeting in a barn.
Pat opens the meeting with a declaration:
Whether on the scaffold high

Or in the middle of a ruction
The fittest place for man to be
Is wherever he gets kilt for his [nation].
Jed is brought to the meeting and welcomed as a “Yankee gintlemen.”

He offers his own, and by extension America’s, encouragement to the
Fenian cause. This section of the script is illegible in places. However,
the following lines give an indication of the sentiments expressed in Jed’s
speech:
Fellow countrymen!—No—Fellow citizens! . . . I stand here as the independent

[created] representative of Universal liberty (All cheer) . . . I sympathize with
downtrodden humanity wherever I find it . . . Darn it all, ain’t ye jest as strong
[as the] thirteen colonies of the You-nited States [were in] 1776 . . . The Irish
fought pretty darned well for liberty and justice in the army of the Union
(All cheer). Then I say go right in. Sail in. Roll up your sleeves, button back
your ears. Keep your eyes shut open tight and pitch right in. And if you don’t
make an independent republic of your country in less no time my name ain’t
Jedediah Beetroot of . . . ville, Persimmon County, Connecticut (All cheer). Is
it sympathy you want, hain’t you got it. Do you think Yankee Doodle’s agoing
to forget British nonintervention and ain’t going to take a hand in the game of
neutrality when the Irish privateers git afloat (All cheer).
Jed finishes his speech by reminding the Irish of the words of Davy
Crockett, urging them to “Be sure you’re right, then forge [ahead].” Jed’s
speech is interrupted when the English army arrives to break up the meet-
ing. Jed tells the Sergeant in no uncertain terms who he is dealing with:
I’m a Yankee, I am. My dad used to say he was a match for three Britishers.
Now (produces revolver) this is a Yankee six-shooter and I’m a match for half
a dozen! For it fellers!
Thanks to Jed and his six-shooter, the peasants are able to overcome the
soldiers. At the close of the play, Jed is also responsible for ensuring that
justice is meted out to Grogan. During a fight, Jed shoots Grogan. Justice
has been done, the murder of Andy’s father has been avenged, and Andy
and Ellen embrace. That this happy ending could not have been brought
about without the intervention of the American Jed suggests that America
itself has an important role to play in securing a similarly just and happy
outcome for everyone in Ireland.
Like Ireland in 1866, The Idiot of Killarney, or The Fenian’s Oath fea-
tures a cast of kindly landed gentry, a villain in disguise, representatives
of the British government (in this case soldiers from the Canadian army)
and brave Irish patriots. Unusually for a play set in Ireland, The Idiot of
Killarney also has two blackface characters, servants of the Canadian offi-
cer. Written by W. B. Cavanagh, it is among the longest of the Pastor plays
set in Ireland and was performed by Pastor’s company at Chas White’s
Minstrel Hall in Manhattan in 1867 and again at Pastor’s Opera House
in 1870. The cast of characters includes Andy O’Connell, “the idiot of
Killarney” and his sister Kate, “the lily of Killarney”; Dan Donevan, “the
bould heart,” his wife Molly and son Patsy, described as “his mother’s boy”;
Roderick Desmond, alias Jim O’Rorke “the outlawed ruffian”; a cast of
“Fenian patriots”; Colonel Templeton and Corporal Slimshanks of the
British army in Canada; and the two blackface characters Cuffy Catnip (“a
persecuted Darkey”) and his wife Hannah (“a vindictive spouse”). Ireland
itself is presented as a mythical land, with one scene set in the home of the
fairies where the fairy queen sings hymns to the Fenian cause.
The play opens on an Irish cottage where Molly, her son Patsy, and
her other children wait for Dan to return home while a “plaintive Irish
air” plays in the background. The younger children are crying, while
Patsy exclaims “Oh! Blue murther, we’re kilt wid the hunger. It’s dying we
are . . . we’ll be dead before the ould man comes home.” Molly suggests that
her husband has been neglecting his duties to provide for his family and
instead is spending time “going to the Fenian meetings in the glen.” This
sentiment is unusual in the plays, many of which equate Irish masculinity
with a desire to fight for one’s country. In general, Irish women are shown
to be supportive of this desire. When Molly complains about her hus-
band’s failure to do his duty, The Idiot of Killarney may be suggesting that
she is ungrateful or unpatriotic herself, failing to appreciate the sacrifices
her husband is making. However, when Dan returns home we see that he
has not merely been spending time at Fenian meetings in the glen. He is,
according to Molly, “drunk as a lord, and spending the earnings that you
ought to be pushing in the children’s mouths.”
Despite the hardships faced by Molly and her family, she shows gener-
osity to the stranger Jim O’Rorke when he appears at her cottage, sending
out to Hennessy’s shebeen for whiskey. We learn that Roderick has been
living for fourteen years in Europe after murdering his landlord O’Connell
and beating his son Andy. Although Dan explains that Roderick mur-
dered his landlord because of an argument about rent on the cottage he
shared with his mother, the script makes clear that this was no justifica-
tion. Roderick, Dan insists, was “a bad man” who “never done a hard day’s
work, but lived by stealing and robbing.” This is emphasized later in the
play when Roderick plans to inform on the Fenians and asks himself “why
shall I pause between a rich reward—honor and my country—my country,
I have none, and as for honor, that died with my poor mother.” The script
seems to suggest that whatever the economic difficulties faced by the Irish,
there is no excuse for violence against the aristocracy. It is only in the fight
for Ireland itself in which violence is justified.
Although the first scene of the play presents the hardship of life in
Ireland, the second takes place at a fair and insists that the Irish still know
how to celebrate. Stage directions emphasize the Irish landscape. The fair
is set in a glen, with a cascade or waterfall and a rustic bridge. The men
“wear green sprigs in their hats” and the women have “bows of green rib-
bon in their bosoms.” There are bottles of liquor and a piper playing on
top of a barrel. Dan and the other peasants sing “Paddy’s Land,” in which
they praise “the green isle,” its “pratties,” and “the pride of our own dear
nation/the purty girls of Paddy’s land.” The air of celebration and ribaldry
is emphasized in the stage directions. A “piper falls off barrel drunk, and
stays where he falls” and “women run across stage, screaming—followed
by two drunken men with barrels over their heads—blind man with dog.
Man with pig by tail making him squeal.”
Into this stereotypical scene of Irish merrymaking come two outsid-
ers, Cuffy and Hannah Catnip, Colonel Templeton’s black servants from
Canada. Presumably performed by white actors in blackface, Cuffy is
depicted as cowardly and effeminate, hiding behind his wife when “the
idiot of Killarney” appears, while Hannah is overbearing, constantly tell-

ing Cuffy to “hush up.” The pair does not understand Ireland and the Irish.
Cuffy asks Hannah, “old woman did you eber see de like ob dis country
in all your born days. Lunacies running all ober wild and wid hardly no
trousers on.” Hannah tells Cuffy in reply “Hush your business—dese is
cannibals and I spect we’ll get eat up alive.” Once again, the play seems to
question common stereotypes about Ireland and the Irish. As Curtis has
shown, it was common for Victorian media in Britain and America to por-
tray the Irish as violent and uncivilized savages. By having two blackface
characters describe Ireland in this way, The Idiot of Killarney seems to be
directly questioning the validity of such stereotypes. Instead, Hannah and
Cuffy’s fear of the Irish underlines their own ignorance and naivety.
The Irish address Cuffy and Hannah in racist terms. Molly, for exam-
ple, refers to Hannah as “Misses Nagur.” Nevertheless, relations between
the Irish and black characters are not particularly hostile. Dan tells Cuffy
that he pities him because of the woman he’s married to. He then asks
Cuffy for news from America. Cuffy’s reply reflects the reliance of these
scripts on topical issues that would have struck a chord with Pastor’s audi-
ences. Cuffy tells Dan:
de niggers is all free and am enjoying demselves. But wait till by and by, when
Uncle Sam will say—go to work, you ain’t no better den nobody else, den
you’ll see what a sour face dey’ll make. The white folks am going in on de eight
hour system—I guess dey’ll tink it is a dam sight worse den de old plantation.
When Dan asks about the Fenian movement in America, Cuffy tells him:
Oh de Irish German is raising de debil, raising money and ships, muskets and
men, and before a year dey is going to land and take de island, see if dey don’t.
It is not clear who Cuffy is referring to as “de Irish German.” Nevertheless,

it is significant that Cuffy and his employer, Colonel Templeton, have
arrived from Canada. The Idiot of Killarney was first staged in 1867, when
the Fenian raids on Canada of the previous year would have been fresh in
the minds of Pastor’s audiences. In what might be seen as a plea for better
relations between the two groups in America, Cuffy insists, “I likes dem
Fenian fellows, and if they only lets niggers join I’ll go back to the States
and fetch ober a Black Brigade to help em.” The potential of improved rela-
tions between Irish and black Americans is further stressed when the army
prepares to raid the Fenian meeting based on information from Roderick
and Dan and Cuffy fight together to ward off the soldiers. That Cuffy has
risked his life to help the Fenians is made clear when the Colonel threatens
to hang “that black scoundrel that I brought from America.” His time in
Ireland and his involvement with the Fenians is shown to have an effect
on Cuffy’s masculinity. A henpecked husband, throughout the play Cuffy
threatens to get drunk and show his wife who’s boss. Eventually he does so
and reasserts his masculine authority, telling Hannah:
you’ve trampled on me and kicked me and squashed me long enough, and

now I’ll squash you and all de dam crockery in de house . . . I’ll show you who
is boss.
The play suggests, therefore, that unlike African American men who
are shown as weak and feminine, Irish men with their drinking, fight-
ing, and patriotism seem to represent a powerful and enviable version of
masculinity.
The play also includes scenes of Irish resistance to the British forces,
in this case represented by soldiers from the Canadian army. Colonel
Templeton tells the Irish peasants that “the orange will be a more profitable
color for you to wear, as I fear the green will soon fade.” In response, the
script directs that “all laugh at the Colonel’s last expression.” Templeton
has come to Ireland to quash the planned uprising and to propose to Kate,
whose other brother serves with the Colonel in Canada. When Kate refuses
to marry Templeton, he reminds her of her vulnerability as an aristocrat
living surrounded by enemies who would kill her. Again the script empha-
sizes that the problem in Ireland is not between rich and poor, landlord
and tenant. As Kate tells the Colonel, “there is not a single peasant on this
or surrounding estates, who would injure a hair of my head, even if they
knew such a deed would enrich them.” She tells him:
My sympathies have always been with the poor and oppressed of Ireland. And
if I must allow it, your government have much to reproach themselves for in
administering such arbitrary laws, and tax innocent and inoffensive people
whose only fault has ever been superfluous generosity to the stranger, and her
most bitter foe England.
Kate continues, in what must have been a rousing soliloquy to Irish

Americans in Pastor’s:
When your most gracious Queen landed on our shores she was feasted, toasted
and entertained in the most sumptuous manner. The impoverished peasants
vied with each other in their outpourings of generosity, they deprived them-
selves of the common necessaries of life in order to give a fitting welcome to a
woman, their Queen, who never gave them a thought, or even a kind word to
lighten the chain of their bondage. The starving rabble in the streets of Dublin
with their noble hearts overflowing with veneration, cheered her until they
became faint with exertion, and that night returned to their squalid hovels,
hungry and fasting, with no prospect of labor or food on the morrow. Yes, and
as these warm hearted creatures rested on their straw couches their chief bene-
diction was “God bless the Queen”. Again when thousands of brave hearts were
dying of want and famine throughout the land, why did not her most gracious
Queenship try to alleviate in some way the sufferings of her loyal subjects? No,
a few paltry pounds was all she would bestow. But America that soars far above
your European potentates, with her proverbial generosity, stretched with her
hand and saved us. May the star of her destiny shine throughout all eternity.
At the end of the play, the Irish—peasants and aristocracy alike—are

saved by the arrival of an officer from the United States Volunteers who,
together with a team of Yankee soldiers, join with the Fenians and Cuffy to
defeat the English forces. The play ends with a patriotic tableau:
The sun of prosperity rises out of the sea, set waters, golden sea view or ray of
gold shining on waters . . . The goddess of Irish liberty—a lady with long flow-
ing hair—representing Erin, a harp with strings . . . The goddess of liberty rises
slowly out of the sea amidst a shower of gold. Fairies grouped in set waters.
Themes of Irish nationalism and unjust British laws occur again in

Hills of Kerry, performed at Pastor’s in March 1867. Ormond Donaghoe,
“an illigant fine young fellow” just returned from college, and local men
Regan, Corney, and Cassidy are planning an uprising against the English.
The Irish upper classes are represented by Mr Conway and his daughter
Anne, along with her maids Jenny and Bridget. There is also an American,
Colonel O’Connor, who has seen “the inside of Richmond Bridewell,” and
two redcoats, Captain Locke and Corporal Trap. The play opens on a group
of peasants gathered to welcome Ormond home from college. From the
start there are references to Irish drinking. Corney promises that the whis-
key punch Bridget is brewing will be “strong enough to bend a crowbar,”
Bridget being “the girl that doesn’t save the whiskey or waste the wather
when she makes punch.” Although excited about Ormond’s return, Corney
is concerned that he might have changed and wonders “if his heart is still
true to the ould [cause]. If all his fine knowledge and book learning has
altered his boyhood’s love for the green land of his birth.” He continues:
There’s too many nowadays [when they] get fine notions and big airs, think it’s
vulgar to be a true Irishman, and become ashamed of the land of their birth.
To the divil wid such spalpeens, say I. But come, suppose we pass away the time
wid a bit of a dance while the punch is heating.
The Redcoat Captain Locke happens upon the peasants and remarks on
their merrymaking. Corney tells Locke that the peasants have gathered to
hear a letter from America. The exchange that follows is typical of the rela-
tionship between Ireland, America, and England as expressed in these plays:
Locke: The idea of a general meeting to hear news from a land three
thousand miles off. It’s ridiculous.
Corney: Three thousand miles is it, far it may be by some measurement.
But by the measurement of an Irishman’s heart America is a damned
sight nearer and dearer too, than the land you come from, and that’s
not a day’s journey.
This sentiment is further expressed when Ormond arrives and Locke

asks him if he is an Irishman:
Ormond: I have that honor.

Locke: That honor. Do you call it an honor to be born in such a
miserable country?
Ormond: Miserable. If misery has been the lot of Ireland’s children it
is the fault of the government under which it is their misfortune to
live. Ireland is the land of brave and warm hearts. It is the land of a
generous, hospitable and liberty-loving people, a country second to
none on earth for high impulses and noble deeds.
Locke: You had better be careful, sir, how you utter such language.
The law
Ormond: The law. Yes I know your laws. When I was old enough to
walk I saw the effect of your laws.
Locke: And what did you see?
Ormond: I saw the fathers of families, the pride and strength of our
villages, the young and old, the guilty and the innocent torn from
their cabins and taken off to transportation and the gallows.
When Locke demands that his troops be stationed in the blacksmith’s

hut, Regan the smith refuses, telling Locke that his hut
is an Irish cabin, built by Irish hands on Irish soil. It is my cabin, my house, my

castle, and ere it is polluted by the presence of one redcoat Mart Regan will lie
a corpse on its threshold.
The portrayal of Irish masculinity in Hills of Kerry is typical of many

of these Irish-set plays. Corney is depicted as flirtatious and attractive
to women. The script suggests, however, that this appeal is linked with
his patriotism, loyalty, and bravery. Immediately after vowing to follow
Ormond “to the end of the world in ould Ireland’s name,” he is approached
by Jenny who professes her admiration for him and tells him “a good look-
ing fellow like you ought to have a great many girls running after you.”
They agree to marry and have a large family. When Jenny leaves, Corney
in an aside tells the audience that he has promised to marry twenty-three
women and have large families with eighteen. His womanizing ways and
his attractiveness to the opposite sex may serve to lend humor to the play.
Importantly, however, they are also linked to his very Irishness. The impli-
cation is that it is his bravery and patriotism that make him attractive to
women. At the same time his flirtatious ways seem to be as much part of
his Irish masculinity as that bravery and patriotism.
This same point is emphasized later in the play when Jenny, so keen
to flirt with Corney, spurns the advances of the sniveling Corporal Trap.
Trap denounces the men of Ireland as monsters, but refers to the women
as beauties. When Trap calls her an angel, Jenny replies “I ain’t no angel,
I’m a woman.” Jenny mocks Trap’s advances and laughs when he refers to
himself as a hero. In a scene seemingly intended to underline English cow-
ardice, Jenny steals Trap’s sword and chases him with it. These exchanges
raise some interesting issues about the role of gender in the meaning of
ethnic stereotypes. As I discuss in more detail in Chapter 5, the idealized
image of Irish women is one that Irish men fostered. In nationalist dis-
course, Irish womanhood is visualized as pure, virtuous, and symbolic of
the nation itself. It is unusual to see a female character given the agency to
reject this idealized image as Jenny does here. Significantly, though, she
rejects it because her admirer is English and a coward, unlike Corney who is
Irish and brave. In the exchanges between Jenny and Corney and Jenny and
Trap, it is suggested that Irish men are attractive to Irish women because
they are willing to fight and die for their country. Likewise, Irish women
are loyal and can be trusted to reject the advances of the cowardly English.
At one point in Hills of Kerry the rebels gather in a cave to plan an
uprising. This scene includes some rousing speeches, some of which seem
to take the form of direct appeals to the Irish abroad. Regan, for example,
opens the meeting with the following words:
My countrymen, fewest words are best in a time like this. The day for talking
has passed and gone, the day for action is at hand . . . The aid we looked for from
abroad has failed to reach us . . . Internal divisions in the Fenian ranks across the
water has delayed the hour long-promised, long-hoped for.
Ormond takes up where Regan leaves off, with a call to arms:
For over six centuries the history of Ireland has been the history of a brave peo-
ple struggling against despotic power. I for one say let us have one more trial.
If Ireland’s liberty is worth fighting for, let us fight at once.
The American O’Connor agrees, and reminds the rebels of foreign sup-
port for their cause:
I am for immediate insurrection. The vast ranks of the Fenian order in America
and elsewhere who have so liberally subscribed arms and money to the cause
expect it. And they shall not be disappointed.
Regan the blacksmith too makes a rousing, patriotic speech, which, as

the script notes, is to be accompanied by music:
Then let us be resolved, and here in the name of Ireland’s rights and Ireland’s
liberties swear to do or die to place this green land once more amongst the
proud nations of the earth. By the red cross borne by Brian Boru. By the wrongs
of six centuries. By the martyrs’ blood of ‘98. By the nameless grave of Robert
Emmett. By the memory of Ireland’s famine slaughtered children, we solemnly
swear to battle for her liberty.
The bravery and resolve expressed in these speeches is contrasted with

English cowardice. As the rebels make their speeches, Corporal Trap hides
in a barrel of gunpowder. When the rebels leave, Trap cries, “Oh Lord,
how I did shiver and shake while they was ‘ere.” Corney’s bravery in com-
parison to Trap’s cowardice is further emphasized when he is captured by
the English. He refuses to surrender, instead threatening to kill himself
and the redcoats by firing his pistol into the gunpowder. The redcoats put
down their weapons and Corney tells them that he will play some music
for them. Here, the play seems to subvert or mock a stereotypical por-
trayal of the Irish. While the soldiers seem willing to believe, as Corney
takes out his whistle, that he is indeed about to play them a tune, he is
in fact alerting his comrades that the army has discovered them. In the
final scene of the play, the rebels learn that the redcoats are once more
approaching and agree to ambush them. In what seems to be a nod to
both Ireland and America, the script instructs that this scene should be
accompanied by “The Girl I Left Behind Me.” The rebels and redcoats
fight and Corney’s superiority to Trap is underlined as he beats him with

his shillelah. The play ends with the following typically optimistic descrip-
tion: “Battle tableau—English overcome—Irish triumphant—Green flag
at back over group.”
Ireland’s Champion, or O’Donnell of the Hills was performed in October
1867. The play is set in Ireland in the seventeenth century, with “Cromwell’s
ruthless soldiery . . . wreaking havoc on every side.” Like the other plays, the
characters include Irish peasants and aristocrats united in defiance of the
English army, here represented by the army commander Arthur Percival
and the two soldiers Watchful Barebones and Nasal Drone. The play
also features three Irish couples—Mark McDonagh and Grace Dalton,
Hugh O’Donnell and Eleanor Dalton, and Rory O’Connor and Eileen
McCarthy—and Eileen’s father Rourke McCarthy.
Like Ireland in 1866 and Hills of Kerry, Ireland’s Champion opens on a
group of Irish peasants gathered together to enjoy village games. The dia-
logue immediately reminds audiences of the threat posed to this peaceful
bucolic idyll. McCarthy warns the peasants to “be merry while you may.
I fear our mirth will not last long.” He reminds the group that English
soldiers “cover our land like locusts, leaving ruin and destruction in their
path.” Like her father, Eileen expresses the desire that the “foreign vaga-
bonds . . . stay in their own country and leave us ours.” Into this conver-
sation between Eileen and her father comes Rory, who is immediately
identified as a red-blooded young man, flirtatious and patriotic. When he
enters the scene, Rory addresses the gathered peasants: “How are yez, boys
and girls, the girls especially.” Looking at Eileen, he tells her “fresh and
well you look. Bedad, it’s dangerous for a single boy to be afther looking
at you.” Rory asks McCarthy if his daughter loves him. McCarthy’s reply
underlines the typical depiction of Irish masculinity in these plays: “she
ought to Rory, for you’re an honest, upright fellow and no friend to our
English oppressors.” When he hears this, Rory calls on all gathered to have
a dance and a drink. Once again honesty, bravery, and patriotism—paired
with a fun-loving happy-go-lucky demeanor—are identified as qualities
of true Irish men, qualities that will also reward them with the love of a
beautiful Irish girl.
As with the plays already discussed, the English characters are shown
as less masculine than their Irish counterparts. One way in which this is
made clear is in their attitude to alcohol. The English soldiers Drone and
Barebones preach temperance throughout the play. They refer to whiskey
as “an abomination” and insist “we are righteous men, fighting in the good
cause. We have come to civilize you Irish bar-bar-rians.” However, despite
their preaching and opinion of Ireland as a “savage country,” the two are
welcomed by the generous Irish. Drone and Barebones are lost and in need
of refreshment. Rory tells them:
then you shall have it. Though you do belong to the Saxon wolves that come to
prey on the heart of Ireland, an Irishman never refuses the bite or sup to friend
or foe that needs it.
Nevertheless, when Barebones refuses to drink a toast with Rory, Rory

tells him in no uncertain terms “Ye’ll drink this one, or I’ll murther ye.
Here’s to this green isle and may her sons drive the foreign tyrant out of it
as St Patrick did the snakes and toads.”
If Irish men are attractive to women, English men are shown as lustful
and threatening. Commander Percival has been showing Eleanor Dalton,
a member of the Irish aristocracy, unwanted attention. It is Rory, a mem-
ber of the peasantry, who defends her honor. Eleanor may be wealthy, but
the play also emphasizes her kindness and generosity. We learn that “her
visits to the cabins of the poor are frequent, her charity to those in want is
the praise of every tongue.” The play suggests that there are good relations
between the peasantry and the aristocracy in Ireland, and that the cause
of all Ireland’s difficulties is the presence of the English. That patriotism
and nationalism are linked to gender is underscored when the rebel Hugh
O’Donnell tells Percival that he is “the rebel against tyrannic power, one
who despises the coward that would insult a defenseless woman.” He goes
on to warn Percival that “Ireland’s children are not yet the slaves of despot
lords, and Erin’s sons have yet stout hearts and strong arms to defend her
daughters from dastard insult.” When the two fight, O’Donnell disarms
Percival and promises him that they will “meet again upon the battlefield,
where Hugh O’Donnell fights for Ireland’s liberty.”
Throughout the play, the desire to fight for Ireland is equated with a
man’s capacity to attract a woman. In one scene Eileen tells Rory to do
his duty “like a man.” In response, he insists, “I’ll not be aisy while a sod
of shamrock is under the feet of a Sassenach soger, then I’ll come back
a [laird] and make you Mrs Rory O’Connor.” Rory goes on to imagine
a different world for their children. He tells Eileen that “they’ll see one
thing you or I didn’t see when we wor childher . . . the green flag flying on
Irish soil and not a red rag within hundreds of miles of it.” Significantly,
however, Rory and Eileen have to wait until Ireland is free before they can
be married and have a family. A similar exchange also takes place between
Hugh and Eleanor:
Hugh: Dearest Eleanor. My stay cannot be long. My brave countrymen

in arms await my coming. Each hour new bands of determined hearts
swell the numbers of Ireland’s [host], and as much as inclination would
bid me tarry with you, duty, my country’s liberation, bids us part.
Eleanor : May heaven guard you in the hour of danger.
Hugh: If I am to be its instrument in aiding the freedom of a
downtrodden people, in breaking the bonds which have [pulled] us
for centuries, Heaven will avert the stroke of death . . . But if it be my
lot to fall, better die in freedom’s cause than live a tyrant’s slave.
Eleanor : May such sentiments inspire each such heart until the last
vestige of despotism is wiped out from our land.
When Eleanor is kidnapped by Percival, it can be read as a metaphor

for Ireland itself. Eleanor, like Ireland, is kind, generous, and innocent but
unable to defend herself against the English brute. Nevertheless she stands
up for Irish men and her country, telling Percival that “while Ireland lives
the struggle for freedom shall never die.”
Although these Irish-set plays present a more complex picture of Ireland
and the Irish than perhaps one might expect from nineteenth-century vari-
ety entertainment, there are still occasions when some of the characters,
particularly those from the peasantry, are cast in a comic light. In Ireland’s
Champion, it is the character of Eileen and her attempts to assume masculine
behavior who provides much of this comic relief. In one scene, McDonagh
tells Grace “I will return a free man or I never will return.” Eileen, on over-
hearing this, remarks “Bedad, I’m longing to be a free man myself so I am.”
Eileen’s desire to be a man may be a reflection of a particular depiction of
unfeminine Irish women that often made an appearance in vaudeville, as I
discuss in more detail in Chapter 5. However, her masculinity might also
serve to underline the feminine behavior of the English soldiers. Barebones
and Drone refer to Rory and Eileen as “that savage Hibernian and that
female barbarian.” As preparations are made for battle, Drone wishes that
he could avoid the fight: “We may get slain and to be slain is very painful,
and not to be admired.” In contrast, Eileen begs Rory to let her join the
fight. The comedy therefore might arise from the fact that Eileen, as a poor
Irish woman, in unaware of proper feminine behavior. However, the play
also suggests that English soldiers are inferior to even the poorest Irish girl.
Kattwinkel writes that Ireland’s Champion
goes so far as to create a full-fledged war for independence in Ireland. There is

little plot here, just enough to provide many opportunities for the characters to
complain about English despots, extol the wearing of the green, and dream of
giving one’s life for freedom.
She is of course correct that Ireland’s Champion contains little by way

of a plot. However, I would argue that it can be read as more than merely
straightforward nationalist rhetoric. In its pairings of Irish men and
women, and in its depictions of their relations with each other and the
English, it highlights the significance of gender in the discourse of Irish
nationalism and ethnic identity in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
If there was any doubt that the women in the play symbolize Ireland and
the men her protectors, then the final scene of the play quashes it. Ireland’s
Champion ends with Percival slain and the English army overcome. In a
scene that directly underlines what it is Irish men are fighting for, the three
women appear onstage with an Irish harp.15
Life in Ireland, or The Fair of Clogheen differs slightly from the other
plays discussed up to now, in that the villain is not an English man but
rather the enemy within. Written by Poole, it was performed at Pastor’s
in May 1869 and again in March 1874. A program for a performance in
Boston in July 1869 is included with the script. The program’s descriptions
epitomize the range of characters typical of Pastor’s Irish plays. Corney
Cavanagh, the main character is described as “the heart’s blood of a dacint
boy intirely.” The character Dennis Donovan is “a whole-souled peasant,
always ready for fun, frolic or fighting.” Paddy Doyle is “a rollicking boy,
and the broth of a dancer,” Judy McGaradie is “the life of the Fair, wid a
nate fut for a jig,” and the cast also includes other “frolicsome representa-
tives of the Irish peasantry.” In this case the villain of the piece is Owen
Grogan, a rent collector and “a man without a heart.”
Corney Cavanagh, his wife Kate and their children are being evicted by
their land agent, the “black hearted vagabond” Grogan. As with the other
plays, Ireland is still depicted as a place of fun and merrymaking, but in
this case Corney is unable to enjoy it:
The fair tomorrow is all the talk wid [the boys]. The McNultys and the Maddens
that have been fighting at the fairs for the last one hunderd years have shaken
hands and there’s going to be the divil’s own time over the make up . . . They’re
drinking together this minute, and only I was in a . . . hurry home, bedad it’s
drunk as a lord I’d be wid them . . . They’re at Widdy Bryan’s shebeen, sing-
ing . . . and drinking like the divil.
Corney’s prime concern is that he will miss the fair and the opportunity
to socialize with his friends. The land agent Grogan has refused to wait
any longer for his rent, prompting Corney to tell his wife “to think of the
illigant spree wid the boys he’s robbed me of.”
This play is particularly useful for illustrating how life in Ireland was
depicted to American vaudeville audiences. The fair of Clogheen is described
in detail in the script and it is shown as a mix of hostelries and circus curi-
osities. As well as signs for “Mulligan’s Pig and Whistle,” “O’Reilly’s Hotel,”
“Maginisses Theatre Royal,” and “Pigs Feet and Oysters,” novelties at the
fair include “The Learned Crocodile,” “Senor O’Brien, The Chinese Fortune
Teller,” and “The Ten-Legged Horse.” In some ways, these curiosities might
recall the types of exhibits in American dime museums and circuses of the
time. However, it seems that they are also intended to provoke humor, gently
mocking the less sophisticated entertainments and the simpler way of life in
Ireland. To the Irish peasants in the play, the outside world is a thing of wonder.
One of the peasant girls, Honor, asks her beau to take her to see the “American
sayhorse.” He asks her if it isn’t the same as the “African Rhinocerapotamus”
that they had already seen. Honor’s reply illustrates her gullibility but also
provides an example of the racist humor common in many of these plays. She
tells him “Of course not. The African Rhinocerapotamus only ates naggers,
but the American sayhorse ates whales.” Whatever the entertainment on offer,
the Irish are shown as boisterous and fun-loving. Corney says that “there’s
nothing like an Irish fair for raising the spirits entirely, and be me sowl it’s
the place to put down spirits too. I’ve had half a pint.” When he asks another
peasant, Judy, to dance it is clear that the dance itself will be lively:
Judy: Dance is it, faith I wouldn’t wish your head was a daisy undher me
fut. Where’s the fiddler. Strike up wid the Rakes of Kildare or the Rocky
Road to Dublin . . . Give us the Planxty O’Rafferty—that’s the tune to
welt a hole in a barn dure or knock the splinthers out of a shutter.
As with all of these plays, justice of course prevails in the end. A magistrate is
brought from England to try Corney. However, whereas in the plays discussed
up to now English justice is shown as harsh and unfeeling, this is not the case
in Life in Ireland. The magistrate frees Corney and appoints him as the new
land agent. Despite very few references to the nationalist cause throughout the
play, the appointment of the honest and fair Corney to this position seems to
suggest the promise of a new dawn for Ireland itself, as expressed in the play’s
final lines of dialogue accompanied by a “lively Irish air”:
Corney: Kitty, my darling! The cloud’s past. I’m free again.

Kate: And as the sun of freedom shines on you, so may it soon shine
Omnes: All over Ireland.
Many of Pastor’s Irish-set plays depict Ireland itself as an exotic, myth-

ical land, whose people would lead a simple, peaceful life were it not for
the machinations of the British government. This image of Ireland as an
otherworldly place is perhaps most obvious in Cormac of the Cave, or Heart
of an Irishman, performed in November 1869. It is a fairly standard melo-
drama that features Shan Sullivan, a blacksmith, and other representatives
of the Irish peasantry; Lady Grace MacConnell, an aristocrat whose hus-
band has been killed and who is being held captive by her brother-in-law
Turloch in the hope that he can lay his hands on her son’s inheritance; and
Wild Cormac, a mysterious individual who appears in tattered clothes and
with matted hair. The plot is a simplistic one, with little overt reference to
the political situation in Ireland. It is interesting, however, for the prolifer-
ation of stereotyped representations of Ireland and the Irish.
Shan, the blacksmith, constantly talks about drinking and whiskey. The
play opens with Shan at his forge, reminding himself that he owes “Widdy
Grogan for the last half pint” and trying to recall whether that had been
his sixth or seventh of the night. He promises that when the action is all
over “I’ll get blind drunk, I won’t be sober for a week.” Shan is also short-
tempered when provoked. When Turloch’s men try to search his house for
the escaped Lady Grace, Shan tells them that he will measure them for a
coffin if they enter his house. He fights with Turloch and his men, using
the tools of his trade as weapons in the fight. Although irascible, Shan is
brave, loyal, and trustworthy to those that deserve it. Thinking that Lady
Grace’s child has drowned in the lake, Shan vows to rescue him: “I’ll seek
him if he was fifty fathoms down, I’ll pluck him from the waves or I’ll die
like an Irishman doing my duty.”
The play depicts Ireland as an atmospheric, haunting place peopled
with superstitious characters. Cormac asks Shan to meet him at midnight
at “the ruined chapel”:
Shan: Oh murther, twelve o’clock at night, I can’t, I’ll be asleep in

bed, or drunk at the shebeen by that time, oh Lord! Twelve o’clock
at night, at the ruined chapel, and the fairies and the leprechauns
and maybe Ould Nick himself dancing about there. Misther Wild
Cormac I can’t do it.
Cormac: Then mark my words, for surely as I speak shall it befall you.
Ne’er shall you know an hour of peace. Your house and all that it
contains shall be burned to the ground, yourself reduced to beggary,
wander an outcast from your native land, and call on death in vain
to ease your pangs. Hunger and thirst.
Shan: Hould on—thirst—and no whiskey. That settles it, I’ll meet you.
Meet you, aye, if the devil himself and all his family were there.
Like all of these plays, Cormac of the Cave depicts good relations between
the peasantry and upper classes in Ireland. Shan and Barney help to pro-
tect Lady Grace and her child from the attentions of her brother-in-law,
Turloch. Barney promises Lady Grace that he will take her to the lake and
keep her safe if he has “to face all the fairies in Killarney.” When Grace and
Barney come upon Cormac’s cave, Barney is terrified. Grace however, tells
Cormac that she is a woman and a mother. She appeals to Cormac, “as you
are human let that word disarm you of the power to harm us.” Grace’s role
as a mother is emphasized throughout. She tells Turloch’s men, as they try
to take her child:
Ah. Beware. I have borne much, but do not inflict a wound beyond a mother’s
power to endure. Dare to divide me from my child and I denounce you to the
world an assassin.
Just in time to prevent her forced marriage to the evil Turloch, Wild
Cormac in fact reveals himself to be Lady Grace’s husband. With the help
of the peasants, Grace and her child are rescued, Turloch is defeated and
the family unit is restored.
Whereas the plays discussed up to now have dealt with Anglo-Irish rela-
tions in the political arena, Dan Donnelly, Champion of Ireland dramatizes a
real encounter between Ireland and England in the sporting arena. Apparently
one of the most popular of Pastor’s Irish plays, it was performed at least four
times, first in May 1870 and again in 1871, 1873, and 1884. According to
a clipping filed with the script at the Harry Ransom Centre, the play is an
“exciting picture of Irish life in the last century.” Donnelly was an Irish boxer
fighting in the early nineteenth century. In 1814 he fought the English boxer
Tom Hall in Ireland and won—bonfires were lit in Dublin to celebrate the
victory. The following year Donnelly fought and beat the celebrated English
boxer George Cooper, who was in Ireland teaching self-defense.16
Boxing itself was a popular act in vaudeville and it seems that this play
allowed Pastor to try to recreate the famous Irish-English fight in his the-
atre. Aside from a recreation of the fight, there is little else in the way of a
plot and the play contains the usual mix of brave Irish lads and true Irish
lasses. It is worth noting, however, that once again, the upper and lower
classes in Ireland are presented as united. Maurice Kelly, referred to in
the list of characters as “an Irish gentleman,” is shown drinking with the
peasantry in celebration of Dan Donnelly’s birthday. We learn that Kelly

has bought one of the peasant’s farms and then gifted it back to him and
that he paid Mrs Dolan’s rent for a year when she was about to be evicted
by her landlord Martin Foley. Foley is scandalized to see Kelly “hob-nob-
bing with a parcel of boors.” Maurice replies:
Boors, is it. Look ye, Martin Foley, you’re a man of manes, so am I. You deem it
a shame to be seen in such company as this, I do not. Here are Ireland’s pride,
her peasantry, beneath each frieze coat and tattered vest rests an honest Irish
heart. Can we say as much for each broadcloth coat and ‘broidered vest?
The Irish peasants in the play are a source of humor. In one scene, Con
finds what he believes to be hair oil in Kitty’s belongings and uses some.
It turns out to be whiskey. She later tells Paddy that Con finished a whole
bottle of hair oil and “never winked an eye after it.” Biddy, “a love sick
lass” is desperate to be married and asks every man she sees to marry her.
Con, typically for Irish men in these plays, has been promised to so many
women that he tells her there are thirty-seven ahead of her. The men are
always ready for a fight or, as Con says, “I’d give two or three of the eyes
out of me head for a nice dacint ruction now.”
Although Donnelly’s opponent Cooper is English, he is still depicted as
honorable. He remarks that “the bunch of fives is a manly weapon, tis the
weapon of nature,” suggesting that both he and Donnelly are true men.
This is in contrast to Foley and Painter, who try to pay Cooper to get rid
of Dan outside of the ring rather than in a fair fight. The play seems to
suggest that neither wealth nor nationality is particularly important. What
matters in that men behave like men, that they are motivated by honor and
national pride, rather than petty personal grudges or greed.
As discussed above, the plays in this collection often depict America as
Ireland’s savior, with American characters coming to Ireland to join in the
fight against the English. Some of the plays refer to emigration from Ireland
as an option, although in the end it is usually the case that the joint forces
of America and Ireland are enough to defeat the English and bestow free-
dom on the Irish people. One play does however dramatize the necessity of
emigration from Ireland, something with which many in Pastor’s audience
would have been familiar. Don’t Go Molly Darling, An Irish Sketch was writ-
ten by Frank Dumont in 1872. Although it hints at economic hardship and
political tensions, the play is essentially a paean to America and the oppor-
tunities it could offer to the world’s poor and oppressed. The play opens
in Fergus O’Connor’s cottage and the table is set simply with a “platter of
potatoes” and a “black bottle.” Fergus’s daughter Molly tells her father that
her sweetheart, Dennis, plans to leave for America:
He says that in a short time he’ll be well-to-do there . . . He says all men are free
and equal there.
Molly’s father agrees:
So they are. Oppression is unknown. Every man, woman and child in that
country breathes the sacred air of liberty.
Rather than separate Molly and her father, Dennis agrees that they can
both come with him:
Is there any more in the family? Box up the pig and the cow and the house
too, and the whole of Ireland—put them on a raft and float them over. There’s
room enough in America for the whole of Europe and the whole world too.
As well as appealing to Irish American audiences, the overall message of

this play is one of patriotism and loyalty to America and the opportunities
that it has to offer immigrants from all over the world. The play’s final lines of
dialogue and stage direction emphasize this in the most dramatic manner:
Dennis: Tomorrow we sail for the land of freedom where rich and poor
are equal and the tyrant’s power can never oppress the exile. Where
every man is as good as his neighbor, even if he hasn’t a dollar. I may
be president yet and you presidentess, or I may become an Alderman
and you an Alderwoman. Look Molly! There is the greeting that
Columbia extends to all the nations of the globe.
Stage Dir : Music, “The Exile of Erin” . . . Molly and Dennis stand
hand in hand . . . and discover a tableaux of living characters or large
painting. Allegory: The Goddess of liberty extending a welcome to
exiles and giving them shelter and protection under the American
flag. Emigrants and exiles at her feet, bowing hands in prayers and
thanks.
It is clear then that these Irish-set plays share a number of common

themes. Any notion that Ireland’s problems may be as a result of anything
other than British interference is ruled out and the social cohesion between
the aristocracy and peasantry is emphasized. America is a source of gener-
ous aid to the Irish in their battle to free themselves from British rule, and
the Americans and the Irish seem to share a general affinity to one another.
The British characters are uptight, lecherous, and generally unsympathetic,
while the Irish are fun-loving, hospitable, brave, and patriotic. Certainly
the depictions of Irish characters in these plays draw on familiar stereo-
types of the Irish, particularly their readiness for either a ruction or a party.
Nevertheless it is perhaps surprising that the vaudeville stage, often thought
of as the site of some of the crudest and most negative Irish stereotypes,
engaged so sympathetically with Irish politics and Irish people. Of course,
the plays also portray an image of Ireland and the Irish that continues to
be drawn on by filmmakers and others today. Ireland is an exotic, roman-
tic, mysterious place, peopled with kind and innocent individuals only too
happy to welcome a passing stranger with whiskey and food. When one
examines the plays performed at Pastor’s Opera House that feature Irish
characters removed from Ireland, a slightly different image emerges.
PLAYS SET OUTSIDE IRELAND
In the plays discussed up to now, American characters often appear as rep-

resentatives of freedom and liberty. In Irishman in Cuba, it is a significant
comment on the position of the Irish in America that it is an Irish charac-
ter who has traveled abroad to fight for freedom. First performed in 1870,
the play appears to be a call for the Americans to intervene in Cuba and
features the Irish American Dan Driscoll fighting alongside the “Cuban
patriot” Domingo Luido to defeat the Spanish. Dan, a Corkman living in
New York, originally agreed to sail to Cuba when he was full of “Fourth
Ward electricity, five cents a glass.” When he sobered up, he was distressed
to find that he had boarded one of the Spanish gunboats “that it’s a dis-
grace to New York and America were ever built there,” and decides to stay
to aid the Cubans in their struggle for independence against “the blag-
gard Spanish tyrants.” Dan displays the masculine traits common to many
Irish men in these plays. He flirts with the Cuban women and is fond of
whiskey and fighting. However, he is also brave and honest, fighting only
when he believes it is justifiable to do so. When he rescues Domingo’s wife
Giralda from the clutches of the Spanish, she tells him that she had no
claim on him to make him help. He replies:
Pon me sowl ye had. In the first place ye wor a woman in distress and that’s
a claim on any o’ the Driscolls. In the second place, ye’re the wife of a noble
patriot that’s trying to give Cuba what ould Ireland’s waiting for, freedom from
a foreign yoke.
He refuses to take money from Domingo for his help, telling him
that “money only goes into one’s pocket but an honest man’s thanks goes
[straight] into yer heart.” The similarities between the plights of Ireland
and Cuba are suggested throughout the play. Dan says of Domingo and
Giralda:
That’s a rale gintleman, so he is. That fellow ought to be an Irishman, and that
girl, faith, she’s a born beauty, and that misther Don Carlos, faith, he’s a born
divil, and I’d give three or four of the eyes out of me head just to have him at
the end of me shillelah for five or ten minutes so I would.
As is the case in the Irish plays, America is seen as a place of refuge. Dan
and Domingo plan to sail to America “where the Spanish despots dare not
seek us or tyrants trample upon innocence and liberty.” However, the play
is also critical of the American government (although not the American
people) for its failure to support the Cuban cause:
Domingo: This defeat is but momentary, our people will again

rally after this breathing spell, and strike such a blow as will force
recognition from the powers of the earth, aye even the American
government, which should have been the first to encourage our
struggle to freedom.
Dan: But sure the people is one thing and the ould fogies that govern
them is another.
At the end of the play, Dan enlists help from the American ships in
the harbor. The final stage direction reads, “Dan enters from back with
American flag.” This is significant. Of course, by having an Irishman in
Cuba, the play is drawing obvious comparisons between Cuba and Ireland.
It suggests that if the Americans are willing to support the fight for Irish
freedom, then they should do the same in Cuba. However, although Dan
was born in Ireland, in this play he seems to represent all that is good about
America. By 1870, it appears that the Irish were already becoming some-
thing of an everyman character, the acceptable face of ethnic America.
For the most part, however, in the plays that feature Irish characters
but that are set elsewhere, the Irish are much more likely to be comic
characters, rather than the bold heroes of the Ireland-set plays. Might and
Right, or The Days of 76, by Poole, was performed at Pastor’s Opera House
in 1868. Set during the American War of Independence, it features the
characters Pat Rierdon, “a fighting Irishman,” and his betrothed Bridget
O’Brien. Bridget is unfeminine and, the script suggests, unattractive. At

one point, Gotham, an American, enters and kisses the American women
present. Bridget wipes her mouth in anticipation but he does not kiss her.
Bridget is also violent. The American women try to stop a fight, while
Bridget encourages the parties involved, telling one to “choke the divil out
of him.” In another scene, she attacks an English soldier.
Pat is also a fighter, keen to “go off to the ructions.” However, his fond-
ness for a fight is at least directed at the right side. Hezekiah, described as
“a Yankee patriot,” asks Pat which side he will fight for. Pat tells him “the
right side.” Hezekiah is confused, thinking Pat “a Britisher,” but Pat soon
puts him right, telling him “[I am] an Irisher . . . and why wouldn’t I fight
for the land that gives me a home.” In response to Bridget’s concerns that
he might be hurt in the fight, Pat tells her:
And if I do, what of it? Won’t I be a hero? Who is there more entitled to
a nation’s gratitude and thanks than the brave soldier that gets wounded in
defense of its rights and liberties?
Pat is keen to get at the “lobsters,” vowing to “murther them two at a

time. One for . . . America and another for the honor of . . . Ireland.” He is
appointed captain of an independent battalion alongside a black American,
Lemuel Beeswax, as quartermaster. As with The Idiot of Killarney this play
seems to be promoting better relations between Irish and black Americans.
Both Pat and Lemuel are on the winning side and help to defeat the
English.
Irishman in Greece was performed in 1867 and again in 1872. Another
play by Poole, it features an Irishman named Loony who has been ship-
wrecked in Greece and becomes involved with a gang of smugglers. Even
by the standards of these plays, Loony is a fairly one-dimensional charac-
ter. He fights at every opportunity, even with members of his own gang.
When one of the gang members tells him that “it’s death to oppose the
band,” Loony replies:
Be me sowl it’s murther to oppose a shillely [sic]. Oh, if you were ever at
Donnybrook or the fair of Mullingar, that’d tache you to fight. You just take
a blackthorn in your fist, and go around the fair and wherever you see a head,
knock a hole in it. You mustn’t stop if it’s your own father.
Unsurprisingly, Loony is fond of a drink. When asked if he can be

trusted, he replies, “Well, if you kept a whiskey shop it wouldn’t be safe
to trust me.” Although he does do the right thing in the end, Loony is
depicted as unprincipled and disloyal, unusual characteristics for an

Irishman in these plays.
Similarly one-dimensional Irish characters appear in The Steerage, or Life
on the Briny Deep. Set in the steerage class of an emigrant ship, the play
features a range of ethnic characters, including Patsy O’Dowd “from the
Green Isle, a lover of good whiskey”; an Irish woman “prolific in her propen-
sity to add to the earth’s population”; Herman Himmelspink, “a migrating
Dutchman”; Pietro “from sunny Italy”; and Pete, “the ship’s negro cook.”
The play is little more than an opportunity to show the humor arising from
the interactions of these various ethnic stereotypes. Nevertheless there are
some interesting suggestions as to the relative positions of each of these eth-
nic groups in America. It is the Irish character who seems most at ease with
the American characters and their language. As the play opens, the “Dutch”
character is suffering from seasickness. Patsy joins with the American char-
acter Jack to suggest possible remedies. When Jack presents some tobacco to
Herman and tells him to “take a chew of nigger head,” Patsy is eager to par-
ticipate in this racist imagery, telling Herman “Yes take a chaw, wool an’ all,
Dutchy.” In the end it is a tough American woman, Sarah Jane Applesass,
who intervenes to save Herman from Patsy and Jack’s efforts to help him.
Suggesting that the German character is weak and effeminate, she tells Jack
and Patsy to pick on her instead and chases them offstage. Patsy, it seems,
may be closer to becoming an American than Herman but he is still less of
a “man” than a Yankee woman.
Susan Kattwinkel discusses a number of further Pastor plays featuring
the Irish in America. As she points out, often these Irish characters are naive
and ignorant immigrants coming to terms with life in urban America.
As with The Steerage, much of the comedy in these plays stems from the
interactions between various ethnic groups. In New York Mechanics, the
Irish Larry Mooney meets a German, Hans von Schunk, and an African
American, Hannibal Hogg. Ethnic and racial identities seem to be uncer-
tain and fluid. Mooney refers to Hogg as a “naiger” to which Hogg replies
“Well dars unpudence from a forriner. I’d have you know sir, dat I’s a
German, if I is slightly Bismarck color, dat’s de fashionable color now.”
In High Life and Low Life, or Scenes in New York (1869), in an exchange
between an Irish woman, Bridget McNulty, and a black character called
Ketchup, the characters refer to each other as a “black leprechaun” and a
“shemale bogtrotter.”17
It is clear that there is a distinction between the Irish characters as they
appear in the Pastor plays set in Ireland and those set elsewhere, particu-
larly America. In the plays set in Ireland, there are a wider range of Irish
characters. There might be an Irish villain, but he is offset against a brave

and patriotic Irish hero. There will likely also be a comic Irish character,
although again he will tend to be slightly more complex than his Irish
American counterpart, assisting in the rescue of a damsel in distress or
joining the hero in the fight against the villain of the piece. In the plays set
in Ireland, some of the female characters might be rough and unfeminine,
but others are demure, innocent, and attractive. Class differences are rec-
ognized but are not divisive—Irish peasants risk their lives to protect their
landlords while the landlords sympathize with their plight. Most often,
the true villains are the English while America is often presented as an
escape route.
When the Irish arrive in America, however, they resemble much more
closely the stereotypes that we might expect from nineteenth-century the-
atre. They drink and fight (particularly with African Americans), and the
women seem to drink and fight more than the men. On the depiction of
Irish drinking in the plays, Kattwinkel writes:
Pastor’s theatre was not yet producing, at least on a regular basis, the stereo-
typed sloppy Irishman always in his cups that caused so much consternation
toward the end of the century. Alcohol is a regular presence in these early
plays, but its use is likely a more realistic reflection of the drinking done by
Pastor’s audience. Irish characters in Pastor’s plays are not damaging them-
selves through drink.18
As I go on to discuss in the following chapter, this seems to be the

case for much vaudeville material. The Irish drunk is a common fig-
ure in vaudeville songs and sketches in the latter half of the nineteenth
century, and drinking is depicted as a crucial part of the Irish American
social milieu. Nevertheless, this drinking is most often shown as harmless,
merely contributing to the Irish American’s fun-loving nature.
These Pastor plays are significant for a number of reasons. I would argue
that they call into question the assumption that vaudeville depictions of
the Irish were merely crude, one-dimensional stereotypes that would later
be inherited and only gradually improved by cinema. Writing about the
films shot on location in Ireland by Sidney Olcott for the Kalem Company
in the early twentieth century, Barton suggests that “the simplistic stage-
Irish characters of early American cinema are replaced by individuals with
considerable agency within these new, more sophisticated dramas.” Yet one
can see similarities between the Kalem films and the Irish plays performed
at Pastor’s Opera House in the 1860s and 1870s. Like the Kalem films,
the Pastor plays suggest that the struggle for independence from Britain
is justified while at the same time they play down any suggestion of social
disharmony among the upper and lower classes in Ireland. Like the Kalem
films, they show America as a powerful ally to Ireland and a refuge from
British oppression. At the same time as these plays were portraying Ireland
as a simple rural idyll, populated by oppressed peasants, kindly landlords,
and arrogant British soldiers, they were also constructing an image of
America, one whose destiny was to provide freedom from tyranny to all of
the world’s oppressed.19
The plays also reveal much about American attitudes toward the Irish.
Although Kattwinkel suggests that the Irish would have made up a signif-
icant proportion of Pastor’s audience, it is unlikely that these plays would
have been staged exclusively for Irish audiences. Although the Irish charac-
ters in the plays might enjoy a drink and a fight, the majority of them are
patriotic, loyal, and trustworthy. They are not radicals intent on wholesale
revolution. Instead they want what Americans already have—an indepen-
dent country, free from British rule. In this way, the plays seem to suggest
that the Irish in America are to be welcomed rather than feared. Indeed,
in An Irishman in Cuba, it is an Irish American character who acts as a
representative for the United States and proudly brings his flag, the Stars
and Stripes, onto Cuban soil to rid them of the Spanish tyrants. It is par-
ticularly interesting that some of the plays seem to urge greater coopera-
tion between Irish and African Americans. Although African American
characters are referred to throughout in racist terms, both The Idiot of
Killarney and Might and Right point to the potential achievements should
both groups work together.
Finally, when one examines the plays performed at Pastor’s Opera
House in the 1860s and 1870s, a particularly gendered image of the Irish
and of Irish America emerges. For the most part, Irish men drink, fight,
and womanize. However, they are also loyal, brave, and patriotic. The
plays suggest that they cannot be one without the other. Although they
flirt and womanize, Irish men are essentially decent and honorable, willing
to fight to protect Irish women (and by extension Ireland itself) from the
unwanted attentions of the English men. Irish women are either virtuous
and innocent or unfeminine figures of fun who drink as much as men and
are keen to join in the ructions at every opportunity. When the plays’ Irish
men and women are transported to America, the range of character traits
becomes more narrow. The Irish in America are largely comic characters,
the humor stemming from their ignorance of modern urban life. Although
some of the American-set plays do recognize the positive contribution of

Irish men to America, Bridget is exclusively rough, uncouth, and mascu-
line. These distinctions suggest that gender played an important part in
the construction of an Irish American identity. As such, there is merit in
exploring the interactions between gender and Irishness in a wider range
of vaudeville material, in order to consider the ways in which particular
brands of Irish masculinity and femininity were constructed.
4. Representations of Irish
Masculinity in Vaudeville
O
ver the last thirty years or more, scholars have stressed the inter-
play between constructions of gender identity on one hand and
constructions of the nation and national identity on the other.
Not only is the nation state a largely masculine and patriarchal entity,
with men at the heart of government and the military, but as Nagel argues,
nationalist culture “resonate[s] with masculine cultural themes.” Central
to ideas of national identity are the masculine ideals of bravery and duty,
ready to be put to use defending the honor of the feminized nation. In
order, therefore, to help define the nation, it can also be helpful to define
and construct definitions of ideal masculine and feminine behavior and
characteristics. In her study on gender and race in the United States, Gail
Bederman argues that from the early to mid-nineteenth century, the newly
emerging American middle class sought to distinguish themselves from
other classes, partly through renewed notions of gender identity. The
brand of hegemonic masculinity that was promoted sought to characterize
the ideal American man as full of strength, virility, and character.1
A number of forces challenged this hegemonic masculinity, however.
Following the Civil War, the United States experienced a period of rapid
change, with urbanization, industrialization, and immigration all contrib-
uting to a growing working class and prompting insecurity within native-
born, middle-class America. In his study of manhood in America, Michael
Kimmel suggests that these developments resulted in a “crisis in American
manhood” when native-born American men, with fewer opportunities
for skilled artisans and craftsmen, found themselves working alongside
immigrants in factories. Against this background, Kimmel suggests,
white, native-born, middle-class American men sought to reaffirm their
masculinity in terms of what they were not. In this context marginalized
“others,” that is black or immigrant men, acted as “a screen against which
those ‘complete’ men projected their fears.” To native-born American men
in the antebellum period, Irish immigrants in particular were “stamped

with a problematic masculinity. Imagined as rough and primitive, uncivi-
lized and uncivilizable, the Irish were ridiculed as a subhuman species,
born to inferiority and incapable of being true American men.” The brand
of Irish masculinity with which such “complete” men were perhaps most
familiar might indeed have been “rough and primitive,” centred largely
on “boardinghouses, saloons, theatres and prizefighting rings.” To native-
born Americans, Kelleher argues, “drinking and brawling were common
behaviors [among Irish-born men]; and gambling, visits to brothels, and
participation in political gangs were readily available options.”2
Of course, native-born American men were not the only ones engaged
in a process of defining themselves and their nation. Irish immigrants to
America had left a society in which centuries of colonial discourse had
impacted on gender, as well as national, identity. In the colonial setting,
Irish men lacked the trappings of patriarchy and authority enjoyed by their
British rulers. In order to make clear the necessity of their involvement in
Ireland, the British for their part tended to depict all Irish people, men
and women, as effeminate and incapable of self-government.3 Following
the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, scholars have noted the
efforts made to redress the effects of this colonial discourse. Instead of
being feminized, Irish men were reconstructed as “hyper-masculine”—
strong, virile, and patriotic. Meanwhile, the role of Irish women as home
keepers and mothers was reinforced. As was the case within the colonial
framework, Ireland the nation remained feminized. However, Irish men
alone were now responsible for her protection. Irish women were responsi-
ble for giving birth to and raising the next generation of sons to take for-
ward this task. Meaney summarizes this process:
the psychodynamic of colonial and postcolonial identity often produces in the

formerly colonized a desire to assert a rigid and confined masculine identity,
against the colonizers’ stereotype of their subjects as feminine, wild and ungov-
ernable. This masculine identity then emerges at the state level as a regulation
of “our” women, an imposition of a very definite feminine identity as guarantor
to the precarious masculinity of the new state.4
If Irish men were engaged in a process of reaffirming and redefining

their masculinity following the establishment of the Free State, might it
also be the case that a similar process occurred following emigration from
Ireland? As well as a strong emphasis on patriarchal power, Geraldine
Moane has identified other legacies of colonialism in Ireland. In partic-
ular, she suggests that Irish people have emerged from their colonial past
Irish Masculinity in Vaudeville 97
with a weak sense of identity and a strong sense of inferiority. Given the
traumatic circumstances surrounding much emigration from Ireland in
the nineteenth century, it is likely that the psychological effects of colo-
nialism would have crossed the Atlantic. For Irish men who were femi-
nized at home and faced discrimination on arrival in the United States,
there was perhaps a strong impetus to construct a new, distinct Irish
American masculinity that would make them acceptable to the dominant
white Anglo-Saxon Protestant society, would distinguish them from other
ethnic and racial groups, and yet would retain a unique sense of their own
ethnic background.5
As discussed in Chapter 2, vaudeville was home to performers of vari-
ous nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including native-born and Irish
Americans. In this chapter, I consider whether there is any evidence to
suggest that the efforts of both groups to construct and define a particular
version of acceptable masculinity were played out on the popular stage.
PERFORMING THE IRISH WORKING MAN
Given the large numbers of Irish men working as manual laborers in the
United States, it is hardly surprising that the Irishman in vaudeville often
appeared in the guise of a hod-carrier, a railroad worker, or a coal-heaver.
Donovan writes that the figure of the Irish American laborer, “distinguished
by his primitive, ape-like face, unkempt whiskers, and large, clumsy hands
and feet” dominated American humor toward the end of the nineteenth
century. According to Snyder, the typical Irish character on the vaudeville
stage “appeared in a take-off on an immigrant workingman’s garb: a plaid
suit, green stockings, corduroy breeches, a square-tailed coat, a battered
stovepipe hat with a pipe stuck in the band, a hod-carrier’s rig, and chin
whiskers.” The character continued to appear in early films—Rockett’s
Irish Filmography lists twelve films made in the United States between 1896
and 1905 whose synopses refer to Irish laborers or hod-carriers.6
Vaudeville acts that drew on the experiences of Irish workers for their
source material included the Four Shamrocks, whose act “consisted of
ladders and scaffolding and tossing bricks.” The Irish comedian John W.
Kelly performed as “The Rolling Mill Man,” telling stories of his work
in the sheet metal factories. An exchange between the vaudeville team of
Pat Rooney and Marion Bent also draws on the experiences of the Irish
working man. Rooney asks Bent what her favorite stone is and she replies
“turquoise.” Rooney tells her that his favorite stone is a brick. The vaude-
ville team Kelly and Ryan performed together as “The Bards of Tara”
between 1871 and 1885. According to Cullen, their song-and-dance act

displayed “a distinctly Irish air.” A publicity photograph for their act shows
them dressed in typical workingman’s gear, complete with side whiskers
or Galway Sluggers and carrying shovels.7 One of their songs, “The Hod
Carriers” (published in 1879) illustrates a common depiction of Irish labor-
ers in vaudeville:
We are two Irish boys so frisky,

None better sure you can’t find,
To twirl the twig, or drink strong whiskey,
Or bate a big foe, do you mind . . .
Drink success to Irish labor
Just new over from the sod;
All we want is laborers’ wages,
For we’re the boys that carry the hod.
We’d have no shifting politicians,
But every man would honest be;
Old starvation, he’d have no relation,
And ould Ireland would be free;
We’d have Saturday night three times a week,
Fine roast beef, and less salt cod;
Then everyone would happy be,
Just like the boys that carry the hod.8
Kelly and Ryan’s hod carriers then were reasonably content with their
lot. They are not agitating for anything and insist that they are happy with
their “laborers’ wages,” wishing only that everyone could be as honest and
happy as them. Importantly though, they express their wish that “ould
Ireland would be free.” This might be seen as a reassurance to native-born
Americans in Kelly and Ryan’s audience. Instead of calling for industrial
action or higher wages, the political priorities of Kelly and Ryan’s working-
class Irishmen rest back at home, in Ireland. Their patriotism and desire
to be free from British rule of course connects them with recent events
in American history and suggests that they are capable of loyalty to their
adopted homeland. At the same time, this song links a particular brand of
Irish masculinity—light-hearted, lively, fun-loving, and fond of a drink—
with a desire for Irish nationhood.
The character of the Irish laborer also appears in vaudeville playlets.
“That’s My Sister,” an undated script contained in a notebook of material
ranging from 1877 to 1879, features the characters Mary Ann, her brother
Pat, and the manager of an opera house. Pat, who the manager describes as
a “strange looking customer,” has come to the theatre looking for work and
Figure 4.1 Kelly and Ryan, who performed as the Bards of Tara.
Source: Thomas Ryan clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1987.
greets the manager with that stereotypical Irish greeting, “top of the morn-
ing.” The manager asks Pat what sort of work he can do and Pat replies “I
can carry a hod Sir.” Asked if he can do anything else, he replies, “Faith
Sir, I can lay it down again.” Suggesting the exclusion of working-class
immigrants from forms of high culture in America, the manager tells Pat:
“we want no hod carriers here. Are you aware of the place you are in? You’re
in the opera house.” When Pat reminds the manager that he advertised in
the paper for people, the manager says yes, but “not for laborers” and hands
him the newspaper. Displaying his ignorance and stupidity, Pat holds the
paper upside down, telling the manager “I learned to read that way when
I went to school.” Pat’s misunderstanding of the English language results
in further consequences that draw on the supposed tendency of Irish men
to fight at the drop of a hat. Pat’s sister is eventually given a job as a prima
donna, and the manager asks Pat if he could perform the baritone part,
which he refers to as a buffo. Typically Pat misunderstands, exclaiming:
“Be Gorry is it a buffer you want? You can bet I’m the boy for ye.” Punning
on the American slang for fighter or brawler, and drawing on the stereo-
typical image of the fighting Irish, the stage direction reads that Pat “spars
at the manager,” chasing him around the stage.9
In 1899, the vaudeville performer Tom Nawn, who made a career
out of performing Irish men on stage, appeared in a comic farce entitled
One Touch of Nature, in which he played an Irish laborer called Michael
Maloney. A review of the play considered his performance as a “horny-
handed son of toil”:
so true, so life-like and so unexaggerated that it seems as though a genuine Irish

laborer had kindly consented to step on the stage and entertain the audience
for half an hour . . . Mr Nawn has made so close a study of this type that every
movement, every inflection, every gesture is perfect.10
The play was still running in 1906, but Nawn predicted that it could
not last for much longer. Hinting at the improving position of the Irish
within American society, Nawn conceded to the New York Telegraph
that “the old Irish hod carrier is a thing of the past. Bricks are hoisted by
machinery and Italians nowadays.” Interestingly though, this fact did not
seem to have much of an impact on the play’s longevity. It was still heading
the bill at Proctor’s 125th Street Theatre in March 1916.11
The working conditions faced by Irish men in late-nineteenth-century
America could be extremely harsh and significantly lowered their life
expectancy well into the early twentieth century. In 1910, for example,
the death rate for Irish-born males in New York State was 25.9 per 1000
compared to 13.8 for native-born men and 12.9 for Italian-born men.12 As
one Irishman put it at the time:
how often do we see such paragraphs in the paper as an Irishman drowned—an

Irishman crushed by a beam—an Irishman suffocated in a pit—an Irishman
blown to atoms by a steam engine . . . and other like casualties and perils to
which honest Pat is constantly exposed, in the hard toils for his daily bread.13
In vaudeville songs and sketches, these harsh conditions could be a

source of humor. Williams cites the 1898 comic song “Poor O’Hoolahan,”
in which the unfortunate Irishman is given the job of holding the fuse of
an explosive—“I’ll bet yer he lost his nose! Poor O’Hoolahan/ I’ll bet yer he
lost his toes! Poor O’Hoolahan.” Similarly, the comic recording “Michael
Casey and his gang of Irish laborers” features the foreman Casey and work-
ers with names like Brady, Dooley, Dugan, Finnegan, and Slattery, all of
whom speak with a strong brogue. One of the workers is being hauled up
to a roof to mend a lightning rod when he falls. Perhaps in a reference to
Irish drinking habits, the sketch ends with Casey the foreman quipping
“Begorrah send for a doctor, the poor man is dead. That’s the first time I
ever saw an Irishman come down.”14
Alan Trachtenberg discusses the fear among the urban middle classes of
the late nineteenth century concerning the working-class, uneducated, and
often un-American workers upon whom it seemed the new industrial society
was resting. It wouldn’t take much, some reasoned, for these workers to revert
to savagery, thereby threatening the very fiber of American society. Given
their concentration in unskilled work and the conditions they faced, the Irish
gained a reputation for industrial action. According to Kenny, in antebellum
America, groups of Irish workers on occasion fought amongst themselves for
access to jobs, or destroyed completed work if they did not receive a fair wage.
Irish laborers were also prominent among the trade union movement. The
Knights of Labor, the most powerful union in 1870s and 1880s America, was
led by Terence Powderly, the son of Irish immigrants, from 1879 until 1893.
One of the most notorious incidents involving violent industrial action was
the case of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irishmen operating in the
mining regions of Pennsylvania in the late 1870s. Following an undercover
operation by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, fifty Irishmen were charged
with the murders of mine bosses, public officials, and other miners. Twenty of
the accused were executed and the majority of the rest were imprisoned.15
Irish ties with labor unions and their reputation for violent strike action
are reflected in the vaudeville song “Knights of Irish Labor,” performed
by Bradford and Delaney. In the song, two “true sons of Erin’s Isle,” who
landed in America six weeks’ earlier, find themselves “an easy job” carry-
ing the hod. The song finishes with the lines:
We’re two Irish Knights of Labor,

And we’re members of the order called the Sons of Toil.
When we’re on a strike then the people watch the ruction,
For it’s then we give them a sample of our style.16
Labor relations were also closely linked to race relations. In How the
Irish Became White, Noel Ignatiev argues that the Irish made a conscious
decision to tip the scales in their favor and become “white”; in other words
to “partake in the privileges of white skin.” In Chapter 2 I discuss how
Irish participation in the rituals of blackface performance might have con-
tributed to this process. Ignatiev argues that the Irish moved from being
part of an oppressed race at home to members of an oppressing race in the
United States. In competition for the same unskilled jobs as African and
Chinese Americans, the Irish in antebellum America were largely antia-
bolitionist and took part in violent race riots prompted by, among other
things, the Emancipation Proclamation and the 1863 Conscription Act.17
Vaudeville songs tapped into these tensions between the Irish and other
ethnic groups. Dating from the late 1870s, “The Chinese They Must Go”
is sung from the point of view of the Irish socialist politician and union
leader Dennis Kearney. Kearney was born in Ireland and in the late 1870s
and 1880s dominated the labor movement in San Fransisco. Responding
to an influx of cheap Chinese labor, Kearney was instrumental in a num-
ber of anti-Chinese measures both in California and in the United States
more widely.18 The song draws on Kearney’s rallying cry:
Arrah good evening to ye one and all

And listen to me now
It’s the California agitator who to ye all does bow
I am called the sand lot orator
And about foreigners I do blow
I’m the original Dennis Kearney boys
Who says the Chinese they must go.
So come all ye honest workingmen
Just do the best ye know
And let your cry forever be
The Chinese they must go.
They come here by their thousands
The dirty yellow scamps
They work for twenty cents a day
They are a damn sight worse than tramps
They eat cats, rats, mice and dogs
And we can’t hang them up for washing our clothes
So the Chinese they must go.19
A similar anti-Chinese sentiment can be found in the 1883 song by Pat

Rooney, “Is That Mr Reilly?” The song’s protagonist outlines his ambi-
tions in the following lines:
I’ll have nothing but Irishmen on the police

Patrick’s Day will be the Fourth of July;
I’ll get me a thousand infernal machines,
To teach the Chinese how to die.20
In “When McGuinness Gets a Job,” a song in the form of a conversa-

tion between two Irish women, it is Italian immigrants who are depicted
as taking jobs from Irish men:
Last winter was a hard one, Missus Reilly, did you say?
‘Tis well yourself that knows it, for many’s the long day
Your husband wasn’t the only one sat behind a wall
My old man McGuinness couldn’t get a job at all . . .
The politicians promised him work on the boulevard
To handle a pick and shovel, and throw dirt on the cart
Six months ago they told him work he’d surely get
But believe me, my good woman, they’re promising him yet.
Bad luck to those Italians, why don’t they stay at home?
We’ve plenty of our own kind to eat up all our own
They come like bees in the summertime, swarming here to stay
Contractors they hire them for forty cents a day.21
Other vaudeville songs, however, seem more sympathetic to the plight

of Irish workers and even in their humor point to their harsh working con-
ditions. In the 1888 comic song “Drill, Ye Tarriers Drill”—later the title
of a 1900 film with similar action—the railroad worker “Big Jim Goff” is
blown into the air by an explosion. When he collects his wages he finds
that they have been docked for the time that he spent in the sky.22 Kelly
and Ryan’s performance as Irish laborers in “The Hod Carriers,” as dis-
cussed above, paints an image of a carefree and honest Irish workingman.
Another of their songs, “The Coal Heavers,” reiterates this point, with two
jolly Irish workmen “full of fun and sometimes whiskey.” However, the
song does include some comment on the plight of the American (and not
specifically Irish American) working class:
We wish the times would only get better,

So all could work throughout the land;
How many poor men now are starving,
While the rich in luxury live so grand.
If we were rulers of the United States,
We’d take a very different plan,
We’d make all old rich rascals work,
And give their place to the laboring man.23
These vaudeville songs and sketches suggest that the Irish working man
was a common figure on the popular stage, as he would later become in
early cinema. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing anything about
the actual performance of such characters. Certainly one would imagine
that the spades and shovels that might have marked out a character as an
Irish laborer would also have been convenient additions to a knockabout
comedy act. Nevertheless, it also appears that at least some vaudeville
material was dealing directly with issues at the heart of Irish American life
in the nineteenth century. The competition between the Irish and other
groups for work, for example, was one of the distinguishing features of
this period. According to Kenny, although the tensions between black and
Irish Americans persisted throughout the nineteenth century, “the most
intense form of Irish racial animosity in [the post-Famine era] was directed
against the Chinese.”24 This animosity is clearly vocalized in the 1870s
song “The Chinese They Must Go.” Likewise, when the two Irish women
in “When McGuinness Gets a Job” complain that the competition from
Italian migrants is preventing their husbands from finding work, vaude-
ville can be seen to be charting the changing nature of Irish America. At
the time this song was published in 1880, the new Italian immigrants
were competing for laboring jobs along with many Irish Americans. By
the close of the century, however, the prevalence of “new” immigrants
in such jobs served to indicate how far the Irish in America had come.
By 1900, they had largely moved from unskilled to skilled work and it
was the Italians, Hungarians, and other immigrants from Eastern Europe
who replaced them as America’s manual laborers. Vaudeville songs such as
“When McGuinness Gets a Job” are useful reminders of this transition.
SOCIABLE IRISH
Throughout the period covered by my study, the pages of the New York
Times detail many instances of drunken Irish engaged in violent and crim-
inal behavior. In 1878, for example, the paper reported a fight among
members of the Drake’s Lane Gang, “a set of roughs who have given much
trouble to the peaceable people of the town.” The fighters, the piece notes,
“were evidently Irish laborers, and very drunk.” As such, “the men in the
neighborhood felt a natural delicacy about interfering with them, but
watched them from secure second story windows.” Working-class Irish
men, it seems, were often characterized as drunken and violent and this
brand of masculinity was depicted as a threat to “peaceable people,” pre-
sumably more respectable native-born American men.25
There is some evidence to suggest that the stereotype of the drunken

Irish does perhaps have its background in the social and cultural practices of
the Irish. Moane views high rates of alcohol consumption in Ireland as one
legacy of the colonialism, and cites a 2001 WHO study which found that
the Irish are among the highest consumers of alcohol in Europe. A 1968
study of historical rates of alcoholism among ethnic groups in America in
the nineteenth century found higher rates among the Irish than among
other ethnicities, even when differences in social status were taken into
account. It is probably fair to say that drinking did play an important part
in Irish American life. In New York and Boston in the 1850s, for example,
the Irish were disproportionately represented among saloon-keepers and
the saloon was a focal point for community life. It appears that the Irish
relationship with alcohol was closely linked with questions of gender iden-
tity. Changing economic conditions in post-Famine Ireland, including the
move from partible to impartible inheritance so that only one son tended
to inherit land, resulted in declining marriage rates and increasing levels
of celibacy. In this environment, the traditional masculine roles of father,
husband, farmer, or landowner were eroded, resulting in what might be
termed a crisis in masculinity. Single men tended to socialize largely in
all-male groups and “apparently sublimated much of their sexual desire in
relentlessly heavy drinking with their peers.”26
Richard Stivers’ study of Irish drinking habits supports this thesis. He
argues that “the all-male group . . . proved the cornerstone of rural Irish
social order” and that, within this bachelor group, drinking (specifically
socially, in a public house) was seen as a rite of passage, symbolizing a
young man’s entry into the group and thereby his transition to manhood.
The heavy drinking that seems to have taken place among men in post-
Famine Ireland, Stivers suggests, “signaled solidarity, a renewal of man-
liness, and distinctiveness from women.” In the context of the crisis in
masculinity referred to above, and in order to maintain the social order, it
was essential that young men should not feel that they were missing out.
Thus the masculine qualities of other activities, such as sport, witty con-
versation or storytelling, and crucially, drinking were extolled.27
The process of emigration threatened this sense of masculine commu-
nity and identity still further. In America, hard drinking among Irish men
acted as a means of identification, a way to reaffirm Irish identity in a
foreign setting. Stivers writes that “drinking now made one more Irish; it
distinguished one from other ethnic groups. Hence in the act of drinking,
in the affirmation of a lifestyle, one was truly nationalistic.” So, whereas
in Ireland, drinking had acted as a way for Irish men to reaffirm their
masculinity, in America it allowed Irish immigrants to reaffirm their

Irishness. Stivers suggests that by the 1890s one can discern a more posi-
tive stereotype of the Irish American drunk, moving away from the vicious
and hardened drinker toward the happy-go-lucky Irish drunk. In the the-
atre, he argues, the crude stereotype of the stage Irishman was replaced by
a more romanticized version of the stereotype, the “professional Irishman,”
and that this less threatening stereotype performed a dual function:
For the American who had earlier branded the Irish as enemy, the epitome
of evil, the positive caricature was a way of taming the wild Irish, of making
them safe and secure for American society. For the Irish, the stage/ profes-
sional Irishman was a way of belonging while simultaneously showing their
distinctiveness.28
Stivers’ observation that the stereotype of the drunken Irish improved

from the 1890s onward may be correct for the legitimate theatre. However,
my research on variety and vaudeville theatre has revealed very few exam-
ples of the drunken Irish stereotype that could be described as anything
other than the happy drunk. I have found no evidence for any depictions
of hard-drinking and violent Irish men threatening the fabric of American
society. Of course the drunken Irishman may risk harming his family or
himself. Kelly and Ryan performed in a sketch entitled The Drunkard’s
Dream in which they sang a “temperance character duet” called “Dennis,
Come Home.” I have been unable to determine specifically when this
sketch would have been performed, although the song is published in a
songster dated 1879, so presumably it would have been before or during
that year. In the song, an Irish wife beseeches her husband to come home
from the pub, having spent his wages on alcohol, leaving nothing for her
and the children. The song is peppered with Irish dialect—Mary refers
to her husband as “Dennis acushla” and he addresses her affectionately
as “acushla mavourneen astore.” The song’s temperance message is clear,
as Dennis vows to take the pledge and become “a different man,” ensur-
ing a happy home once more. Unsurprisingly given the bawdy nature of
some vaudeville entertainments, temperance was not always celebrated. In
“A Terrible Example” the character McGee is so fond of whiskey that his
wife enlists the help of a temperance preacher to get him to stop drinking.
When he eventually stops drinking, McGee finds that he has lost “all his
exuberant spirits, being entirely under the control of his wife and the tem-
perance advocates.” This seems to support Stivers’ argument that drinking
among Irish men was very much a way to reaffirm their manliness.29
Most often, the Irish drunk in vaudeville is a harmless figure of fun,

and drinking is depicted as being an important part of the Irish, working-
class social milieu. In “I Haven’t Been Home Since Morning,” an Irish
laborer, Michael Donovan, sings about going out on “a spree” on payday:
Oh I haven’t been home since morning nor since I got me pay

I haven’t had such an elegant time for manny and manny [sic] a day
I am just in the humor to treat ye all so come along boys with me
For I’ve been working overtime and now I’m on a spree
I drew my pay at five o’clock and for home I made a track
When Cassidy the foreman shouted Donovan come back
He says you needn’t run like that and he gave a knowing wink
We’ll go down to Jerry Flaherty’s I’m going to stand a drink
Now when the foreman called me I couldn’t refuse for to comeback
For if I had I didn’t know but what I’d get the sack
We had our glass with Cassidy then tossed for drinks all round
In less than half an hour there wasn’t a sober man to be found.30
This song suggests that drinking among Irish working men in America
was a social experience, one that helped to establish a particular sense of
identity or community.
Of course, such drunken social occasions often ended in a fight. “O’Brien’s
Raffle,” for example, recounts the events surrounding a raffle for a Christmas
turkey in which the winner of the raffle, an Irishman, is set upon by the
other Irish men in his company. He “fought them like a tiger” but was hit by
pokers and an axe and was covered by the contents of upturned spittoons.31
The tendency of vaudeville’s Irish men to revel in a good fight is exemplified
by a gag from Sam Morton, patriarch of the long-running vaudeville team
The Four Mortons. As part of his act, Morton told the following story:
Yis, I was walking down the street and I saw me father-in-law in a terribul fite
wid a polismon. Wantin’ to help me poor father-in-law, I rooshed in an’ swat-
ted the polismon. An’ thin what did me father-in-law do but hit me a poonch
on the nose. “You lave this polismon alone” he says, says he. “He belongs to me.
You go an’ git yer own polismon to fight wid.”32
In the vaudeville playlet An Undesirable Neighbor, the character Dennis

Dooley sings a song about being out “on a spree” with Mike Mahone from
whom he borrows six dollars. Dooley writes an IOU but later the two
get drunk—“He was full and I was not so far behind/And for a while we
thought we owned the town”—and row over the money, with Mahone
holding the IOU upside down and demanding nine dollars. Mahone sues
Dooley for the money he owes and Dooley is sent to prison. Dooley goes
on to explain how he attempted to get his revenge on Mahone, setting
about him “in Kilkenny style” and describing their fight in some detail:
And it looked as though a cyclone struck the place,

But somehow his fists flew out with all their might,
First he used his left and then his right;
And for fear he’d fall I stopped them with my face
I saw stars and several planets at the time,
For he closed my eyes and nearly broke my spine.33
There is no doubt that the stereotype of the Irish drunk continued to

appear in early films made in the United States. The synopses of the Irish-
themed films made in the United States between 1896 and 1905 suggest
that a number featured Irish characters drinking or getting drunk. Indeed,
Rockett lists the first US-produced Irish-themed film as The Drunken
Acrobat. Produced in 1896 by the American Mutoscope Company, the
film featured the vaudeville team O’Brien and Havel performing one of
their routines. However, while the name O’Brien does suggest that this
act might have had something of an Irish flavor and while the use of the
term “drunken” points to a prevalent Irish stereotype, I have been unable
to find any evidence that the team was associated with Irishness. When the
film played at B. F. Keith’s vaudeville theatre in Boston in February 1897,
the Cambridge Chronicle described it as “the imitation of the drunken man
going home with a silk hat on and turning somersaults without hurting it,”
but does not make any specific reference to Irishness within the film. The
earliest reference to O’Brien and Havel that I have encountered is as part
of the bill at Tony Pastor’s theatre in June 1894.34 A year later, O’Brien and
Havel appeared with Tony Pastor’s company. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle ’s
review of this performance gives a flavor of the act:
O’Brien and Havel promise to be poor in the beginning, but Havel stops sing-
ing and does some unique and eccentric tumbling that is decidedly new and
brings down the house. His partner raises it again with a graceful dance that is
hardly expected of her.35
In 1898, they performed at Keith’s New Union Square Theatre, billed as

a “high class acrobatic and comedy act.” By 1905, when the team appeared
in the Will Cressy-scripted comedy Ticks and Clicks, one newspaper referred
to the duo as “two of the old standing favorites of the vaudeville stage.” A
1921 article in Variety suggested that the O’Brien and Havel name had been
identified with vaudeville for more than twenty-five years. It also seems that
the 1895 piece in the Brooklyn Eagle confused the names of the partners and
that O’Brien was in fact the male partner. According to Variety, O’Brien
and Havel’s 1921 act still retained some of the old vaudeville style—it con-
tained “a lot of low comedy, which Mr O’Brien handles with the skill of the
veteran. O’Brien does no tumbling in this turn until the finish, when he
executes his old familiar twisting head stand.”36
O’Brien and Havel may well have been an Irish vaudeville act and The
Drunken Acrobat might well have been the first American-produced Irish-
themed film as Rockett’s Irish Filmography suggests. However, based on
the archival evidence that I have been able to access, it does not appear
that their act was marketed or advertised based on Irishness, at a time
when many others were. Indeed, an illustration of the team in a poster
dating from approximately 1899 does not include any of the trappings of
Irishness that one might expect from this period. Instead, the Library of
Congress catalogue record for this item lists the following subject head-
ings—O’Brien and Havel, couples, cross-dressing, and vaudeville. It seems
then that the pair’s act had many elements but that ethnicity was not nec-
essarily one of them. However, the fact that The Drunken Acrobat has been
categorized as an Irish-themed film shows the role of stereotyping in media
representations of the Irish and the extent to which these stereotypes—in
this case the stereotype of the drunken Irish—have influenced and indeed
continue to influence perceptions of Irishness.37
One of the key characteristics of Irish masculinity in vaudeville is that
Irish men know how to have a good time. They are free and easy, drink-
ing, partying, dancing, and often fighting among themselves. Vaudeville’s
Irish men also tend to boast about their popularity among the opposite
sex. In the 1870s, for example, the Irish male-female team the Fieldings
performed a song entitled “Micks” in which “two Irish gossoons,” both
“red-headed and hearty, frisky and merry,” sing about life in Ireland, where
“we drink our whisky hot/And squeeze the girls all around/ When the
piper plays a tune/We all go dancing around the room.” In another song,
“The Mulcahey Twins” (included in an 1874 Fieldings songster but writ-
ten by Ned Harrigan and performed originally by Harrigan and Hart),
each verse ends with the refrain that the Mulcahey twins are “the pets of
the ladies.”38 The Irish performer Jerry Cohan performed a song called
“Rollicking, Roving Barney” in which the eponymous Barney, “full of the
divil and blarney,” displays the Irish fondness for dancing and attracts the
attention of the ladies as he dances:
Just watch my foot, astore, its motion is so true,

The ladies eyes they follow mine, as I trip about the floor.39
As discussed above, Michael Kimmel suggests that one of the ways in

which native-born American men sought to define their own masculinity
in the late nineteenth century was to depict “other” men, such as immi-
grants or black Americans, as somehow less manly and to equate them with
women or children. It is possible to discern something vaguely effeminate
in some of vaudeville’s representations of flirtatious Irish men. Scholars
of blackface minstrelsy have identified the minstrel dandy as a common
stereotype of antebellum minstrel shows. Characters such as “Zip Coon”
or “Dandy Jim from Caroline” parodied, according to Webb, both white
Yankee fops and free black men attempting to assume airs and graces,
each of whom threatened to destabilize race, class, and gender boundar-
ies.40 Recalling these dandies of blackface minstrel shows, Irish characters
in vaudeville are often concerned more with their appearance and their
attraction to the opposite sex than with more manly pursuits. In the vaude-
ville song “George Magee,” for example, the title character refers to himself
as “An Irishman/Of high degree/The ladies’ pet.” He carries on in this
vein, boasting:
I have a wink in my eye that does capture the girls,

And my smiles they can never resist;
My black Carolinas the barber he curls,
And I have a gold ring on my fist,
And everyone knows as they look at my clothes
They’re made of good stuff, firm and strong;
As I walk on the street every damsel I meet
Eyes my figure as I move along.41
However, attraction to the opposite sex or flirtatious behavior might

also be seen as indicative of a more positive representation of Irish mas-
culinity. Melissa Bellanta has demonstrated how working-class, largely
Irish, Australian larrikins adopted the dress and mannerisms of minstrel
show dandies in the late nineteenth century in an effort to establish their
own particular brand of flamboyant and, as Bellanta terms it, “outlaw”
masculinity. Similarly, Stephen Rohs places the depiction of flirtatious
and flamboyant Irish men within the context of a wider effort among
Irish American men to set themselves apart from Victorian ideals of mas-
culinity. In his study of Irish performance in nineteenth century New
York, Rohs points to what he terms a bachelor subculture among New
York’s Irish Americans, which he argues flouted the Victorian ideals of
manhood and instead championed alternative versions of masculinity.
At the core of this alternative masculinity was an awareness of Ireland’s
political situation. Whereas Higham suggests native-born Americans
were concerned that immigrants who had experienced oppression at home
may be incapable of self-reliance or loyalty in America, Rohs argues that
Irish American men “established a masculine culture that relied on Irish
tradition and the memory of past injustices under British rule for its resis-
tant power.”42
Using the performance of Samuel Lover’s song “The Bold Soldier Boy”
as an example, Rohs defines boldness as “the allure of national military
action and vigorous masculine activity,” and suggests that this song and
its performance at various Irish events in New York demonstrates how it
became celebrated as a feature of Irish American masculinity. Attractiveness
to the opposite sex is one facet of this “boldness,” but it can also be seen
to represent other masculine pursuits. The figure of the bold soldier boy
might suggest a willingness among the Irish to integrate into or even fight
for American society. He might also represent preparedness among Irish
American men to fight for Ireland. In short,
Sometimes, “bold” fighting men were symbols of resistance against Anglo-

American oppression in New York and British colonialism back in Ireland.
At others, this spirit of resistance formed a framework to explain and justify
how Irish-Americans, as ideal republicans, could accommodate themselves to
American institutions.43
Vaudeville songs drew on this notion of “boldness” among the Irish in

America. Representations of Irish masculinity could be closely linked to
representations of Ireland itself, and suggested a desire to defend Ireland
from its British oppressors. In the Fieldings’ song “Pat O’Brien,” for exam-
ple, the title character emphasizes that “Ould Ireland is the place I claim,
and I am an Irish boy,” thereby directly linking loyalty to Ireland with Irish
masculinity. In Ireland, he insists, “every heart is free from care” and it is
this characteristic “that makes an Irish boy.” The song goes on to praise
Daniel O’Connell for his “knowledge, wit and humor” and reinforces the
basic honesty and integrity of Irish men. Ignoring the large female contin-
gent of the Irish diaspora, the song suggests that emigration from Ireland
was a masculine pursuit, taken on by Irish men to help rid Ireland and her
people of tyranny:
In eighteen forty-four gone by, our countrymen they had to fly

For famine stared in every eye along ould Ireland’s shore;
They to America did sail, leaving their wives and babies to wail;
They were determined not to fail, but their hardships to endure:
The harp that once through Tara’s Halls, shall strike each cord again
To welcome back those exiles from across the raging main.
May peace and plenty ever be to our dear little Isle that stands near the sea!
And all our toasts be: Ireland Free! And you’ll be happy then.44
The vaudeville stage also seems to have provided an opportunity for the
Irish to assert their loyalty to the United States, and to reassure native-born
Americans of this loyalty. Irish participation in the Civil War, for example,
was celebrated. Scanlan and Cronin performed a song entitled “Faugh-A-
Ballagh Boys” singing as “the jolly warriors that’s just returned from war.”
Yet again, the attraction of these “boys” to the opposite sex is emphasized and
they are referred to as “the ladies’ joys.” An untitled song from a notebook of
vaudeville songs and sketches collected by Billy Wylie and held in the New
York Public Library relies on the familiar stereotypes of the drunken and
fighting Irish. However the fight that occurs between the two Irish men is
due to their different levels of loyalty to the United States, as displayed by
their willingness to fight (or not) in the Civil War. Set in O’Connor’s bar
“in this our glorious union land,” the drunken fight breaks out between two
Irish men, O’Reily and McDermot. O’Reily, the song notes, “received no
scar” in the war. Of McDermott, on the other hand, the song suggests that
“Beneath our Starry Banners wave/there’s not a man fought half so brave.”45
Similar sentiments can be found in “The Laboring Man” in which Pat
Connors from Cork reminds listeners that he “earned an honest living”
in America “by carrying the hod” and insists that his “motives are pure.”
Complaining about falling wages and rising prices, nevertheless Pat under-
takes to try to overcome his situation through hard work, announcing his
intentions to “stick to politics, and some day/I’ll be an alderman.” In what
would seem to be a direct appeal to native-born Americans in the audi-
ence, the song recalls the Irish contribution in the Civil War and reinforces
Irish patriotism and loyalty to their adopted home:
Oh, when the war it broke out,

I for a soldier did go,
I shouldered my gun in the 69th,
And you know we were not slow;
It was down upon Virginia’s soil,

With General Kearney we gave them the gripes,
For all true-born Irishmen
Stick up for the Stars and Stripes.46
The song “No Irish Need Apply” complains about anti-Irish discrimi-
nation and suggests that Irish workers helped to make America. It points
out that “when hard work’s to be found/The Irish are wanted round” and
finishes with a reminder of the Irish contribution to the Civil War.
When the war was at its height
And men were wanted day and night
The Irishmen were welcome then
To go to the front and fight
For Faugh a Ballagh was their cry
We will conquer or we’ll die
So America mind your Irishmen you may need them by and by
Then never let me hear that cry
That I’ve heard in days gone by
Those cruel agonizing words no Irish need apply.47
It is worth pointing out here that this version of “No Irish Need Apply”
is different from the better-known song written by John F. Poole around
1860 (the same John F. Poole who wrote so many of the Irish plays per-
formed at Pastor’s Opera House). Poole’s version is rather comic in tone,
with the disgruntled Irishman giving the prejudiced employer “a welting”
and telling him “Whin next you want a bating, add: No Irish need apply.”
Nevertheless, it signaled a growing willingness among the Irish to chal-
lenge anti-Irish prejudice. The later version of the song in Wylie’s notebook
is less comic and more angry in tone, with the last lines reading as a warn-
ing to native-born Americans that such prejudice is now unacceptable.48
Boldness can be seen as a significant identifier of Irish masculinity in the
vaudeville songs and sketches dealing with Irish participation in militia groups
and target companies that began to emerge in New York after the Civil War.
Probably the most famous example was Edward Harrigan’s Mulligan Guard
series, however Harrigan was not the only one to address this particular brand
of masculine activity. In Harry Kernell’s “I’m What You Call a Military Man,”
the military man of the title boasts at his appeal to the opposite sex:
Whenever I go out on parade,

I awaken in the breast of every maid
A feeling they admire, for I set their heart on fire,
And of military men they’re not afraid.49
Likewise, “The O’Shaughnessy Guards” has “two brave boys” in uni-

form marching down Broadway on St Patrick’s Day, vowing to fight “for
fun and liberty.” Typically, they boast that “the beautiful girls all throng
the sidewalk” to watch them.50
This brand of fun-loving, flirtatious, and bold Irish masculinity echoes
Rohs’ arguments about boldness as a defining feature of Irish American
masculinity. On the other hand, though, some vaudeville routines seemed
to mock Irish pretensions to military organization and respectability. The
actual performance of “The O’Shaughnessy Guards,” for example, may
have undermined its apparent representation of brave Irish men. The
song appears in Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster, which notes that
it was performed by Harry Kernell together with an actress, Miss Adah
Richmond. The assumption of the role of a “brave boy” by a female per-
former may well have called “his” bravery and masculinity into question.
Harry Kernell also sang a song entitled “Parade of the A.O.H.,” a reference
to the Irish American lobby group, the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The
song’s protagonist displays an obsession with his appearance:
I’m a gay young chap from Erin and they call me Dandy Pat,
I wear a green regalia, a harp, and shamrock in my hat;
I joined the Ancient Order; we’re the boys that looked so gay
When we marched in the procession on last St Patrick’s Day.51
Yet again, female spectators are attracted to the members of the parade,
smiling and winking at them as they pass. At the end of the song, the
parade disintegrates into the stereotypical behavior of Irish men, drinking
and brawling.
Then when we were disbanded as quick as you could wink

We all bounced down to Kelley’s for to have a drop to drink,
The whiskey punch flew lively for the liquor was so rare,
In less than fifteen minutes divil a sober man was there.
And oh, such drinking, such drinking, such drinking as was there that night,
Such drinking, such drinking, the boys got awful tight.
Mike Connors and Pat Cronin then got into a dispute,
Mike said his hat was finest, and Pat slapped him on the snoot,
Then broken heads were plenty and blood ran freely there,
Myself and long Dan Carty had to waltz off on our ear.
And oh, such fighting, such fighting, such fighting as the boys had there,
Such fighting, such fighting, ‘twas like an Irish fair.52
Kelly and Ryan’s “The Shamrock Guards” depicts an Irish militia group
in a similar vein and was, according to their songster, “pronounced the hit
of the season” in 1879. The song features two happy Irish soldiers, Mike
and Pat McGee, although it is clear that the activities of their organization
is centred on fun, drinking, and fighting among themselves rather than
any serious military preparation.
Every night when the drill is done,

Arrah, that’s the time we have our fun;
Whiskey flying left and right,
Which makes the boys all want to fight.
Some are gathered in a crowd,
Singing songs and talking loud;
While others dance and shout hurray,
What lots of fun on drilling day.53
Songs like “Parade of the A.O.H” and “The Shamrock Guards” do

seem to mock Irish pretensions to military organization, and paint a vivid
picture of stereotypical Irish American masculine behavior. On face value,
the gatherings they depict are less about national pride than about an
opportunity for Irish men to socialize, get drunk, and fight with other
Irish men. However, it appears that these behaviors were in fact closely
linked to Irish masculine identity. As discussed in the previous chapter,
in the Irish plays performed at Pastor’s in the 1860s and 1870s, drinking,
fighting, and flirtation were all bound up with the heroes’ very Irishness.
The vaudeville songs discussed here seem to confirm that this was the case.
In addition, many of them are sympathetic to Irish Americans and, in their
reminders of Irish men’s contributions to the Civil War and American
industry, reinforce their place in the United States.
THE IRISHMAN IN THE DOMESTIC SPHERE
Whereas Kimmel points to a tendency among native-born American men in

the nineteenth century to carve out their masculinity away from the home,
McDannell argues that attempts by the Catholic church and reform groups
to establish a respectable Irish American male identity centred on the home.
According to McDannell Irish American men, “noted for their disinterest in
marriage and the family, were encouraged to find a wife and to make a home.”
Social interaction among Irish men seemed to be at the exclusion of home and
family life, behavior which the Catholic establishment considered unmanly
and responsible for “drunkenness, wife and child abuse and desertion.”54
Earlier, I discussed the changes in post-Famine Irish society which con-
tributed to what might be termed a crisis in masculinity among Irish men
in the late nineteenth century. Traditional male roles were undermined,

as increasing numbers of men married later in life or not at all. McLoone
has demonstrated that the absent father is a common trope in much recent
Irish cinema (or cinema about Ireland), a fact that in turn has added weight
to the valorization of the Irish mother as the authority within the family
unit (something that I will discuss in more detail in the next chapter).
Heininge notes a similar tendency in twentieth-century Irish drama and
finds that even when fathers are present in Irish plays, they are often lazy
and ineffectual. For Heininge, the absent father is symbolic of colonial and
postcolonial Irish society, a comment on the lack or instability of paternal
and patriarchal leadership that often leaves the family in chaos.55
Given the significance of the absent or ineffectual father in more recent
films and plays about Ireland, it is interesting to note that in vaudeville,
too, Irish men within the family—whether as sweetheart, husband, or
father—are notable as much by their absence as their presence. When they
are present, they are often a disruptive force—drunken, violent, and work-
shy. An 1898 play entitled Sam Todd of Yale features the character of Molly
the maid who, speaking in an Irish dialect, complains about feeling unwell
after drinking “too much tea” at Hoolihan’s wake the previous night.
Revealing a black eye, she explains how she got it, in a monologue that ref-
erences a stereotypical Irish American milieu—the maid, the policeman,
and an Irishman prone to lash out with his fists:
Shure it’s not my fault. My Danny was flirting with that new arrival from
Tipperary. To get square, I purred up to the cop on our block—he’s an old
admirer of mine. The cop was so delighted he filled me with more tea—I
think it was mixed tea—Danny got mad, put my eye in mourning, licked the
copper—got pinched and it’s ten dollars or ten days for Danny.56
A recording of a vaudeville sketch dating from 1906 depicts the vio-

lent, dysfunctional side of Irish American family life. In “Flanagan’s Night
Off” an Irish mother is trying to get her child to sleep and complains that
her husband is still not home. He is then heard returning home with his
friends, singing. What ensues is hardly a picture of blissful family life:
Wife: Say Mike, aren’t you a little off ?

Flanagan: Well, it was me night off.
Wife: Aha, drunk again! . . . Where’s your wages?
Flanagan: I lost them through a hole in me pocket.
Wife: You mean through a hole in your face. You had no business
getting drunk in the first place.
Flanagan: I didn’t. It was in the last place.

Wife (as baby cries): Here Mike, rock the baby.
Flanagan: I have no rock, begorry I would if I had. I’m going to sleep.57
For Flanagan, family life stands in the way of his ability to socialize
with his male colleagues and he expresses his resentment in a violent man-
ner. This recording is one of a number produced by Edison Records in the
late 1900s and into the 1910s, all of which seem much less sympathetic
to the Irish in America and more inclined to depict them in stereotypical
ways than much of the earlier vaudeville material I have encountered.
The Irish reputation for labor unrest could sometimes be translated into
an inability or unwillingness to provide properly for one’s family. In “A
Morning in Mrs Reilly’s Kitchen,” for example, Mrs Reilly converses with
a series of callers, one of whom is Mr Kelly:
Kelly: Sure I thought I’d call around and see how is your oul man this
fine morning.
Mrs Reilly: It’s terrible Barry do be, Mr Kelly . . .
Kelly: I hear he went out on a strike.
Mrs Reilly: He did. He struck for shorter hours.
Kelly: And did he get them?
Mrs Reilly: He did. He’s not working at all now.
Kelly: By the way Mrs Reilly, I hear the landlord’s going to raise to
your rent.
Mrs Reilly: Oh I’m glad of that, for with Mike out of work I couldn’t
see how we could raise it.58
It is not just their willingness to strike, however, that impacts on Irish

men’s ability to provide for their families. I referred earlier to the 1880 song
“When McGuinness Gets a Job,” in which two Irish women complain that
cheap Italian labor has taken the jobs once available to their husbands.
Nevertheless the two women concede that, in comparison to their own hus-
bands, Italian men at least take their domestic responsibilities seriously:
They work upon the railroad, they shovel snow and slush,
But there’s one thing in their favor they never do get lush,
No, they always bring their money home, taste no gin or wine,
And that’s one thing I’d like to say of your old man and mine.59
I believe that this is significant. Without a more complete study of

the full range of ethnic stereotypes, it is difficult to be certain that the
stereotypes associated with Irish men in vaudeville were not perceived as

ethnic traits more generally and applied equally to all ethnic men. However,
“When McGuinness Gets a Job” draws a direct comparison between Irish
drinking habits and those of other ethnic groups, in this case Italian immi-
grants. The song suggests that the Irish had a reputation for drinking more
heavily than other groups, a perception that seems to be corroborated by
the studies cited above. Why this might have been the case is of course
a different and more difficult question to answer. Certainly one would
expect the upheaval and dislocation of emigration, the move from a rural
to an urban society particularly as a result of poverty, disease, and famine,
to leave psychological scars that could lead to alcoholism. However, the
Irish were not the only ethnic group to have come to the United States
under difficult circumstances. The wave of Italian immigration that began
around 1880, when “When McGuinness Gets a Job” was published, was
characterized by rural Southern Italians fleeing poverty at home. It is rec-
ognized that stereotypes can function as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Dovidio et al., for example, suggest that the “expectation that a group
member will possess certain traits leads to differential behavior toward
that group member, eliciting responses that confirm the initial expecta-
tions.” The fact that in vaudeville the Irish appear, more than any other
ethnic group, to have been associated with heavy drinking lends weight to
Stivers’ argument that, for Irish men, alcohol consumption could serve as
an important marker of their own unique ethnic identity.60
The vaudeville songs and sketches that feature Irish men within the
family or in male-female relationships present a picture of Irish men as
drunken, lazy, and violent. They are a hindrance to, rather than a provider
for, their families. As Mintz suggests, however, vaudeville could also pres-
ent ethnic men as being emasculated by domineering, nagging wives or
girlfriends. A script for a vaudeville sketch dating from the late 1870s, con-
tained in Billy Wylie’s notebook and entitled Any Port in a Storm, features
a conversation between a theatre manager, whose leading lady is refusing
to appear, and Pat, the gasman at the theatre. The manager tells Pat that
he is ruined. Pat sympathizes and tells him that he has also been ruined:
“Faith I was ses I when I married Miss Judy O’Holahan.” The manager
contends that marriage should be the making of a man. Pat returns that
“marriage never made a man of me sir but it made a man of my wife, for
the very first night she put on the breeches by making me sleep on the
inside of the bed while she slept on the outside.” Pat Rooney’s song “Purty
Pat, the Masher” includes a spoken section in which he complains about
his marriage to a “red-headed jealous wife.” On finding him drinking with
another woman, Purty Pat’s wife demands that he “come home and rock
the cradle/You know the twins are sick/Or I’ll crack your thick skull/With
the soft end of a brick.”61
The husband and wife team Sam and Kitty Morton began a long career
in vaudeville in the 1880s, later performing with their children as The Four
Mortons. An undated clipping reveals a flavor of their act and suggests that
the Irish husband was far from the dominant member of the team. During
the course of the dialogue between the two, Mrs Morton’s character tells
her husband, “Ye warn’t hurt in that railroad accident at all. Ye woudn’t a
got a cint from the cump’ny on’y I had the prisince o’ moind to kick ye in
the face.” The vaudeville team Sheehan and Sullivan performed during the
1890s. An undated publicity photograph for their act gives an indication of
vaudeville’s tendency to draw on the drunken Irish stereotype for humor,
but also suggests that Irish men could be controlled and outwitted by their
wives. The photograph advertises the “hilarious comedy production ‘The
Grogans’” and shows a man (presumably Mr Grogan) in a plug hat and
checked trousers, holding his stomach. His partner, as Mrs Grogan, holds
a bottle labeled “kerosine [sic] oil” and seems to be enjoying her husband’s
discomfort. The implication is that Mr Grogan has taken a swig from the
bottle believing it to be alcohol and is now suffering the consequences.62
Whereas the Catholic Church and other social reformers may have
been encouraging Irish American men to take a more active role in the
home, the vaudeville songs and sketches I have reviewed seem to suggest
that their presence was not welcome. To the writers and performers of
these skits, the Irishman was a negative force within the family—prone
to violence toward his wife and children, idle, and drunken. Of course,
this perception wasn’t necessarily accurate. Doyle suggests that in actual
fact “the course of life of most Irish immigrants was built toward and
around marriage and child-bearing” and that delays in marriage or high
celibacy rates tended to occur only among the poorest and least-skilled
immigrants. In her study of Irish American women in domestic service,
Margaret Lynch-Brennan also questions the negative portrayals of Irish
men in the home. Citing several examples of Irish women recalling their
husbands fondly, Lynch-Brennan argues “the fact that in America most
Irish domestic servants would in due course marry Irish men suggests that
they did not perceive them as drunken louts, brutes and wife beaters, as
they have not infrequently been portrayed.”63
It may be that vaudeville’s representation of Irish men as henpecked and
dominated by their wives could reflect a tendency on the part of native-
born men to imagine other ethnic men as somehow less masculine than
themselves. However, in Chapter 2 I discuss the involvement of Irish or

Irish American performers in vaudeville. As a result, I do not believe it is
entirely accurate to view vaudeville representations of the Irish as merely
illustrative of native-born attitudes toward them. The negative images of
Irish men within the home may also point to attitudes among Irish men
themselves. If, as Stivers and Kenny suggest, the all-male group was an
important element of Irish and Irish American male social bonding then
perhaps these vaudeville sketches can be read as supportive of that particu-
lar brand of Irish masculinity. In portraying men as henpecked and domi-
nated by women, of course, these songs and sketches also suggest that Irish
women were unfeminine, violent, and domineering themselves, something
that I will discuss in more detail in the next chapter.
IRISH MASCULINITY AND THE “LACE CURTAIN”
As shown in Chapter 1, by the later years of my study the Irish in America

were beginning to prosper and were replaced in the least skilled, worst paid
jobs by the “new” immigrants, a transition that prompted Dublin’s Lord
Mayor to declare in 1903 that “the Irishman in America [is no longer]
merely a hewer of wood and a drawer of water . . . Irishmen are univer-
sally respected, and found occupying many of the respectable positions in
the country.” In his study of the Irish in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-
century popular music, Williams notes an increase in songs featuring Irish
characters dressed in “the coat and top hat of the ‘solid man’ on the rise”
who, rather than a manual laborer, worked as foremen, policemen, politi-
cians, or magistrates.64
The Irish cop is a familiar stereotype from Hollywood films. From
the reassuring symbol of ethnic assimilation in 1940’s Three Cheers for
the Irish to corrupt, renegade cops in films like The Godfather (1972) and
LA Confidential (1997), through to the Jameson’s-swigging, womanizing,
troubled soul of Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, the Irish American cop is a
character that film and television return to again and again. The Irish had
a long history in American law enforcement. By the turn of the twentieth
century, they made up 11 percent of the American police force. However
in some cities they were overrepresented in this occupation. In 1888, for
example, 16 percent of the population of New York City was Irish, yet the
Irish made up 28 percent of the city’s police force. These Irish ties with the
police force were not universally celebrated. The fact that applicants had to
pay for their jobs and make significant contributions to the politicians who
appointed them led to accusations of corruption and fed suspicions about

the Irish links with the Democratic political machine. The Irish cop makes
an appearance regularly in vaudeville songs and sketches.65
At his worst, the Irish cop in vaudeville can be corrupt and ineffective.
The song “Dublin Policemen” paints a particularly negative image of the
corrupt Irish cop. Two “rattling, roaring Irish boys” who are “always at war
and never at peace” celebrate their position in law enforcement and the
opportunities it brings. They describe how, if they come across a gentle-
men sleeping,
His pockets we grope, his money we take,

Then with our sticks on the ribs we’re jobbing him,
And if perchance the poor soul should wake,
We tell him we thought a thief was robbing him.66
An undated script for a two-act vaudeville play The Bitter and Sweet of
a Traveling Company includes within the cast an Irish policeman called
Michael O’Brien. Much of the script is difficult to make out; however
in one scene O’Brien declares that “a New York policeman can never be
bribed” and that “a new York policeman never lies,” while at the same time
pocketing a bribe. Referencing the headquarters of the Democratic Party
in New York, the song “Tammany” includes the lines “fifteen thousand
Irishmen from Erin came across/ Tammany put these Irish Indians on the
police force.”67
On the other hand, the Irish cop in vaudeville can be a friendly,
good-natured joker and womanizer. Edward Harrigan’s “Are You There
Moriarty?” features “special officer” and ladies’ man Cornelius Moriarty:
I’m a stalwart copper in the Broadway Squad

A Metropolitan MP
And the young girls cry when I’m passing by
Are you there Moriarty?
. . . My uniform is navy blue and it fits me like a duck
I escort the ladies in the street all through the mud and muck
For coach and horse stop when I cross I’m the ladies’ own baby
As on they go they whisper low, give us a kiss Moriarty.68
A similar character makes an appearance in the 1889 song “McGinty

the Ladies’ Pride,” which features Officer McGinty looking forward to the
day when he can quit his job, get a political office, live in a big house, and
become a “blue blood” with “a fine pedigree.”69 The song “McCormack
the Copper,” performed by the vaudeville team Scanlan and Cronin echoes
the “bold” characteristics of Irish masculinity discussed above:
Why do I smile? Well I will tell,

My heart is filled with joy
I’m a dandy copper on the Broadway Squad,
And a brave one at that am I.
If there’s a murder or fight about,
You’ll always find me near
And as I pass the ladies say,
Ah! Isn’t he a dear!
I’m a darling, ain’t I charming
And the ladies all say as I pass them by
Ain’t he purty! Ain’t he lovely!
Dan McCormack the copper am I.70
According to a 1902 article in the St Paul Globe, an Irish vaudeville

performer called Eddie Girard was the first to make audiences “laugh in
uncontrollable glee over the portraiture of an Irish-American policeman
on the stage.” I am unable to corroborate that Girard was the first to per-
form this character on stage, but certainly his act endured, so that, as late
as 1917, he was playing the Irish police officer Dooley in a sketch enti-
tled Dooley and the Diamond.71 In a 1913 article in the Pittsburgh Leader,
Girard himself sums up the character of the Irish policeman in American
popular culture:
Irishmen are traditionally witty . . . and I have attempted to emphasize this

racial trait in my caricature of the Irish “copper.” Even though I make him do
some things that make him seem stupid, and even though I make his face a
real caricature, you will find that Officer Dooley, instead of being a dull wit,
has a very alert mind, quick to grasp the situation and just as quick to turn the
joke on the other fellow.72
On occasion, it seems that Girard literally aped the figure of the Irish
American cop. In 1917, The New York Telegraph reported in a review of
Dooley and the Diamond that:
Miss Gardner, in arguing the Darwinian theory, states she can hypnotize Mr
Girard into resembling a monkey, and does so. He has an Irish-American
traffic policeman’s song and dance, in which he shows his nimbleness of foot
and his facility for facial and vocal expression in being courtly to the swagger
women pedestrians and curt to the homely ones.73
In vaudeville, then, the Irish cop or politician might be a maligned

figure, representative of native-born Americans’ suspicions about corrupt
political machines, where votes could be bought in return for jobs and
favors. However, this is not always the case. The Irish cop or politician
can also represent the upward movement of the Irish in American society.
Ignatiev argues that, in terms of Irish assimilation into American society,
the Irish cop is more than a quaint symbol. His appearance on the city police
marked a turning point in Philadelphia in the struggle of the Irish to gain
the rights of white men. It meant that thereafter the Irish would be officially
empowered (armed) to defend themselves from the nativist mobs and at the
same time to carry out their own agenda against black people.74
The Irish cop certainly seems to have gained a particular notoriety

among black Americans. In September 1900, The Colored American carried
an article emphasizing the reputation of New York’s Irish policemen for
violence against black Americans. Lamenting the fact that “in the admin-
istration of the city’s affairs the Irish are on top,” the piece continues:
Those that have not won aldermanic honors are either on the police force as
privates, captains or station keepers. The Tammany police force belong in this
category. They have been on top of New York Negroes recently with their night
sticks and handled the latter as expertly as though they were twirling the shila-
lah [sic] at Donnybrook fair. There is only about 4,000,000 Irish left on the
“ould sod.” The other part of its population has moved to this country.75
It is possible, therefore, to see the proliferation of the Irish in American

law enforcement as one element of the process by which they gained
acceptance into wider American society or, to use Igantiev’s term, became
“white.” In addition, it is important to remember that for much of the
period in question, the Irish were no longer the dominant immigrant group
in the United States. They had been coming to the United States in large
numbers since the 1840s. However, from the 1880s onward, they were
being replaced by new immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.
The image of the Irish American cop or politician could be seen as a pow-
erful message to these new immigrants about what America has to offer. It
can also be read as a comforting message to native-born Americans—those
hordes of starving, destitute immigrants who came to the United States
from Ireland three decades earlier, now made up a significant proportion
of the country’s law enforcement. In short, America is shown to have suc-
cessfully integrated these immigrants into the American way of life. To the
Irish audience, the Irish cop might be seen as a celebration of how far they
themselves had come in those same three or four decades.
Of course, black Americans were not the only ones to rue the influence
of the Irish on American law enforcement and local government. In an
article entitled “The Right to Get Drunk and Its Effects,” the New York
Times linked the Irish reputation for drunkenness with their unsuitability
for government. Citing examples of Irish men praising the United States
simply because of the availability of cheap drink, the writer expresses con-
cern for the future of New York City now that its government is being run
by “ignorant or profligate men” who have been voted in by “drunkards,
gamblers and foreigners.” The author of this piece singles drunkenness out
for particular attention, claiming that New York’s voters are “trained in
the American saloon, the Irish whiskey shop and the German lager beer
shops.” Of these, he continues, the Germans are the least worrying because
they manage to keep “some sense and honesty, even when muddled with
beer.” The implication here is that the Irish do not and that their drunken-
ness makes them irresponsible, irrational, and untrustworthy.76
The Irish ties with party politics, and particularly the Democratic politi-
cal machine, were also ridiculed in vaudeville songs and acts. In “The Sound
Democrat,” Mike McNally boasts that he owns “the eighth ward and popu-
lation” and that he expects to be put up for candidate at the next election.
In Edward Harrigan’s The Mulligan Nominee, Dan Mulligan takes a seat
on New York City’s Board of Aldermen. At one point in the play he gets the
Board drunk on whiskey and they fall asleep. When his wife panics, Dan
replies “Lave them be. While they sleep the city’s safe.”77 Harrigan’s song
“Old Boss Barry” evokes the inner workings of New York’s ward politics:
There’s a quiet little room at the back of the saloon

That stands on top of Cherry Hill
Where men from tenements hold lengthy arguments
On everything besides the liquor bills
The owner of the place has a Connemara face
A leader do you hear me through and through
When he comes in the door we all bow to the floor
Saying Old Boss Barry how d’ye do.78
Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster includes a song called “Alderman

Flynn,” which it notes was written by George Thatcher, “the great Ethiopian
comedian.” Alderman Flynn insists:
I am pet of all the ladies,

I am fond of all the babies;
My appearance is engaging,
It is upon my word.
I expect to be a solid man
Over all the wards.79
In the same collection, the song “Just Landed” applauds the opportu-
nities offered to Irish men in America. Two turf cutters just arrived from
Ireland vow to run for political office and then return to Ireland to help
make Ireland free.80 In “The Rising Politician,” a successful Irish politician
vows to help the workingmen who supported his campaign:
And now I’ll tell to you

What I am going to do;
I’ll not forget the workingmen,
To them I will be true;
They shall have eight hours a day,
And a fair amount of pay,
And live as well as those big bugs
Upon Fifth Avenue;
Sure I’ll improve the city,
For I think it is a pity
That poor men should be starving
When there’s public work to do.
The final lines of the song, however, issue a reminder that the promise
to improve working conditions will only be fulfilled if constituents vote in
the right way:
So let ye all be merry,

And don’t ye vote contrary,
And I will show ye, one and all,
What an Irishman can do.81
The Irish presence in the judicial system is also suggested by some

vaudeville acts. In A Morning’s Hearing, for example, Magistrate Flinn is
described in the stage directions, somewhat ironically, as “very ‘important’
and must lay great stress upon whatever he says.” Yet when the play opens
he is asleep at his desk. During the business of the court he takes bribes
from prisoners and speaks in malapropisms:
I hope sinsurely today’s fatigue will be productive of good results, for funds
are running low and are on the rapid decline. It doesn’t matter if a man or two
get discharged, if they hand over a little bit of paper printed at the Treasury
Department.82
At one point the play hints at the corruption believed to be endemic in

the handing out of public offices. The magistrate threatens his first prisoner
with contempt of court “for insulting me, a magistrate, duly appointed by
the mayor, who was duly elected by the vote of the people.” At this point,
a police officer intervenes with “compose yourself, your honor, compose
yourself.”83
The sketch’s cast list refers to one of the prisoners as “Mary Ann Blank”
and when she appears in front of the magistrate charged with assault and
battery, it becomes clear that she is his mother. She speaks in an Irish dia-
lect and when asked her name she replies: “Och, g’lang yez shpalpeen, yes
be axin’ me name, an’ it’s manny’s th’ toime that I laid yez acrosh me knay
and shpanked yez when yez was a bie.” This character presents a different
take on the stereotype of the Irish mother. Instead of being a protective,
romantic ideal, she is violent and, in the words of the magistrate, “among
the affluence of strong drink.”84 This sketch would appear to mock Irish
attempts to achieve middle-class respectability. It seems to suggest that
while it may be possible for the Irish to infiltrate the American professional
classes, they are not too far removed from the rough, boisterous immi-
grants of earlier generations as evidenced by their corruption, alcoholism
and general ignorance.
In A Morning’s Hearing it is an Irish woman who is shown as holding
back or interrupting the assimilation process. However, in Williams’ study
of Irish American “lace curtain” satires, he suggests that often “the wife
acts as the main engine of ambition while the husband clings to his work-
ing-class, immigrant roots.” In Harrigan’s Mulligan plays, for example, it is
Dan Mulligan’s wife Cordelia who seeks out upward mobility and moves
the family from the Lower East Side tenements to Midtown Manhattan.
While Cordelia views the move as positive, to Dan it signifies a betrayal
of his Irish, working-class roots.85 In the 1883 play Cordelia’s Aspirations,
these emotions are expressed in the song “My Dad’s Dinner Pail” as Dan
and Cordelia pack up to move:
Preserve that old kettle so black and so worn

It belonged to my father before I was born
It hung in a corner beyond on a nail
‘Twas an emblem of labor my Dad’s dinner pail
. . . There’s a place for the coffee and also the bread
Corned beef and potatoes and oft it was said
Go fill it with porter, with beer or with ale
The drink would taste sweeter from Dad’s dinner pail.86
Dan’s nostalgia for his old way of life and the sense of community he
has lost continues after he moves and he remains unhappy. As he explains
to Cordelia:
I know you saved my money and I know you’re trying to elevate me, but I can’t
forget me neighbors. There’s no one up here to sit out on the front stoop and
have a glass of beer wid me. There’s no barber shops open of a Sunday morning
where you could hear the daily news of the week and never fish can I buy from
a peddling wagon on a Friday, but I’ll do anything to please you.87
Harrigan’s portrayal of Dan Mulligan’s reluctance to leave behind his

working-class community, and with it his sense of identity, is a sympathetic
one. The “Mag Haggerty” sketches, written by Will Cressy and performed
by Thomas J. Ryan (previously of Kelly of Ryan) and Mary Richfield
throughout the 1900s, also take a sympathetic approach. Ryan plays an
Irish hod carrier. Richfield plays his daughter who has married a millionaire
and sets about schooling her father in the ways of the American gentleman.
According to Snyder, Mike Haggerty would appear on stage dressed in a for-
mal coat coupled with hobnailed boots. He performs Irish jigs, is confused
by modern technology like the telephone, and constantly mispronounces
words. As Kibler suggests, while the character of Mag shows that ethnic
and class barriers can be overcome, her father “embodies the gulf between
bourgeois society and working-class, ethnic life.” What appears to have been
particularly notable about the Haggerty sketches, though, is the relatively
sophisticated portrayal of the intricacies of Irish American life. Thomas
Ryan was apparently keen to portray Mike Haggerty as “a type of Celtic
character that would in no wise offend the members of the race.” His accent
was authentic and the green whiskers of the stage Irishman were absent.88
In the Mag Haggerty sketches, both father and daughter are treated
sympathetically and in good humor. However, even when an Irishman
has moved out of the tenements and into a white collar position, often
the impression given in vaudeville is that people cannot escape their back-
ground so easily. In the 1900 play An Undesirable Neighbor, Dennis Dooley
plays a local businessman, specifically “an irascible florist” whose business
is suffering because of its proximity to a glue factory. Dooley’s two cos-
tumes are described in detail in the script. The first:
a black pompadour wig and sideboards, white shirt with collar attached and
open in front; ill-fitting corduroy trousers, large ill-fitting double-breasted vest,
brogans painted around the bottom to give them a clay effect, and a farmer’s
felt hat showing the worse for wear.
The second:
a typical tad’s frock coat with breakaway stitches up the back seam, breakaway
vest open in the back, drawstring trousers to have a tattered and torn appear-
ance for finish of act, collar and stock, old fashioned silk hat, polished ill fitting
shoes and cane.89
Both costumes suggest that Dooley’s attempts at middle-class respect-

ability are superficial. All his clothes are old, torn, and outdated. When he
receives a visit from a widow, Sally Forth, looking for flowers for her late
husband’s grave, Dooley is unable to understand her refined vocabulary.
At one point she asks Dooley if he wonders what has brought her to his
business. He replies that he knows what brought her, the trolley car. The
following exchange highlights the difficulty he has in understanding her:
Sally: I did not ride here in a trolley car as you call it . . . If you will
cast your optics down the road you will see a span of sorrel horses
which was the form of locomotion employed to convey me to the
sequestered environments of your rural domicile.
Dennis ( failing to comprehend, aside): She’s talking Hindi. (Aloud ) What
did you say ma’am?
Sally: I said, in order to reach the arcadian recesses of your remote
habitation, I was conveyed hither behind a span of Arcadian pacers.
Dennis ( failing to grasp the meaning of her speech): Well, if you plant it
in the spring of the year, it might grow but I’ll be d__ned if I know
what kind of flower you’re talking about.90
Later the widow flirts with Dennis and suggests that they “speak to
each other in the language of flowers.” Dennis replies “I can hardly speak
my own language, without monkeying with flower talk.”91
The vaudeville songs and sketches discussed above convey certain pow-
erful images of Irish American masculinity in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. The brand of hegemonic masculinity promoted to
native-born American men was one centred on hard work, determination,
self-control, and family life. If, as Kimmel suggests, native-born American
men measured their masculinity in terms of the “other,” then the Irishman
as presented on the vaudeville stage certainly seems to fit that bill. The
Irish laborer, for example, might be seen as a mere slave to the wage packet,
lacking the drive and determination to better himself. In his fondness for
drink and his tendency to brawl, he might have epitomized the lack of
control that native-born men were warned against. Where native-born

men’s masculinity was often measured in terms of their ability to provide
for their families, the Irishman on the vaudeville stage could be presented
as a violent husband and father, lazy and unemployed, leaving his family
to struggle in poverty and failing to “better himself.”
However if this hegemonic American masculinity experienced a crisis
brought on by increasing urbanization, industrialization, and immigra-
tion in the late nineteenth century, I have found little evidence that the
fear and insecurity felt by native-born men was translated into particu-
larly negative depictions of their Irish counterparts. This is perhaps sur-
prising, given that (at least in the early period covered by my research)
Irish men would likely have been the urban, working-class immigrants. I
have encountered some material that draws on Irish ties to labor unions.
Bradford and Delaney’s “Knights of Irish Labor,” for example, belittles the
harsh conditions faced by unskilled laborers and suggests that Irish men
enjoyed the violence associated with industrial unrest. It seems though
that more often vaudeville either presented the Irish laborer as a figure of
fun, whose bricks, ladders, and scaffolding provided the perfect props for a
slapstick routine, or was indeed sympathetic to the plight of Irish workers.
Kelly and Ryan’s song “The Coal Heavers” suggests a positive attitude to
the plight of all workers in America when they sing of their desire “to make
all old rich rascals work/And give their place to the laboring man.” This
may reflect the working-class, immigrant contingent among vaudeville
audiences. However, the fact that the Irish laborer in vaudeville was not a
threatening figure may also point to an assimilationist ideology. A harm-
less and laughable character, he might have acted as a mirror against which
true, American masculinity could be measured and immigrant behaviors
recognized and hopefully cast off. At the same time, however, the Irish
laborer was often shown as loyal and patriotic, both to the United States
and to Ireland.
In addition, it is perhaps too simplistic to view vaudeville represen-
tations of Irish men purely as reflections of native-born anxieties and
stereotypes. In Chapter 2, I discuss the involvement of Irish American per-
formers in negotiating their own (and others’) representations on the stage.
In vaudeville’s depictions of Irish masculinity, it is possible to discern how
the influence of such performers helped to carve out a particular brand
of Irish masculinity, as distinct from the hegemonic masculinity held up
as the ideal to native-born men. Echoing the strong bachelor subculture
that Rohs identifies among Irish American men in the nineteenth century,
vaudeville’s Irish men socialized, drank, partied, sang, and fought—largely
with other Irish men. It is only within the home that we see particularly
negative images of Irish men. When they are not in the pub with friends,
they are being violent and abusive toward their wives and children, failing
to find work and provide for their families, or even being dominated by
nagging and equally violent wives.
5. Representations of Irish
Women in Vaudeville
I
n Chapter 2, I discuss a number of protests organized by various Irish
American societies in response to stage depictions of the Irish and argue
that, on occasion, the ethnicity of the performers themselves played a
crucial part in these protests. At times performers used their own Irishness
in an attempt to justify potentially inflammatory portrayals, pointing out
that they did not mean to cause offence, being Irish themselves. Often
though, for those protesting, the Irish background of a performer only
served to heighten the insult. Others saw the involvement of Irish American
performers as a positive influence, preferring to be represented by one of
their own than, for example, by an English performer. The ethnicity of
the performers, however, was not the only factor at play in such protests.
Gender also influenced Irish responses to their stage counterparts and for
some Irish Americans negative stage portrayals of Irish women seem to
have caused particular offense.
One play whose treatment of Irish women provoked anger was
McFadden’s Row of Flats. This play was set in the Five Points district of
New York and featured, among other characters, “Mrs Murphy, queen of
the flats, with a fine brogue [and] Mary Ellen, her frisky daughter.” In
1903, performances of the play in New York and Philadelphia were accom-
panied by riots. Irish men in the audience threw eggs at characters includ-
ing “a red-headed Irish policeman with green whiskers, an Irishwoman,
her daughter and two colleens, and a donkey attached to a jaunting cart.”
At the beginning of April, The New York Times printed a letter from a
Thomas O’Brien supporting the attacks on the basis that “the Irishman
and Irishwoman are portrayed on that stage as among the most degraded
specimens of the human kind! Is this mere caricature? No Sir. It is a vil-
lainous and atrocious slander on the race!”1
For the rioters, the play’s depiction of lascivious and uncouth Irish woman-
hood seemed particularly offensive. Kibler’s research has highlighted the role
of gender as both provocation and justification for the protests. In its defense
of the riots, for example, the Irish World argued that “the instant . . . you turn
the batteries of abuse against Irish women, you arouse the fighting spirit
of the meekest among the sons of Erin.” The National Hibernian in 1906
expressed a similar view, arguing that “if the ‘Stage Irishman’ represented
the very lowest and vilest traits of the Irish character, his spouse did worse.”
The play was eventually shown without trouble but only after scenes featur-
ing “green whiskers, Mrs McFadden’s entrance with a donkey, and the pres-
ence of the pig in the flat parlor” had been removed.2
Any consideration of gender and Irish identity must take colonial dis-
course into account. In this context, Ireland as the colonized was often
depicted as a weak and vulnerable young woman, incapable of self-gov-
ernment, and reliant therefore on “marriage” to the stronger and more
masculine colonizer Britain. This is well illustrated by an 1866 political
cartoon entitled “The Fenian Pest,” which shows Hibernia as a vulnerable
young woman clinging to her older and more stoic “sister” Britannia as the
simianized Fenian menace looms behind them. As I discuss in the previous
chapter, the fact that this feminized image of Ireland applied to its entire
population meant that the masculinity of Irish men was undermined. For
Irish (or Irish American) men, one way in which they sought to reassert
their own masculinity was through the regulation of an idealized feminine
identity. Irish women were idealized as mothers of the nation or as chaste,
innocent young women, both of which acted as metaphor for Ireland itself.
Through the elevation of Irish women, Irish men also reaffirmed their
own masculine identity as brave protectors willing to fight for the protec-
tion of Irish women and thus for Ireland itself. As Bhreathnach-Lynch
suggests, “by fixing the position and role of women, as well as defining
the very nature of womanhood, the new state could maintain a patriarchy
already firmly in place during centuries of British rule.” This idealization
of Irish women has been so powerful and enduring that the Irish mother
or the young, innocent Irish colleen dominated cinematic representations
of Irish women for much of the twentieth century.3
That representations of Irish women were central to the colonial dis-
course is evidenced by the case of an Irish dancer named Sheila Kelly. In
1904 the Gaelic League arranged for Kelly to come to the United States
from Ireland along with her two brothers and the “Ireland’s Own” band. In
an article headed “Girl to Show the Irish Type,” the Evening World reported
that “pretty Sheila Kelly, by her dancing, will correct erroneous impressions
gathered from the ‘stage’ Irishman.” The report highlighted Kelly’s authen-
ticity and reveals the romanticized and idealized view of Irish women that
Irish Women in Vaudeville 133
organizations such as the Gaelic League sought to promote. Sheila Kelly’s

name, the paper reports, is “a real Irish one” and her “real” Irish danc-
ing is “none of your knock-down, low comedian business, but the graceful
dances that have been handed down through generations and generations
of these picturesque dancers—the wearers of the shamrock.” Her costume
is described as a “red colleen cape over a white dancing dress, across the
breast of which was a broad band of green ribbon and the ends caught with
the Tara brooch.” The paper notes that, in contrast to the stage Irish dialect,
Miss Kelly “talks with a delicious rich accent and her deep, violet eyes dilate
with enthusiasm as she discusses the misrepresentations Ireland suffers.”
Her brown hair, the paper continues, is “red-tinged” and her face is “as fresh
and innocent as a child’s.” Kelly herself displays a sense of Irish patriotism.
She insists that all Irish people resemble her and her brothers rather than the
stage Irish type, and lays the blame for “the creation of wrong and ridicu-
lous Irish types” squarely at the door of the English.4
If gender was central to the colonial discourse regarding relations
between Britain and Ireland in the latter half of the nineteenth century, in
America too efforts were being made to redefine an ideal brand of American
masculinity and femininity. In the previous chapter I discuss how hege-
monic masculinity in the United States at this time centred on strength
and virility. Women, on the other hand, were encouraged to live as “true
women,” their lives centred on the four cardinal virtues of piety, purity,
submissiveness, and domesticity. According to Hasia Diner, Irish women
deviated markedly from this accepted code of behavior. Diner argues that
for many Irish women, migration was a rational choice, undertaken opti-
mistically, in full awareness of the economic opportunities offered by the
United States. As such, many Irish female migrants sought economic inde-
pendence. With greater job opportunities for single women, Irish women
in the United States tended to postpone or avoid marriage altogether. If
and when they did marry, Diner argues, Irish women often occupied a
more important and authoritative position within the family than the tra-
ditionally male breadwinner. In their desire for economic independence,
their relationships with men and their role within the family, therefore,
Irish women in the United States were far from the ideal of true woman-
hood. As such, they were open to prejudice and stereotyping on a number
of fronts, being both female and immigrant. Like Irish men they were
“other” because they were not native-born Americans. However, as women
they were also “other,” unable to fully exploit the privileges open to men,
both Irish and native-born. Finally, as Irish women, they were inferior even
to native-born women.5
IRISH SERVANT GIRLS
The Irish domestic servant was a common figure in early American film
comedies. Kevin Rockett’s Irish Filmography lists eighty-seven Irish-
themed films produced in America between the years 1896 and 1905. Of
these, twenty-two feature a female domestic, cook, or washerwoman often
referred to as Bridget in the films’ synopses. The Irish domestic or Bridget
character appeared in such titles as How Bridget Served the Salad Undressed
(AM: 1898), in which an ignorant Irish maid misinterprets her employer’s
request to serve the salad without any dressing, and How Bridget Made
the Fire (AMB: 1900), in which Bridget (played by a man in drag, echo-
ing the male vaudeville performers who made a career out of playing the
unfeminine Irish domestic on stage) attempts to light a fire with kerosene
and promptly blows herself through the window. A similar fate befalls the
hapless Irish maid in The Finish of Bridget McKeen (Edison: 1901). The
final scene of this film is a shot of a headstone with the inscription “At
Rest. Here Lie the Remains of Bridget McKeen who Started a Fire with
Kerosene.”6
Given the number of Irish women working in domestic service in America
in the second half of the nineteenth century, it is hardly surprising that
the character of the Irish maid was already well-established in vaudeville
before she appeared in films. During this period, Irish women’s unfamiliar-
ity with American middle-class domesticity provided material not only for
vaudeville performers but also for cartoonists and correspondents to vari-
ous periodicals. As Maureen Murphy has shown, Irish cartoonists such as
Opper and Nast depicted Irish servant girls lighting stoves with kerosene or
intimidating their employers, themes that would be repeated later by early
film producers.7 It seems that Irish servants had something of a reputation
for slovenliness and impertinence. In a letter to the Metropolitan Record in
1860, a Dr Cahill complained of Irish servants that:
being the daughters of laborers, or needy tradesmen, or persecuted rack-rented

cottiers . . . they are ignorant of the common duties of servants in respectable
positions. They can neither wash nor iron clothes. They don’t understand the
cleaning of glass or silver plate. They cannot make fires expeditiously, or dust
carpets, or polish the furniture.8
Diner cites an article published in the periodical Our Day in 1889

that expressed similar concerns. The article suggested that Irish servants
were unfamiliar with modern appliances and went on to complain that
“Nora has faults which we can hardly put up with in any position . . . she
is often untruthful, dishonest, slovenly, impudent and generally provok-

ing.” Andrew Urban also cites a number of contemporary articles in which
writers highlighted the clumsiness and heavy-handed approach of the Irish
domestic servant, and compared her unfavorably to her Chinese and black
counterparts. In doing so, Urban suggests, these writers marked “Biddy”
as masculine, aggressive, and lacking in the “civilized grace” desired of
Victorian womanhood—a threat to the peace and order of the American
home. Urban argues that the stereotype of the Irish domestic servant, as
she appeared in the periodicals and cartoons of the time, represented the
efforts of middle-class Anglo-Americans to restore order in the home in
the face of the threat posed by the anarchic, uncontrollable Biddy. At the
same time, this domestic struggle also echoed “the broader goal of trans-
forming Irish immigrants into useful members of society who respected
Anglo-American authority and served middle-class needs.”9
Typically in vaudeville, the Irish domestic is mocked for her clumsiness
and her unsophisticated and uncouth manners. Often she is performed
by a man, serving to emphasize her apparently masculine appearance and
unfeminine demeanor. A sketch from 1900 entitled The Bal Masque effec-
tively illustrates how such a character might be presented. Jack Garter
and Dorothy Bray are two lovers in disguise at a masquerade ball. He has
picked up a glove, which he believes belongs to Dorothy, but which she
knows in fact belongs to her maid, Bridget. The following dialogue and
stage directions from the manuscript highlight the way in which working-
class Irish women were at times portrayed as less feminine and attractive
than native-born women:
Jack: It was your glove and I have it [next to my heart] and I’ll kiss it
again there (takes glove and kisses it).
Dot: (Laughing) Mine? Look at the size of it. So you think I wear a
number 7 (shows hand )? (He looks and stands aghast, spreads it out,
stares at it).
Jack: W-w-w-why whose glove is it?
Dot: Why Bridget’s.
Jack: (With wry face) Oh Lord, and I’ve been kissing it for two days
(wipes his mouth off with handkerchief ).
Dot: I’m sure that Bridget would be flattered. Ha ha, what a pity you
didn’t have the owner to experiment on.10
Perhaps the most infamous Irish maid act in vaudeville was the Russell
Brothers’ “Irish Servant Girls.” Running in one form or another from
1876 through into the first decade of the twentieth century, the act fea-
tured John and James Russell in dresses and aprons, using brooms and
mops as slapsticks, winking and lifting their skirts at the men in the audi-
ence. According to an 1896 article, the Russell Brothers stood “alone and
supreme as the best delineators of eccentric Irish females on the Boards,”
with lines such as “Maggie! Maggie! Put the horse in the kitchen an’ give
him a bushel o’ coal.” Illustrations of the brothers in costume show that no
attempt was made to hide their masculinity. The two Irish maids are clearly
being played by men. Both are wearing red wigs and James in particular
has the protruding lower jaw reminiscent of the “prognathous Paddies,”
the simian featured Irish characters in political cartoons. Senelick cites a
1905 textbook on stage makeup, which described John Russell’s red wig
with centre parting as “the Biddy,” a shortened version of the name Bridget,
while James, the guide noted, wore a “frizzy bang . . . quite dear to the heart
of the servant maid.” The guide also reminded actors in such parts to “be
sure to emphasize the red on the cheeks.”11
The Russell Brothers’ sketch eventually fell foul of audience protests,
with The New York Times reporting that the brothers had been “driven off
by angry Gaels.”12 Geraldine Maschio describes how these protests were
organized by a committee formed from ninety-one Irish societies called the
Society for the Prevention of Ridiculous and Perversive Misrepresentation
of the Irish Character, and that they resented the boorish and lascivious
behavior of the brothers’ servant girls. Maschio traces the demise of the
Russell Brothers’ act that, despite name changes, quickly came to be seen
as an example of the “old” humor. These protests and the demise of ethnic
humor more generally were at least partly as a result of the changing posi-
tion of the Irish within American society and, as Maschio suggests:
as the Irish were fighting for national identity in Ireland and fighting for their
place in American society, Irish-Americans looked to an inspirational ideal
image that represented the spirit of the homeland and what was best in men.
The colleen, the Irish girl of pure heart and voice, became that ideal.13
The Russell Brothers’ act was far from unique, a fact that might also
have contributed to its demise. When an older, working-class Irish woman
appeared in vaudeville or in legitimate theatre in the nineteenth century,
she was most often played by a man. During the 1880s and 1890s, the
husband and wife team Daly and Devere performed a sketch called The
Janitress. Later in their career, they performed in a similar sketch entitled
Bridget’s Word Goes. A review of this performance noted that “Daly is
a pretty sizeable fellow and he plays an Irish janitress, a most capacious

female, pugnacious to a degree and anxious to air her opinions on any and
all subjects.” In 1898, the St Paul Globe reported on the appearance at The
Palm Garden of a Billy Maloney, billed as the “original Irish Biddy.”14
One performer who made a career playing an Irish maid or washer-
woman was George W. Monroe, who appeared in both legitimate the-
atre and vaudeville throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. According to Monroe, he began his stage career in a “rollick-
ing Irish sketch” with his brother, who at that time played the part of
the Irish woman. In the early 1880s, Monroe appeared in vaudeville in
a sketch entitled Grogan’s Chinese Laundry in which he played an Irish
woman “with broad accent and robust physique.” He first performed the
Aunt Bridget character for which he became best-known in a comic farce
entitled Over the Garden Wall in 1885. By 1890 Monroe was appearing in
My Aunt Bridget, a play written to capitalize on the success of this char-
acter and in which he played a “good-natured, uncouth Irish woman,”
newly arrived in America. Other Monroe plays included Aunt Bridget’s
Baby; Our Bridget’s Home; The Never Homes in which he played the part
of Patricia Flynn; Mrs Bridget O’Shaughnessy, Wash Lady; and The Widow
Dooley’s Dream. Although all of these plays were performed in “legitimate”
theatre, Monroe also performed an Aunt Bridget monologue in vaudeville.
When he appeared on the vaudeville bill at Hyde and Behman’s theatre
in December 1900, the Brooklyn Eagle noted that his vaudeville act was
similar to his character on the legitimate stage—”a big fat Irish cook, fat,
forty and funny.”15
As very little detail remains of Monroe’s vaudeville performances,
it is worth taking some time to consider reviews of his appearances on
the legitimate stage for what they can tell us about his impersonation of
Irish women in vaudeville. One contemporary review of My Aunt Bridget
referred to Monroe’s character as a “good natured, uncouth Irish woman
trying to be a ‘nice lady’” and noted that “the action of the play hinges
upon the visit of Bridget MacVeigh from Ireland to her spendthrift and
bankrupt nephew in America, and the embarrassing positions into which
she puts the latter by her ignorance of ‘ettikay.’” In Aunt Bridget’s Baby,
Bridget is described as “an Irish lady of wealth, ambitious to be married,”
suggesting that her efforts to better herself had paid off. In 1900, Monroe
was playing in Mrs Bridget O’Shaughnessy, Wash Lady. A review of this play
suggests that at least some of the humor centred on Irish women’s sexual-
ity, and in particular the risqué humor deriving from a female character as
played by a man. In one scene, as Bridget and her beau embrace, she tells
Figure 5.1 George W. Monroe as Aunt Bridget, his “vast and uproarious
charwoman.”
Source: George W. Monroe clippings file, BRTD.
him “Michael Angelo Casey, remember you are not juggling pig iron.”
The theme of the working-class Irish woman rising above her station is
also continued in this play, as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that “a
large audience enjoyed the lovemaking and fun of the wash woman who
suddenly rises from obscure poverty with its attendant hardships to wealth
and luxury.”16
In The Never Homes, which played on Broadway in 1911, Monroe
played Mrs Patricia Flynn in a comedy mocking the suffrage movement.
According to one review, the play takes place during an election in a small
town:
The women are strongly organized . . . and when the count is made the suffrag-
ettes have made a clean sweep. They proceed to reorganize the local admin-
istration to suit their own ideas. The men fire-fighters are all discharged,
and the fire stations “manned” entirely by women, bossed by Patricia Flynn
(Monroe).17
When the hotel goes on fire, Flynn responds to the alarm saying “Isn’t
that too bad” and “‘Tisn’t my fault” and “Go and put it out? Really, we
cawn’t now. We’re having a little tea party. If the fire isn’t out tomorrow,
we’ll come around and attend to it.”18
A photograph from the same play dated 1912 shows Monroe as Patricia
Flynn, complete with fire chief’s helmet, on the telephone. The accompa-
nying caption reads:
Patricia, as Chief of the Suffragette Fire Department, is answering a call for

help. She tells the party on the other end of the wire that it is far too wet to take
the horses out, and begs them to keep the fire going until the next day, when
she will be very glad to bring the engine around and put it out.19
Monroe’s portrayal of an Irish suffragist echoes other vaudeville songs

and sketches that used Irish women to warn of the dangers of giving women
the vote. Although as Diner has shown many Irish women in America were
economically independent, they tended to reject the women’s movement.
Evidence from the Irish American press suggests that Irish men, too, were
resentful of the movement and fearful that Irish women were becoming too
Americanized. For their part, native-born American feminists contrasted
their own inability to vote with the enfranchisement of Irish men. Native-
born American men also viewed the women’s movement with suspicion,
with some antifeminists fearing that it would make American women
somehow less feminine and more masculine.20 When one considers the
tendency for working-class Irish women on the stage to be portrayed as
masculine, it is perhaps not surprising that anti-suffrage sketches made
use of Irish women to make their point. An 1876 song entitled “Rights
of Ladies” suggests that a vote for women would mean that they would
simply do their husbands’ bidding and illustrates this from the point of
view of an Irishman dreaming of his life once his wife holds public office:
Wid four or five dollars a day

It’s meself twould vote to elect her
An’ put in me pocket the pay . . .
An’ whin all the votin’ is over,
An’ Biddy’s elected, shure thin
I’ll live like a pig in clover
Wid Honorable Misses McFlinn.21
A later vaudeville sketch, published in a 1911 collection, both lampoons

native-born women’s desire for the vote while at the same time mocking
Irish working-class men and women. In Girls Will Be Girls, two suffragettes
discuss their opinions on men and relationships. One of them recounts a
visit to a suffragette meeting at which the speaker declared that “the day
would soon come when women took the place of men and men took the
place of women. Thus a woman would take up her husband’s occupation.”
In response, an Irish woman in the audience shouted “Arrah, and me hus-
band a hod carrier?”22
In Chapter 2, I discuss the apparent instability and flexibility of ethnic-
ity in vaudeville acts. I also consider the opportunities afforded to black-
face performers to challenge established boundaries from behind a mask.
The characterization of rough, uncouth, working-class Irish women by
male performers like Monroe or the Russell Brothers may suggest a similar
instability regarding gender identities and merits a brief examination of the
role of drag acts and female impersonators in vaudeville. At the beginning
of the nineteenth century, men who appeared onstage in women’s clothes
were usually dame comedians—that is, an elderly and overtly masculine
comic female role. Early minstrel shows in America also featured the part
of the “wench,” an exaggerated caricature of a black woman played by a
white man in blackface. Senelick’s description of these wench roles and the
similarity they bore to the depiction of the Irish domestic in vaudeville is
significant:
A standard butt of ridicule in English farce and folk-song was the hopeless
attempt of servants to copy upper-class fashion, “high life below stairs.” It so
happened that in America the cooks, maids and market-women caricatured
were of African descent, and hence disenfranchised not only by gender and
station, but also by race. This allowed the cartoon to be all the more unbridled
in its aggression.23
Bronwen Walter has observed that gender has remained largely absent
from recent debates about how Irish immigrants in the United States
became “white.” Where Ignatiev argues that Irish men began to fill jobs
traditionally held by black American workers, forcing them into the lowest-
paid, most menial jobs such as chimney-sweeping or shoe-shining, Walter
questions whether Irish women were engaged in a similar process. She
notes, for example, that between 1826 and 1830, the New York Society
for the Encouragement of Faithful Domestics received 8,346 applications
from Irish people, compared with 2,574 “Negroes,” 3,601 “Americans,”
642 “English,” and 377 “others.” Walter also notes that by 1849, of the
4,249 servants living with white families in New York, only 156 were
African American. Suggesting that Irish men were not alone in the levels
of racial animosity toward black workers, Faye Dudden describes Louisa
May Alcott’s reported difficulties in finding a white woman to work with
her black cook. According to the author, this had been “an insurmountable
problem to all the Irish ladies who had applied.” That Irish women came
to be represented in similar terms to black cooks and maids lends weight
to the argument that they too replaced black American women in jobs that
they had traditionally held.24
According to Toll, “women, like Negroes, provided one of the few sta-
ble ‘inferiors’ that assured white men of their status.” The character of the
minstrel wench, therefore, was doubly inferior. She was a woman, albeit a
woman played by a man, and she was black. However, there may also be
more to early minstrelsy’s wench characters than simply misogyny and rac-
ism. Eric Lott sees in these wench roles the opportunity for the expression
of homoerotic and homosexual desire. Senelick disputes this argument,
suggesting that “it is hard to find any point at which sexual desire can gain
purchase on the loose-limbed scarecrows of early minstrel drag.” Senelick
seems here to equate sexual desire with conventional beauty. However, he
appears to overlook the effects of the forbidden or the risqué. It is possible
to imagine that for early minstrelsy’s male audiences, the crudeness and
bawdiness represented by the wench and tied up in all that was forbidden
to them—the black woman, the black man, and the white man under-
neath the mask—would have provoked at least a frisson of excitement and
titillation.25
By the end of the century, the dame (or in blackface, the wench) char-
acter had been joined onstage by female impersonators. They differed
from dame comedians in that they dressed in glamorous female attire and
played the part seductively instead of for comedy effect. In minstrelsy, this
new character was known as the “yellow gal,” described by Senelick as “a
young mulatto woman with a ‘high-yaller’ complexion” and “a very deli-

cate manner.” For Toll, the female impersonator in minstrelsy served “as
a model of properly ‘giddy’ femininity,” reassuring men that women were
in their rightful place while at the same time appealing to white women in
the audience, showing them how to behave without competing with them.
Unlike the wench character, it is in these “yellow gals” that Senelick sees
evidence of the complex interactions of race and sexuality. In particular,
he writes that “the lighter complexion of the ‘yaller girl’ was a reminder
that her mixed blood derived from an illicit union, miscegenation; this
enhanced the temptation of forbidden fruit.”26
The female impersonator as distinct from dame comedians also
appeared as white women in variety and vaudeville. The performer Julian
Eltinge, for example, performed in both legitimate theatre and vaudeville
in the first two decades of the twentieth century as a female impersonator.
His popularity was such that in 1913 a magazine was published entitled
Julian Eltinge Magazine and Beauty Hints, in which he advised his (pre-
sumably female) readers on cold creams and powders. Clearly, Eltinge was
popular with female audience members who admired his appearance and
fashions. As Senelick points out, though, Eltinge took every opportunity
to reaffirm his own masculinity. The wonder of his act was the transfor-
mation from a virile man into a feminine woman, and he often stressed
the difficulties involved in squeezing his masculine frame into corsets and
the like. Other male impersonators, however, did not invite the same posi-
tive reception as Eltinge. Instead many were deemed to be too feminine
and it was feared that they might corrupt otherwise heterosexual men.
A 1911 report of the Chicago Vice Commission hinted at this fear when
it expressed concerns about “supposed women” in concert saloons who
“solicited for drinks and afterwards invited the men to rooms over the
saloon for pervert practices.”27
In comparison to seductive and glamorous female impersonators
who might lure unsuspecting heterosexual men, acts such as Monroe’s
seemed relatively safe and reassuring. Although the review for Mrs Bridget
O’Shaughnessy, Wash Lady cited above points to at least a frisson of titil-
lation in Monroe’s characterizations, he himself insisted that his “Celtic
dame” appealed to audiences because of her “wholesome, clean, if some-
times rough manners.” He went on to claim that he was “one of the first
successful female impersonators, but, unlike the present-day performers
in that line, there never was any mystery as to whether or not I was a
man or a woman.” A 1913 article referred to Monroe as possibly the only
female impersonator who did not offend his audiences. Monroe himself
attributed this to the fact that “I am always palpably a robust man play-
ing a woman’s role and not a near-effeminate person aping the ways of a
lovely woman.” Monroe seems to have believed that his act was inoffensive
because he was impersonating a rough Irish woman, a character which no
one could possibly find sexually attractive. As Kibler argues, such “manly
maids expressed the antithesis of femininity. The men who impersonated
Irish maids and ‘old maids’ marked particular women as undesirable as
they ridiculed sexually aggressive women.” Senelick echoes this point when
he writes that “invariably, the cross-dressed females in comedy were those
unidealized in life: homely landladies, déclassé ballet girls, concierges, laun-
dresses, seamstresses.”28
The portrayal of masculine Irish women by male performers such as
Monroe does seem to point to and mock their perceived lack of feminin-
ity. However, cross-dressing might also provide, like blackface makeup, a
sort of mask that allows performers to behave outside the norm and gives
audiences permission to enjoy and laugh at this behavior. Ekins notes that
Hollywood films adopt four “screening processes” when depicting what
he terms “male femaling.” Dressing or behaving as a woman might be
“medicalized”—that is, a symptom of a medical problem; “ghettoized,”
in which transvestism is shown as part of a subculture that does not risk
impacting on wider society; “humorized”—in which men dressing as
women is used for comic effect and leads to various farcical situations;
or “personalized”—the story of one man’s own individual journey from
male to female. In short, Ekins argues that these four screening processes
“distance us from stigmatized people and stigmatized activities. We can
be fascinated, enthralled, or appalled, but at arm’s length and in relative
safety.” Ekins notes that Hollywood films are able to “humorize” what is
essentially a stigmatized activity only when the “women” are played by
men whom the audience knows are straight, for example in Some Like
It Hot (Wilder 1959). Monroe seems to have been aware of this when he
stressed that there was never any ambiguity in his act, never any question
that he was in fact a man. Like ethnicity and race, it seems that gender was
utilized by vaudeville entertainers to allow them to behave in ways that
would not otherwise have been permissible and allow audiences to laugh at
their acts from a safe distance.29
It is clear that race, ethnicity, and gender interacted in varied and
complex ways on the popular stage in the latter half of the nineteenth
century. In 1902, for example, a musical farce comedy entitled Weary
Willie Walker featured Kittie Francis as Mrs O’Connor. An illustration
of Francis in the part shows a large, buxom woman who bears a striking
resemblance to Monroe’s Irish women. Francis, however, also appeared in

blackface, with the Guthrie Daily Leader referring to her as a famous Irish
and wench impersonator. Nellie Waters too appeared on stage throughout
the 1890s and early 1900s, billed as an “exponent of Celtic character” or
“The Duchess of Dublin.” As well as “rough and humble Irish sketches and
songs,” she also sang “negro ballads,” “negro ditties,” and “coon songs.”
When she appeared in vaudeville, Elizabeth Murray was billed as singing
Irish and “coon” songs. Of course, what is not clear here is the ethnicity
of these performers. If they were Irish, as Nellie Waters’ billing as “The
Duchess of Dublin” might attest, then their involvement in minstrel-style
entertainment might echo the attempts of male Irish American perform-
ers to reassert their whiteness through blackface. On the other hand, if
these female performers were English or American, then their conflation
of Irish songs and sketches with “negro ballads” and the like might be read
as equating the Irish with black Americans. In such cases, the gender of
the performer is significant, serving perhaps to undermine both Irish and
black American masculinity.30
Reflecting on the lack of female clowns and comedy actors on the nine-
teenth-century stage, Senelick argues that real women were automatically
eroticized by a largely male audience, thereby distracting attention from
and interfering with the action of the play. Thus “the best means to deflect
that gaze back to the play was the avoidance of beauty. The more physical
the comedy, the more the need for a woman to be played by a man.” Of
course, on occasion working-class Irish women in vaudeville were played
by female performers, but even then their lack of femininity and their
resemblance to male performers marked them out. In 1888, all two hun-
dred pounds of a Miss St. George Hussey appeared onstage at Hyde and
Behman’s theatre playing the part of an Irishman. Referred to as “America’s
greatest representative Irish comedienne,” Hussey also played the title role
in the farce comedy Widow Wiggles and Mrs O’Flannigan in the comic
play Ole Olsen.31 In 1889, she appeared in a farce called Running Wild in
which she played the cleaning lady, described by the Brooklyn Eagle as:
a wild Irishwoman whose notion of regulating a household is to keep furniture

piled in the middle of the floor and upset all domestic order and comfort. Her
belligerent manner of singing songs and her inability to live peaceably with any
other human being were frequently laughed at.32
In 1913, George Monroe was replaced in the musical revue All Aboard
by Kate Elinore. Kate and her sister May had performed together in
vaudeville from the 1890s until 1909, at which point they split up and
Kate appeared onstage with her husband, Sam Williams. So unusual was
Kate’s role in the portrayal of an Irish woman, a part usually assumed
by male performers, that it led to questions and gossip around her own
gender. Kibler reports that Kate’s dresser was asked to settle a wager about
whether Kate was indeed a man or a woman. Kate herself reported how
she overheard a conversation between two audience members following her
performance in which one said to the other “I tell you the big one is a man
and no mistake and I’ll bet you anything you like on it.”33
In their 1902 sketch The Adventures of Bridget McGuire, Kate Elinore
plays Bridget, an unemployed domestic who, despite her taste for alcohol
and her poor command of the English language, is mistaken for her hus-
band’s employer’s wealthy aunt. As a result she is able to act as her husband’s
boss, ordering him around and hitting him. Although this could be read
as simply another mockery of the uncivilized manners of Irish domestic
servants, Kibler suggests that Kate Elinore’s portrayal of Bridget and her
other brusque Irish female characters reveal something more complex. Kate
Elinore’s “masculine” Bridget, with her down-to-earth humor and manner-
isms, is shown as preferable to the more “feminine” Mrs Rapp, the husband’s
employer (played by Kate’s sister May), who is shown as false and obsessed
with social position. Kibler argues that Kate Elinore’s rough, immigrant
women “depict a woman’s power to disrupt hierarchies” while the “comic
antagonists” played by her sister equate “femininity with corrupt or oppres-
sive social authority.” The fact that in this case Bridget was played by a
woman rather than a man (albeit a woman with a masculine appearance
who, according to Kibler, was often rumored to be a man) brings another
dimension to the portrayal of the rough, uncouth Irish immigrant woman.
As Kibler suggests, Kate Elinore’s performances were “not so much a cri-
tique of femininity as an expression of the exclusivity of femininity,” a rank
to which working-class Irish women could not belong.34
IRISH WOMEN IN THE DOMESTIC SPHERE
Bronwen Walter has argued that “the icon of the family, apparently rep-
resenting interdependence and unity, has remained dominant in Irish
society.” Despite the patriarchal imperatives of Irish nationalism and
Catholicism, the central figure of this unit is the mother, representing
Mother Ireland herself. Writing about cinematic representations of Irish
women, Gerardine Meaney suggests that “from the beginning the way in
which Irish women were represented on-screen was intimately connected

with the way Ireland itself was perceived.” In the stereotype of the Irish
mother, Ireland itself is represented as both nurturing yet also suffering.
Aside from the nationalist imperative, there may be another historical basis
for the Irish mother stereotype. In Ireland, where men tended to marry
women younger than themselves, women experienced high rates of widow-
hood, which often left them at home with grown sons who would them-
selves marry late if at all. These patterns persisted in the United States.
Diner paints a picture of a typical Irish family in mid-nineteenth-century
America with the male “breadwinner” absent, either as a result of death,
the need to travel for work, or desertion brought about by alcoholism or
frustration at his lack of status within the family and the wider society.
In addition, the Irish in America married later in life or not at all, a fact
that Diner suggests would have resulted in many grown sons remaining at
home with their widowed or deserted mother. These factors combined in
the United States to make “the Irish female-headed household a strikingly
common element in the social tableau.”35
In some cases, vaudeville songs draw on the figure of the Irish widow
in America. Kelly and Ryan, for example, performed a song entitled “The
Scrubbing Women” that directly recalls the image of Irish American fam-
ily life as depicted by Diner. The song is sung from the point of view
of two scrubbing women (like George Monroe’s wash lady or the Russell
Brothers’ servant girls, here again performed on stage by the male team
Kelly and Ryan) who work hard to make enough money to pay their rent
and debts. The women mention their husbands directly:
Our husbands, they were both of them brothers;

From old Ireland they ran,
Carrying the hod was their daily labor,
Pat and Dan Gilhoolihan.
Echoing the evidence presented by Diner, the song continues with a plea
from the two women, now left to fend for themselves and their children:
Now we hope ye’ll all have pity

On us poor widders from the old sod.
We can’t find a job in the whole city,
And starve, by the powers now that’s no cod.36
Importantly, the song emphasizes that these women posed no threat

to the social order. Although struggling to pay the rent and to provide
for their “children big and strong,” the song ends with an insistence that
despite this hardship they are “all of them happy as the day is long.”37
In the majority of the material I have examined, when the Irish mother
figure appears in vaudeville songs and sketches, she is not physically pres-
ent but is instead recalled longingly by her son. She tends to be absent and
romanticized, symbolic of the family, the way of life and the country that
the male child has left behind. In the song “I Leave Ireland and Mother
Because We Are Poor,” a son sings of the “cruel misfortune” that has driven
him from his home and his mother. Directly linking the role of the nurtur-
ing Irish mother with the Irish landscape itself, the song continues:
The home that my father left mother and I,

We now must abandon, and are turned out to die.
Farewell, to your valleys and moss-bordered stream,
Your mountains so lofty, and meadows so green,
The place of my birth, darling sweet Donaghmore,
I leave Ireland and mother because we are poor.38
Similar sentiments can be found in the song “Mother’s Last Words,”

written by a Sam Picton from Belfast. In this sentimental ballad, an
Irishman recalls his mother’s parting words to him:
Goodbye my son good bye when far across the sea

May health and wealth attend you when far away from me
Be honest kind and true and your duty always do
These were the last words mother said to me.
His longing for his mother is equaled by his longing for home:
In the battle of life I have crossed the deep sea

And many strange places I’ve seen,
But never could find a place to my mind
Like that dear little cot decked with green.
Awake or asleep, on land or on deep
My own native home is my choice,
And oftimes I fancy I think I can hear
My darling old mother’s sweet voice.39
In other vaudeville songs, the son expresses his desire to rescue his mother
from tyranny and by extension therefore a desire to rescue Ireland itself.
In “A Representative Irishman,” an Irish immigrant, now an Alderman
in New York, vows to “return to Ireland/To that downtrod patriot band”
and “bring mother, children all/To America, for that is God’s free land.”
Until the time that “Erin’s Isle from tyrant wild/Like America be free,” this
representative Irishman undertakes to
make our home in America

I will buy for each a lot
On freeman’s soil I will build
For each loved one a cot
Where the tyrant landlord dare not come
With his inhuman shout
To grind the poor drive from the door
The starving wretches out.40
Diner points to the social problems facing Irish women in America and
suggests that for many married life was difficult. Some of those women
whose husbands were present faced domestic violence. Those left alone,
either through widowhood or desertion, faced a struggle to provide for
their children. In addition, as was the case for Irish men in America, Irish
women suffered high rates of alcoholism. In New York between 1884 and
1890, for example, 1.16 Irish women per 1000 died from alcoholism, com-
pared to a rate of 0.42 for English and Welsh women, and 0.12 for German
women. Although the data suggest that rates of alcoholism among Irish
American men far exceeded those among Irish American women, Irish
women drank more than their counterparts in other ethnic groups. Stivers
argues that, although women in Ireland did drink, heavy drinking was
a largely male activity and that a woman who drank heavily was consid-
ered deviant. However, whereas in Ireland drinking was a way to reaffirm
and assert masculine identity, Stivers suggests that in America drinking
became a way to reassert one’s Irishness and as such heavy drinking was
common among both men and women.41
The various social problems faced by Irish women in America also con-
tributed to a high rate of criminality so that for contemporary reformers
“the archetype of the woman arrested and convicted for offences against
the public order was the Irish woman, who demonstrated the effects of
poverty, drunkenness and domestic violence which propelled women into
lives of crime.”42 As Diner suggests, Irish women were often at the receiv-
ing end of domestic abuse, and one particularly misogynistic song appears
in an 1876 songster. Entitled “Biddy Doyle,” it is an uncompromising
and unromantic marriage proposal to a woman obviously “past her best.”
Hinting at the links between motherhood and the nationalist cause, the
singer tells Biddy Doyle to “increase the population/Or you are not worthy
of your nation.” He goes on to reassert, in particularly vicious terms, his
own masculine authority over his wife:
Oh! When I go on a spree, Biddy Doyle

I will raise lots of fun, you’ll see, Biddy Doyle;
If I should come home tight,
Don’t try to raise a fight,
Or I’ll give you a box that will make you quiet, Biddy Doyle;
Don’t call the neighbors around me,
Or if you do I’ll surely pound you,
And I will spit on you and drown you, Biddy Doyle.43
Other vaudeville sketches also treat Irish women in a chauvinistic man-

ner. The recording “Come Down McGinty,” for example, begins with a
dialogue between Murphy and Casey in which Murphy asks Casey who the
“fine lady” was that he was with. Casey predictably replies “Why Dinnie
you’re goin’ crazy, that was no lady, that was me wife Ellen.” Murphy duly
expresses his sympathy and surprise, saying that he thought she “was a
human being.”44
On occasion, however, Irish women are depicted not just as victims of
verbal abuse or domestic violence but as willing participants in an ongoing
battle with their husbands or as perpetrators of domestic violence them-
selves. A Pat Rooney song from an 1870s songster entitled “Purty Pat, the
Masher” features a spoken section in which Pat complains that he’d be
happy except that he’s married to a “red-headed jealous wife.” She finds
him drinking with another woman and tells him:
I’ve caught you Patsy

You can’t fool Mary Ann
Its queer tricks you’re playing
For an ould married man
Come home and rock the cradle,
You know the twins are sick
or I’ll crack your thick skull
With the soft end of a brick.45
This image of a violent, controlling wife could not be further from the
sentimental and romanticized Irish mother. It is worth mentioning here
that of course Irish women were not the only ones to be portrayed in this
way. Ethnic women in general were often painted in a negative light. A
song included in an 1879 songster, entitled “Dot Wife of Mine,” is sung in

what seems to be a Dutch or German dialect. A husband complains that:
My wife is de cause of de ailment,

She’s a woman of muscle and bone.
Oh, she’s always a jawing and clawing,
Und a biting, sometimes fighting;
Vell, I wish dot I’d been struck mit lightning
De day I ved dot wife of mine.46
So while some vaudeville songs present the sentimental, romanticized

image of the Irish mother, this figure is most often tied up with a wider
nostalgia for home and symbolizes all that the emigrant son has left
behind. As I showed in the previous chapter, vaudeville material at times
engaged with issues at the heart of Irish American life. Kelly and Ryan’s
“poor widders” remind us that for many Irish women in America, widow-
hood was a harsh reality and one that must surely have contributed to the
idolization of the resilient Irish American mother in later films. In much
the same way, however, that Irish men’s role in domestic life was criticized
in vaudeville, some vaudeville songs and sketches seem to undermine Irish
motherhood, suggesting that Irish women in the United States are less
domestically inclined than their native-born counterparts.
FAIR IRISH GIRLS
In her study of the representation and performance of Irish femininity

in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Barbara O’Connor describes
some of the distinguishing features of the Irish colleen figure. A beauti-
ful young woman with long red or dark hair, often barefooted and usu-
ally dressed in traditional clothes, she could be vivacious and charming
but might also display a fiery temper. Most importantly she was chaste
and innocent. O’Connor locates the growth of colleen images in post-
Famine Ireland within the romantic tradition, with the colleen being one
example of the simple, dignified, rural peasantry constructed by European
artists of the period in response to increasing urbanization and indus-
trialization. For O’Connor, the colleen figure served both colonial and
nationalist discourses. Within the context of colonialism, the image of the
chaste, beautiful, peasant girl represented a civilizing influence, a more
acceptable “other” than the constructed images of lazy and feckless Irish
men or overtly sexual African women. For Irish nationalists, the colleen’s
links to the Irish landscape and to traditional crafts suggested a strong

historical past and pointed toward the idyllic future of a free and self-
sufficient Ireland. In 1920s Hollywood films, and particularly in the films
of Colleen Moore, the image of the Irish colleen was symbolic of a simpler,
more traditional femininity than that being promoted and displayed by
the “New Women” of the time and was also representative of a nonthreat-
ening ethnicity that could be easily assimilated through marriage. Given
the ideological significance of the Irish colleen in films of the silent era, it
is useful to examine the appearance of this figure in vaudeville.47
In the Ireland-set Pastor plays discussed in Chapter 3, Irish women are
usually depicted as chaste and innocent. Their fates are linked to the fate
of Ireland itself, with the male hero responsible for rescuing them from the
clutches of the (often English) villain. Likewise in other vaudeville mate-
rial, the colleen could be representative of all that was good about Ireland
and the Irish. In the song “No Irish Need Apply,” for example, Irish girls
are held up as a response to anti-Irish prejudice:
Just note the Irish girl as she’s tripping from the well
With eyes like diamonds and her cheeks like roses in the dell,
She looks as bright and fair with her blue eyes and deep black hair.
Show me any of your ladies who with her you can compare,
With love light in their eyes then why do you despise
A nation in this country that you almost ought to prize.48
Sheridan, Mack and Day’s Grand Combination Songster, published in

1874, includes “The Daughters of Erin” as sung by the Stuart Sisters. The
song’s “two merry girls of Tralee” embody the charm and innocence of
Irish girls and praise America as a new home where Irish men (but tellingly
not Irish women) can find work and be free from the tyranny of monar-
chy.49 Tony Pastor’s song “Fair Irish Girls” also praised Irish femininity.
Referring to Irish girls as “far dearer than pearls” the song continues with
what would seem to be a direct appeal to the Irish in Pastor’s audience:
Talk not of damsels

Of sweet sunny France,
Nor Italy’s daughters
With dark flashing glance;
Proud Spanish maidens,
Though haughty and grand,
Can ne’er equal those
Of our dear native land.50
As well as singing about the Irish mothers they left behind, male vaude-
ville performers also sang about their sweethearts back in Ireland. In
“Mickey Doran” an Irishman yearns for the Irish colleen he left when he
came to America. The opportunities offered by America, however, mean
that he is able to send for his Katie and at the end of the song the pair are
married and happy, living a life of domestic bliss:
I brought her to America and we were joined in marriage

And now we live together as happy as can be.
We have fourteen little children who are the image of their daddy
And on winter nights by the fireside they cluster round my knee.51
The song “Kate Riley” also has a man singing about his love for “a
handsome girl . . . from my native Isle across the sea.” Again, Irish feminin-
ity is romanticized. Her “eyes are full of mischief” and her “voice is low
and sweet” and the singer asserts his love for her despite the fact that she
is still in Ireland.52 Where these songs hold Irish women up as a model of
ideal femininity, more beautiful and chaste than their American coun-
terparts, others suggest that the pretty and innocent Irish girl is quickly
transformed when she comes to America. Murphy and Mack’s Jolly Sailors
Songster, published in the 1870s, includes the song “Mary Hughes”
in which the singer bemoans the changes in his wife since she came to
America. When they first met, she was “just over” and “was neat and sweet
and so pretty.” However, before long
Her vows she did abuse,

She got tight and used to fight
And she sold my clothes and shoes.
Mary Hughes you give me the blues
Ain’t it awful you so fond of your booze
You are going to destruction
You are doing as you choose
You have me crazy Mary Hughes.53
These Irish colleens, of course, are being sung about by male perform-
ers. But, aside from the female characters in plays such as those discussed in
Chapter 3, what brand of Irish femininity was represented by Irish female
performers? I have already discussed the uncouth Irish women portrayed by
Kate Elinore. Another prominent female performer was Maggie Cline. Born
in Massachusetts, Cline was known as “The Irish Queen” and was famous for
her rousing performances of songs such as “Mary Ann Kehoe,” “Throw Him
Down McCloskey,” and “Down Went McGinty.” The following description

of her performance of the latter two songs gives a flavor of her style:
Maggie put both over with the same hip-swinging walk. She needed all of
thirty feet of stage for combined songs and gestures, the hitch to her belt fore
and aft, the glance aloft at the galleries as she called on the Irish to help with
the chorus, and the sweep around the house of her husky right arm as she illus-
trated the dramatic moment in the story of McCloskey.54
This description suggests that the brand of vigorous Irish womanhood

performed by Cline and greeted enthusiastically by Irish audience members
was far from that of the sweet and innocent young girl. Another popular
Irish American vaudeville performer was Kitty O’Neil. Born in the United
States to Irish-born parents, O’Neil first appeared in variety in the 1860s
as Kathleen O’Neil and was billed as a singer. By 1871, she was performing
regularly as part of Tony Pastor’s troupe and was billed as jig dancer Kitty
O’Neil. Describing a photograph of O’Neil in costume, Don Meade writes
that she was “a pale-eyed beauty with a mass of curly black hair piled high
on her head” and suggests that her costume of “a lacy, long-sleeved shirt,
short fringed trousers and skin-tight white stockings” would have been
risqué for the time. Although perhaps more conventionally beautiful than
Cline, O’Neil’s persona does not necessarily appear to have been that of
the sweet, innocent colleen.55
It seems then that, like the Irish mother, the character of the Irish col-
leen appeared most often in vaudeville songs sung from a male perspective
and was associated with their reminiscences about the country they left
behind. When Irish American female performers appeared on the stage,
they seem to have been more earthy and seductive than sweet and chaste.
This fact may be due to the nature of variety and vaudeville entertainment.
The popular stage was undergoing a process of refinement throughout the
period of my study, a process that might perhaps be traced back to 1862
when the New York State Legislature banned the appearance of “waiter
girls” from concert saloons. These waiter girls occasionally appeared
onstage, but they also entertained the largely male clientele by walking the
theatre floor, bringing drinks in exchange for tips. There were, of course,
suspicions that they were offering more than just drinks. When the 1862
legislation banned these waiter girls from theatre floors, many moved on
to the stage entirely. It may be that the licentious connotations associated
with female variety performers in the early years were difficult to escape.
Although growing increasingly respectable throughout the later nineteenth
century, vaudeville’s bawdy and boisterous roots may have meant that the
appearance of a sweet, charming, and innocent young Irish girl would have
been somewhat incongruous. Whereas film technology quickly developed
to allow for close-ups of pretty starlets, chastity and innocence would per-
haps not have come across so easily in a noisy metropolitan theatre.56
There may be other ideological reasons why the Irish American colleen
figure did not appear with any regularity on the vaudeville stage. Rains
highlights the fact that the act of migration itself was seen as a masculine
endeavor and that, for Irish men emasculated by the experience of colo-
nialism, emigration to America afforded the opportunity to become a full
citizen rather than a colonial subject. For the large numbers of single Irish
women who emigrated, however, the fact of their migration imbued them
with certain masculine qualities. This is perhaps most clearly illustrated
in the American-set Pastor plays, although as I show above, a number
of vaudeville songs also suggested that America had a corrupting influ-
ence on young Irish women. They stop being sweet and innocent objects
of desire and instead become nagging and sometimes violent wives and
mothers. The suggestion that Irish women in America are less attractive
and less innocent than those who remain in Ireland is interesting when one
compares it to the changing representations of Irish gender traced by Rains
in the twentieth century. In the 1920s, the Irish American colleen was a
positive and assimilationist figure in Hollywood cinema, in comparison
to Irish American men whose violent and criminal masculinity was often
shown as problematic. After the Second World War, however, these gender
representations shifted. Irish American men became symbols of American
patriotism and the fighting spirit. Irish American women, on the other
hand, no longer embodied sweetness and innocence. Instead, those quali-
ties were reserved for depictions of Irish women in Ireland.57
It seems then that Irish gender representations in vaudeville are closer to
those of postwar Hollywood cinema than to the silent cinema of the 1920s.
In vaudeville, Irish women in Ireland are idolized and romanticized whereas
those in America are shown as less feminine, violent, and domineering.
Irish men in vaudeville—both in Ireland and America—drink, fight, and
womanize but these behaviors are often tied up with a sense of patriotism
and emphasize their bravery and loyalty. Rains suggests that the change in
Hollywood representations of Irish American masculinity can be directly
linked to the Second World War. Similarly, it seems that vaudeville’s repre-
sentations of brave Irish men were at least in part a response to the aftermath
of the Civil War. Indeed, as I show in the previous chapter, a number of
songs make reference to the contribution of Irish men to the war.58
My argument about the general absence of the Irish colleen figure in

vaudeville however is not to say that some showmen did not recognize the
potential of putting a fair, innocent Irish girl on the stage. In August 1906,
Nora Kelly appeared at Pastor’s theatre in New York billed as “The Dublin
Girl.” The write-up of her performance in Variety emphasized the lure of
the exotic prompted by an awareness of her Irishness.
Appearing for the first time in New York City, Nora Kelly from Ireland sings
only those melodies dear to the Hibernian . . . Seldom if ever has a more fresh-
looking and charming young woman stepped upon the variety stage. Having
an overflow of magnetism, pretty and with a natural grace without affectation
added to a delicious brogue, Miss Kelly has an assured place in vaudeville par-
ticularly and the hearts of her country-folk.59
The illusion of Kelly’s innocence, however, was soon shattered. Just two
weeks later, in an article headed “Nora Kelly Never Saw Dublin,” Variety
revealed that Kelly was not from Ireland at all and had for seven years been
working as a chorus girl in a burlesque show. Recognizing the dichotomy
between chorus girl and colleen, Variety ultimately applauded Kelly’s “abil-
ity to simulate the character of an Irish lass so successfully as to deceive all
those who approach her.”60
IRISH WOMEN AND THE “LACE CURTAIN”
According to Diner, as time went by, Irish women in America experienced a

gradual but steady movement out of domestic service and into white-collar
clerical jobs or professional occupations like teaching and nursing. Whereas
vaudeville had a tendency to depict working-class Irish women as vulgar and
uncouth, it is possible to argue that it was these same women who helped
drive the Irish in America up the socioeconomic ladder. Margaret Lynch-
Brennan has argued that domestic service provided Irish women with “an
opportunity to learn and internalize American middle-class values and
social conduct, which they could in turn apply as a means of propelling their
families up the social scale.” Janet Nolan too has suggested that their experi-
ences as domestic servants allowed Irish mothers “to speed the assimilation
of their American-born children.” Indeed, Blessing notes that the children
of Irish immigrants moved up the ladder more quickly than their parents.
For women, this generation gap was particularly marked. Whereas almost
two-thirds of Irish-born women working in the United States in 1900 were
servants, that figure fell to 19 percent for their American-born daughters.61
As I discuss earlier, the performances of George Monroe and the Elinore

Sisters dramatized this social mobility and drew humor from the attempts
of working-class Irish woman to enter polite society. This was a common
theme in other sketches of the period. A 1902 stage production of Happy
Hooligan, for example, featured Maggie Weston as Bridget Moriarty, “the
suddenly enriched scrubwoman.” In Chapter 2 I refer to one of vaudeville’s
longest-running sketches, Mrs Murphy’s Second Husband, which featured
Gracie Emmett as “an old Irish washerwoman grown rich.” The Washington
Herald described the show as “an Irish comedy taking advantage of the ‘new
rich.’” Another element in the play seems to have drawn on the stereotype of
the unfeminine and domineering Irish wife. Emmett played an Irish widow
who picks for her second husband “a man in delicate health, so as to be sure
she will be boss in the house this time.” Although details of the sketch seem
to point at a negative depiction of Irish women, it was reported in 1909 that
Emmett was “one of the most vigorous champions in the movement to sup-
press objectionable representations of the Irish race on the stage.”62
In vaudeville, a desire for respectability and gentility was depicted as a
female trait, with songs and sketches mocking Irish women’s attempts at
Figure 5.2 Gracie Emmett as Mrs Murphy, “an old Irish washerwoman grown
rich.”
Source: Gracie Emmett clippings file, BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 451, 7.
respectability or suggesting that social mobility in fact meant betraying

one’s ethnic identity. For example, in the 1901 recording “Who Threw
the Overalls in Mrs Murphy’s Chowder,” Mrs Murphy is giving a party
and while dishing out the chowder she finds a pair of overalls, “plastered
up with mortar” in the pot, and faints in shock. The narrator threatens to
“lick the Mick” that put them there. However, it transpires that earlier in
the day Mrs Murphy had been boiling the overalls and had forgotten to
take them out before making the soup. This song suggests that it was Irish
women who harbored middle-class pretensions. Mrs Murphy’s pretensions
are literally floored as she is presented with an incontrovertible reminder of
her apparently inescapable working-class, Irish identity.63
In Edward Harrigan’s Mulligan Guard series, it was Mulligan’s wife
Cordelia who yearned for a middle-class lifestyle. In the 1883 play
Cordelia’s Aspirations, Dan’s wife has saved enough money to move out of
the tenements and uptown. On the morning they are due to leave, Dan
is in bed sleeping after a night’s drinking. Cordelia considers leaving him
there with a note reading:
Daniel, as you take no interest in the elevation of myself and my relations, but
lie in bed caring nothing for your wife’s aspirations, we will depart in the car-
riage for the mansion. When you rise you can take the horse car.64
They do move uptown but eventually Dan puts his foot down and they
return to the tenements in Mulligan’s Alley with Dan declaring, “Home
rule for me, my wife shall see, I’ll wear the trousers, Oh!”65
Some of the Elinore Sisters’ plays also addressed these lace curtain aspi-
rations in similar ways. However, instead of the tensions between husband
and wife evident in Cordelia’s Aspirations, the humor in these sketches
comes from Kate Elinore’s portrayal of Irish immigrant women refusing to
be drawn into polite society. In Dangerous Mrs Delaney, for example, Kate
Elinore plays a working-class Irish woman who comes into money. Unlike
her daughter, she refuses to behave in the manner expected by high society
and spits, hurls abuse, and punches people. As Kibler points out, however,
it is often Kate Elinore’s brash, working-class, immigrant Mrs Delaney
who is the heroine of the piece, revealing the hypocrisy at the heart of
polite society.66
A more sympathetic view of Irish middle-class aspirations can also be
found in some vaudeville acts. In a series of sketches credited with giving
Irish acts in vaudeville a new lease of life, the team of Ryan and Richfield
performed as Mike Haggerty, an Irish bricklayer, and his daughter, Mag,
who marries a millionaire and tries to educate her father in the ways of
polite society. In Mag Haggerty’s Reception, she attempts to convince her

father to adopt her new name “Mashayon” as opposed to the more vulgar
McShane. As Staples recounts, these sketches were praised by contempo-
raries for their realistic portrayal of Irish life. According to the New York
Star, for example, Mary Richfield’s Mag represented “some of the senti-
ment which of necessity must actuate the newer generation of her good and
fine kind.” Harrigan too painted sympathetic portraits of Irish women’s
aspirations, apparently aware of the distance many had traveled from pov-
erty-stricken single mothers to their high-achieving, Americanized daugh-
ters. Reflecting the movement of second-generation Irish American girls
from the traditional occupations of their mothers, the singer of Harrigan’s
1878 song “Such an Education has my Mary Ann” praises the achieve-
ments of an Irish American girl and boasts about her adoption of respect-
able, American mannerisms. A similar character appears in Harrigan’s
1892 song “Maggie Murphy’s Home,” in which a hard working young
Irish girl lives with and looks after her elderly mother. Despite the fact that
she lives in relatively humble surroundings, she is able to enjoy some of the
trappings of middle-class America, including an organ in the parlor and
the independence and leisure time afforded by her job.67
These last two examples seem to support Williams’ claim that the
Irish American girl was the first daughter of immigrants to be accepted by
American popular culture. Nevertheless, in vaudeville songs and sketches,
the old immigrant ways of their family can serve to undermine Irish
American daughters’ attempts at respectability. In “Maggie Clancy’s New
Piano,” for example, Maggie and her father sit by the piano, that symbol
of middle-class respectability. He hears her playing and asks if the piano
is broken. When she plays “Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young
Charms,” he asks her instead to play “Coming Through the Rye,” exclaim-
ing “Begolly I love that rye song.” When Maggie complains that he is always
thinking about drink, he asks her if she can think of anything better.68
If, as Barbara Welter suggested, native-born American women in the
nineteenth century were expected to lead their lives as “true” women—
pious, pure, and submissive–one can see in the depictions of Irish women
on the vaudeville stage the ways in which they might have been defined as
“other” in relation to this feminine ideal. Working-class Irish women were
often depicted on the stage by men, in acts that emphasized their mascu-
line behavior and crude, unsophisticated, and unfeminine ways. When
negative portrayals of Irish women aroused protest from their country-
men, it was not so much as a result of unrealistic but rather unflattering
portrayals, with the protesters arguing for a more idealized, yet just as
unrealistic, model of the graceful Irish colleen. It is clear also that a tension
existed between the depiction of Irish women on the American stage in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the idealized version of
Irish womanhood promoted by Irish nationalist organizations. Whereas
the romanticized mother figure or the chaste and beautiful young woman
featured in a number of vaudeville songs, when Irish female characters were
physically present on the vaudeville stage, it was less likely that they would
fit neatly into either of these categories. Vaudeville’s Bridgets were a world
away from her middle-class employers. That these domestic servants were
perhaps among the first to experience an American middle-class home life
and that they, along with other working-class Irish women, worked hard
to help their families lead more comfortable lives is also recognized and at
times mocked by vaudeville sketch and songwriters. In some cases the aspi-
rations of these women were treated sympathetically. However in others
they were mocked for trying to enter a society in which they could never
really belong, at the same time forcing their husbands to sacrifice their
Irish working-class identity.
In Chapter 3, I discussed how when Irish women in the Pastor plays
are transported from Ireland to America, they lose any level of complexity
that they might have had. Whereas in the Irish-set plays, Irish women can
be fair, innocent, and chaste, in the American-set plays they are exclusively
boorish, violent, and masculine. Similarly in this chapter, I have suggested
that the Irish colleen, such a familiar figure in silent cinema, seemed some-
how unsuited to the vaudeville stage. Instead, the innocent, fair, Irish col-
leen remained in Ireland. When they came to America, vaudeville songs
seemed to imply, Irish women lost their innocence, their sexual appeal, and
ultimately their femininity. In their desire to move up the social ladder,
they were depicted as traitors to their own ethnic heritage.
6. Conclusion
W
hile Irish women in vaudeville may have been criticized and
mocked for their middle-class aspirations, there is no doubt
that the years covered by my study were ones of significant
change for the Irish in the United States as their position in American
society gradually improved. Whereas the Irish who came to America dur-
ing the Famine era were often viewed with fear and suspicion, by the turn
of the twentieth century, the Irish American community had achieved a
certain level of respectability. This book has examined vaudeville represen-
tations of the Irish through the second half of the nineteenth century, up
to the advent of the nickelodeon, to question the role that popular culture
might have played in this transition. In addition, given the important links
between the two media, I anticipated that a deeper understanding of Irish
representations in vaudeville might shed further light on the relationship
between the Irish and early American cinema.
In the introductory chapter, I point to the perception of vaudeville as
the source of some of early cinema’s crudest Irish stereotypes. Certainly
the Bridgets, Pats, and Caseys of early cinema featured heavily in vaude-
ville. The Russell Brothers, George W. Monroe, and Daly and Devere all
performed Irish maid characters, while acts such as The Four Shamrocks
and Kelly and Ryan utilized the accoutrements of the Irish manual laborer
as an essential part of their slapstick routines. Drinking and fighting were
also associated with Irish characters in much of the vaudeville material I
have encountered. However, by taking an historical approach to a range
of archival material and by giving a particular focus to the important role
of gender in constructing images of Irish America, I have sought to dem-
onstrate that vaudeville depictions of the Irish were more complex than
might previously have been imagined and that the vaudeville stage was
one venue in which an Irish American identity was constructed, negoti-
ated, and refined.
Although biographies do exist of some key Irish American stage fig-
ures like Edward Harrigan and Eddie Foy, my own primary research has
uncovered information about lesser known or forgotten vaudeville acts,

songs, and sketches and begins to build up a picture of the many and varied
ways in which the Irish were represented on the popular stage in America
during this period. This range of representations, I would argue, has not
been recognized up to now. Instead of a monolithic stage Irish type, what
has begun to emerge from this research is a complex and varied range of
representations of the Irish performed by Irish and non-Irish performers.
The type of “quiet,” “refined,” or “restrained” Irishman presented by per-
formers like J. H. Ogden, Harry Kernell, and Conroy and MacDonald
point to the existence of a wider range of stereotypes and representations
than the “imbecilic, drunk, and swift-tempered” Irish characters of early
films. Although certainly Irish characters were stereotyped on the stage
in the 1860s, 1870s, and later, there is evidence that from the very earliest
period of my research, at least some contemporary commentators (and, if it
is not too much of a leap to suggest, at least some contemporary audiences
also) welcomed performances that offered something other than boister-
ous, knockabout humor and praised what they deemed to be realistic or
authentic elements within an Irish act. At the same time as Irish American
performers were presenting more refined images of the Irish on the stage,
they were also participating in already established stereotypes of other eth-
nic and racial groups. In particular, the involvement of Irish and Irish
American performers in blackface minstrelsy can be read as an attempt
to distance themselves from the black Americans with whom the Irish in
America had often been associated.
The Irish-set plays performed at Pastor’s Opera House also challenge the
notion that vaudeville was merely a repository for crude and straightforward
Irish stereotypes. These plays addressed, albeit in a rather simplified man-
ner, issues that would have resonated with many Irish Americans and are the
closest indication I have encountered that a discrete Irish American audience
existed and that vaudeville showmen attempted to appeal directly to them.
Importantly, though, although one can imagine how the Pastor plays might
have appealed to Irish Americans in Pastor’s audience, the plays themselves
are full of American as well as Irish patriotism, reinforcing the need for loy-
alty to the United States in return for its benevolence. Whereas Thissen notes
a resistance among New York’s Jewish community to the Americanizing
influence of American entertainment, for the Irish frequenting Pastor’s
Bowery theatre, it seems that what was being forged was an Irish American
identity, one that would eventually help to propel the Irish in America from
the poor, Catholic immigrants reviled by many native-born Americans to
the romanticized, almost revered status that they hold in America today.
Conclusion 163
A focus on gender representations also adds a further dimension to the

ways in which popular culture can interact with the process of identity for-
mation among immigrant groups. Rains has already noted the importance
of gender in the formation of ethnic identities within a diaspora culture.
Likewise, studies by Kibler, Maschio, and Staples have shed new light on
vaudeville performances and their reception through a particular focus
on gender representations, and specifically the portrayal of Irish women
in vaudeville. My research I hope builds on this existing body and adds a
level of complexity to the question of Irish stereotypes that would not be
so apparent by focusing on ethnicity alone.
It is possible, for example, to read vaudeville representations of drunken
and workshy Irish men as supportive of the hegemonic brand of masculin-
ity promoted to native-born American men. On the other hand, however,
a particular brand of Irish American masculinity, as distinct from this
hegemonic masculinity, also emerges. Echoing the strong bachelor subcul-
ture that Rohs identifies among nineteenth-century Irish American men,
vaudeville’s Irish men socialized—drank, partied, sang, and fought—
largely with other Irish men. Stivers suggests that these behaviors were
remnants of a tradition of male bonding carried over from Ireland where
they had helped to cement Irish masculinity at a time of crisis. In America,
Stivers argues, these behaviors helped to define Irishness itself. Given that
Irish American performers were themselves involved in representing the
Irish on the popular stage, vaudeville seems to have been one area in which
this distinct brand of Irish American masculinity could be negotiated.
Female performers, including Maggie Cline and lesser-known and largely
forgotten performers like Annie Hart, Annie Gerard, Gracie Emmett, and
Kitty Morton, seem to have presented a particular brand of Irish woman-
hood far removed from the idealized images of Irish girls and mothers being
sung about by their male counterparts. Cline, for example, appears to have
exuded a robust, vigorous brand of sexuality at odds with the persona of
the innocent, charming Irish girl. Performers like Hart and Morton danced
jigs, sang comic songs, and engaged in comedy banter. Writing about the
Elinore Sisters’ act, Kibler suggests that through her depictions of rough,
uncouth Irish women, Kate Elinore attempted to give voice to a particular
brand of womanhood outside that of the type of prim and proper feminin-
ity portrayed by her sister’s social climbers. I would argue that Elinore was
not alone in this process, and that performers like Cline, Hart, and Morton
were also portraying a brand of immigrant womanhood on the stage that
was beyond the norm. Unfortunately the fragmentary and partial nature
of the remaining material on all of these performers and the difficulties
inherent in trying to understand a stage-based entertainment through writ-

ten archives alone means that it has not been possible to recreate their acts
or performance style in full. Nevertheless, I believe that my research has
brought to light new information that may support further work on these
overlooked female vaudeville performers.
Performers such as Cline, Hart, Morton, and Elinore might have embod-
ied an alternative, ethnic version of womanhood at odds with the native-
born ideal of the virtuous, domesticated American woman. Nevertheless,
vaudeville also provided a site for native-born and Irish American male
performers to define Irish American women. Masculine domestic servants
called into question the femininity of working-class Irish women. Women
too were seen as negative agents in forcing the move away from an Irish
community into polite society. In sentimental ballads, Irish men romanti-
cized the mothers and sweethearts they left behind in a way that was sym-
bolic of a wider emigrant nostalgia. In comic songs, Irish men regretted the
corrupting influence of America on these “fair Irish girls,” undermining
the large female contingent within the Irish diaspora who traveled alone,
worked and sent a large proportion of their wages back to Ireland.
Importantly, neither the Irish mother nor colleen, both so representa-
tive of idealized Irish femininity in American cinema, actually appeared
onstage with any frequency. Instead, they were sung about by male per-
formers. As I suggest in Chapter 5, this may in part be connected to the
bawdy roots of variety entertainment, in whose audience no “respectable”
woman would be found. It is also significant, though, that the tendency
to romanticize Irish women in Ireland while denigrating Irish American
femininity recurred after the Second World War. Rains notes that the
tendency in post-War Hollywood cinema to romanticize Irish over Irish
American womanhood was also linked to a changing attitude toward Irish
American masculinity. Whereas prior to this time Irish American men had
represented a violent, uncontrollable masculinity in Hollywood, after the
War this brand of fighting, Irish masculinity became valorized. I argue
that similar issues influenced the gendered constructions of Irishness in
vaudeville. After the Civil War, and in a society peopled by new arrivals,
the heroism, patriotism, and loyalty of Irish men were emphasized in many
vaudeville songs and sketches. These qualities marked Irish men as worthy
American citizens. Irish women however belonged in Ireland. When they
came to America, vaudeville seemed to suggest, they risked losing their
innocence, attractiveness, and indeed their very Irishness.1
In undertaking this research, I have tried to utilize as wide a range of
primary material as possible. As a researcher of American entertainment
Conclusion 165
based in Ireland, online resources have proved particularly useful. The

online archives of the New York Times and Brooklyn Daily Eagle provided
much useful information while the Library of Congress Chronicling
America site allowed access to a range of newspapers covering the whole
of the United States, not just major cities like New York. The Library of
Congress has also made available a number of vaudeville scripts online,
some of which feature Irishness in one form or another. To the best of my
knowledge, these have not been discussed elsewhere. All of these online
archives enabled me to collate details of lesser-known vaudeville acts prior
to my own archival research in New York Public Library. The material held
in New York Public Library’s Billy Rose Theatre Division formed the bulk
of my original, archival research. The Tony Pastor Collection held at the
University of Texas’s Harry Ransom Research Centre has been particularly
useful in challenging preconceived notions of the vaudeville Irish.
In addition to scrapbooks containing press clippings on various vaude-
ville artists, I have also made use of the extensive range of other mate-
rial held in the theatre archive at NYPL. Theatre programs, for example,
illustrate the extent to which ethnic acts in general and Irish acts in par-
ticular formed the basis for many variety and vaudeville shows. Vaudeville
songsters such as The Fieldings’ Tipperary Couple Songster, Kelly and Ryan’s
Hibernian Ballet Songster, Johnny Roach’s When McGuiness Gets a Job
Songster, J. K Emmet’s Love of the Shamrock Songster, and Wheatley and
Traynor’s Dublin Boy Songster give some impression of the range of Irish
songs and characterizations that were being performed in vaudeville by
performers who have now largely been forgotten. Many of these were
comic songs that drew on the Irish reputation for drinking and fighting.
Others took the form of sentimental ballads in which immigrant sons
recalled fondly the land, the mothers, and the sweethearts they left behind
in Ireland. Still others reflect, albeit often in a light-hearted manner,
important social and economic issues facing Irish immigrants and their
families—dangerous working conditions, high rates of widowhood, com-
petition with other immigrant groups for work, and the move up the social
ladder to the ranks of the “lace-curtain” Irish. In addition to published
songsters, I have also made use of unpublished notebooks of vaudeville
songs, jokes, and sketches.
Instead of viewing vaudeville as the source of some of early cinema’s
most negative stereotypes, my work on these archives has revealed that in
fact the vaudeville stage in the latter half of the nineteenth century played
host to a much wider range of Irish characters and storylines than were
apparent in films of the pre-nickelodeon era. Of course one reason for
this is technical. These early films consisted of single shots, and images of
exploding Irish housemaids or laborers served to demonstrate what this
new medium was capable of, an example perhaps of what Ben Singer has
referred to as early cinema’s “aesthetic of astonishment.” However, the
fact that it is possible to discern a broader and more complex range of
Irish representations in vaudeville than in early cinema may also be con-
nected to wider arguments around the nature of vaudeville and cinema
audiences. Both vaudeville and cinema experienced what might be termed
a process of refinement in order to appeal to a broader and more respect-
able audience and it appears that representations of ethnicity were intrin-
sic to this process. Writing about the Connecticut vaudeville showman
Sylvester Poli, Lewis suggests that from the 1890s, Poli made a concerted
effort to “win over those of Irish and Italian descent with sympathetic
and sentimental, but not demeaning, caricatures and to entice the middle
classes with more ‘refined,’ uplifting culture.” Likewise, the Boston the-
atre manager B. F. Keith was also keen to avoid offending any particular
ethnic group. According to Cripps, Keith demanded that acts in his the-
atres cut all material that might be offensive to Jewish, Irish, or Yankee
audiences.2
Historians of early cinema have also pointed to attempts to “clean up”
cinema from 1905 onward, with Russell Merritt concluding that exhibi-
tors were engaged in a “seduction of the affluent” between 1905 and 1912.
Although this claim has been contested by historians such as Ben Singer,
I have found some evidence to suggest that film exhibitors did attempt to
attract a more affluent clientele from around 1907.3 An editorial in Moving
Picture World from April 1907, for example, calls on manufacturers to
“eliminate those film subjects that justify criticism on account of their
moral tone.” The same article goes on to insist that producers
Give people the best: there are so many innocent, yet amusing frolics . . . that
it seems to us a sacrilege and an insult to the intelligence of the audiences [to
show films] that cause a shudder to pass through one’s system.4
Later that same year, Moving Picture World carried a statement from
Edison on its cover, in which he insists that “nothing is of greater impor-
tance to the success of the motion picture interest than films of good
moral tone.” Linking the fortunes of the cinema with those of vaudeville,
he notes that “vaudeville became a success by eliminating all of its once
objectionable features, and . . . the five cent theatre will prosper according
to its moral attitude.”5
Conclusion 167
For the years covered by my research, the majority of characters in early

films tended to be fairly one-dimensional comic caricatures. This is unsur-
prising, given that what Gunning terms “the process of narrativization” in
cinema did not begin until 1907 and lasted until 1913. It may be that cinema
had to wait for its own process of refinement before it could begin to pres-
ent a wider range of more carefully nuanced ethnic stereotypes. Although
outside the chronological scope of my research, I believe it is worth tak-
ing some time here to consider how cinematic representations of the Irish
developed once this process had begun. It is possible to discern a change in
the descriptions of films listed in Rockett’s Irish Filmography for these years.
Alongside the Irish washerwomen and hod-carriers, there begin to appear
Irish romances and melodramas. Films such as The Shaughraun (Vitagraph
1907) and A Daughter of Erin (Selig 1908) drew inspiration from the stage
melodramas of Dion Boucicault, while Shamus O’Brien (Selig 1908) was
based on the poem by Sheridan LeFanu and popularized by Samuel Lover.
Gary Rhodes cites Caught By Wireless (Biograph 1908) as “the first fictional
American moving picture to offer a story of Irish migration to America,”
an issue that was common in vaudeville songs long before this date. Paddy
initially beats up the evil landlord in Caught By Wireless before leaving for
America and joining the police force. However in the end, Rhodes argues,
“the landlord is permanently dispelled not by fisticuffs, but instead by tech-
nology,” in this case “the marconigram.”6
Caught By Wireless is significant for a number of other reasons. It seems,
for example, to have foreseen by two years the circumstances surrounding
the arrest of Dr Crippen in 1910, in which the master of the SS Montrone
made history by using the telegraph to communicate to police his suspi-
cions that Crippen, a wanted murderer, was on his ship. As the Moving
Picture World ’s review of the film noted, Caught By Wireless demonstrated
“the egregious possibilities of wireless telegraphy.” It also highlights dis-
crepancies between contemporary descriptions of films and later synopses
produced by film historians and archivists. According to the same review,
the film is set in Ireland and deals with a young man who, because of the
actions of “a despotic land agent,” is forced to leave Ireland for America and
joins the police. On the other hand, in his catalogue of the early motion
pictures held in the Library of Congress, Niver describes the film only as
the story of a man “forced to flee from his country because of an alterca-
tion with a rent collector.” As Niver makes clear, the synopses printed in his
catalogue are based only on what he and his team actually saw in the film
and not on “what others may have said the film contained.” Having seen
the film myself at a screening in Belfast’s Queen’s Film Theatre in late 2011,
I would have to agree with Niver’s description of the film. If one did not
have access to contemporary reviews or advertisements, it is unlikely that
one would view Caught By Wireless as a film about Irish emigration. On
the other hand, this also emphasizes the importance of such contemporary
material as reliance on later film catalogues, which may result in films like
Caught By Wireless being overlooked by scholars of Irish-themed films.7
In illustration of this point, I believe it is worth discussing briefly here
details of some additional films that, as far as I am aware, do not seem to
appear in any existing literature regarding the Irish in early American cin-
ema. Like Caught By Wireless, these films were made in the latter half of the
1900s just after the cut-off point of my research. Nevertheless, I consider
they are helpful in tracing the continuation of what might be thought of as
vaudeville stereotypes into the nickelodeon period, while at the same time
pointing to the changes brought about by the increasing narrativization of
early cinema. In his summary of The Truants (AMB 1907), Niver writes
that “the storyline concerns the pranks of two boys . . . as they tie a balloon
to the tail of a large dog.” Based on Niver’s description, there is no indica-
tion that the film features any Irish characters. However, according to the
synopsis of the film printed in Moving Picture World, the film features that
stereotypical pairing “Biddy the cook” and “her friend, the cop.”8
These same characters apparently make an appearance in The Yellow
Peril (Biograph 1908). According to the Biograph synopsis, a jealous
employer replaces her French maid with a Chinese manservant but chaos
ensues when the housekeeper Bridget, described as being “of pronounced
Hibernian proclivities [with] a strong aversion for anything yellow,”
appears on the scene. The Biograph bulletin notes that Bridget and the
cop have “a tacit understanding” and he visits her regularly. Not only does
this film seem to feature the classic pairing of an Irish maid and a cop,
but it also recalls the anti-Chinese sentiment among the Irish in America
expressed in vaudeville songs like “The Chinese They Must Go” and Pat
Rooney’s “Is That Mr. Reilly?” referred to in Chapter 4. Likewise, Monday
Morning in A Coney Island Police Court (Biograph 1908) recalls the 1896
vaudeville playlet A Morning’s Hearing, also discussed in Chapter 4.
According to Niver, Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court was
“a burlesque of the day’s activities of a police court” with “the disposition
of each case . . . handled in a comic fashion.” Niver, whose synopses are
based on his own viewings of the film, makes no reference to the names
of any of the characters. However, yet again contemporary sources suggest
that the magistrate, police officers, and prisoners were Irish. According to
Moving Picture World, the film featured a judge Patrick Henry McPheeney,
Conclusion 169
attorneys Mr Ignatious O’Brien and Diogenes Cassidy, and had Happy

Hooligan as the first prisoner brought before the court.9
The Truants, The Yellow Peril, and Monday Morning in A Coney Island
Police Court are all available to view at the Library of Congress’s Paper
Print Collection (with the latter film listed as Coney Island Police Court).
As my own archival research focused on vaudeville and was centred largely
on the holdings of New York Public Library’s theatre collection, I have not
had the opportunity to view these films. Viewing would obviously be nec-
essary to assess how the “Irish” characters referred to in the contemporary
publicity material were presented onscreen, if indeed they appeared in the
films at all. Other films from the period do not appear to have survived,
but again contemporary reviews and descriptions provide some detail.
The familiar Irish stereotypes of the cop and the clumsy housemaid
make an appearance in The Policeman’s Revolver (Essanay 1909) and
Maggie Hoolihan Gets a Job (Pathé-Frères 1910). In the first film, Officer
O’Toole calls with his sweetheart Kathleen to bid her “the top o’ the morn-
ing.” As he leaves to go on his beat he drops his revolver. Later, rescuing a
woman from a robber, he finds his revolver missing. Meanwhile, Kathleen
runs to his aid, brandishing the weapon, as passers-by flee in fear. She
reaches Officer O’Toole just in the nick of time and “when the angered
citizens who suffered indignities through her haste learn the cause of her
hurry, they shower congratulations on her.” Although still presented as
something of a flirtatious womanizer, the Irish cop here seems to be a
positive and sympathetic figure and obviously supported by a community
which is glad that his life has been saved.10
Likewise it is possible to note a shift in the stereotype of the Irish maid
and her pairing with an Irish cop in Maggie Hoolihan Gets a Job. Maggie is
described in the film’s synopsis as “fresh landed from Ellis Island, having
just come over from one of the little villages in the remote west of Ireland”
and anxious to make her fortune. She gets a job as a maid on account of “a
very strong recommendation from the priest of her native village.” However,
it is not long before her “fresh rosy cheeks” attract the attention of Officer
Clancy and she loses her position. Clancy uses his influence to try to find
her another job but none of them are suitable. One is in a laundry, but she
burns a colleague with an iron and destroys some expensive lingerie. Next
she is taken on as scrubwoman at the station house, but allows the prisoners
to escape. Finally, it is decided that there is only one option:
Clancy decides to marry her and to give her a permanent job for life, and he
accordingly takes her to his home and introduces her to his children, only ten
in all not counting the dog. Here she settles down and looking after this fam-
ily keeps her busy, while she leaves it to Clancy to get together the fortune she
hoped to make.11
Maggie Hoolihan Gets a Job could be read as almost a sequel or follow-

up to the “Bridget” films from the earlier half of the decade. The igno-
rant, masculine Bridget has been replaced by the fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked
Maggie. Nevertheless, she is still unable to comprehend modern American
technology or home-keeping. Clancy, on the other hand, has been fully
Americanized. His “influence” is recognized, but on this occasion it is use-
less. Perhaps in answer to the large numbers of female migrants who came to
the United States from Ireland independently and earned their own living,
this film suggests that it is through marriage, not through her own inde-
pendent effort, that women like Maggie can become fully Americanized.
The Settlement Workers (Selig Polyscope 1909) also suggests that the
criminal element among the Irish in America can be tamed. It is, accord-
ing to a contemporary synopsis, “a story of a man’s regeneration through
love, introducing every day phase of life in New York’s great slum district.”
It features the two friends and gang members Con Connors, a bouncer
and “rough-house fighter,” and Shack Dugan, “a bouncing boy.” The hero
of the piece, however, is the charity worker Mary Deerling who provides
aid to the people in the slums. When one of Con’s gang members robs
Mary, he demands that her property be returned to her. The review points
to the two sides to Con’s masculinity, the “brute” but also his “desire for
manhood and honor” provoked by the sight of the angelic Mary. His
rehabilitation, however, is far from instant and following a fight, he flees
from the police and goes to Montana. Here he gets a job on the railroad
and eventually becomes a contractor. When he is injured in an explosion,
Mary goes to him. It is only then that his regeneration is complete and “he
knows that the past is blotted out forever and that the future holds peace
and happiness.” This example is, I believe, particularly illustrative of the
way in which cinematic stereotypes of the Irish changed at the same time
as the cinema itself was changing. Many of the common stereotypes are
present—the fighter, the laborer, and the Irishman made good. However,
whereas only a few years earlier these stereotypes appeared in short films
like Drill Ye Tarriers Drill in which the explosion of an Irish laborer was
used for comedy effect, The Settlement Workers puts them to romantic and
melodramatic use. Although the review of the film suggests that the Irish
in America might still be representative of the lower classes, the film also
suggests that they can be rehabilitated.12
Conclusion 171
Lawrence McCaffrey writes that films such as Going My Way (Leo

McCarey 1944) helped to lessen American nativist suspicions about
the Catholic Church. He writes that “those who were convinced that
[Catholicism] was an alien, subversive force and its clergy missionaries of
ignorance and superstition saw on the screen a contradiction of their opin-
ions.” This process may have begun earlier. Made just a decade or so from
the height of the American Protective Association’s anti-Catholicism, the
synopsis for A Wayside Shrine (Vitagraph 1910) suggests that the position
of the Irish, and importantly the Catholic Irish, in the United States had
changed significantly by this time. The film is a melodrama in which an
Irish girl is deserted by her sweetheart and finally found by her father at
a shrine “where the country folk of that nationhood come to pray.” The
review complains that this storyline would already be familiar to audiences
(“the story is one that has often been repictured”) and also points to some
anachronisms in the film’s style (“the costumes are out of tune, the scenes
being in Ireland and the costumes of the men those of our own colonial
period”). Despite these issues, however, as the story unfolds, “the lessons of
true Catholicism are taught with marvelous sweetness.”13
Of course the old stereotypes of the Irish persisted. In 1910, for exam-
ple, the Western Bargain House in Chicago placed an advertisement in
Moving Picture World advising moving picture theatres to “increase your
box office receipts on St Patrick’s Day by giving away this souvenir sham-
rock, hod and pipe.” Nevertheless, if vaudeville showmen sought to appeal
to the broadest possible audiences by eliminating offensive and ethnic
material from their acts, it seems that film producers and exhibitors were
making similar efforts by the end of the first decade of the twentieth cen-
tury. A 1909 issue of The Nickelodeon insisted that moving pictures are
“in the main . . . perfectly moral now.”14 Just as B. F. Keith had boasted in
1898 about the improving character of the vaudeville audience, so by 1911
Motion Picture News made a direct link between the quality and content of
films and the nature of their audiences:
if the leaders of the motion picture industry had been satisfied with mediocrity
in their production, they would have had a corresponding quality in their audi-
ence, but the strenuous insistence for the best has been rewarded by a steady
improvement in the audience.15
In her article “Early Cinema: Whose Public Sphere,” Miriam Hansen

writes that as part of cinema’s efforts to attract a broader and more “mixed”
audience, exhibitors and managers were advised to avoid any ethnic acts
in the vaudeville section of the bill or programs that might be perceived as

slanted toward one ethnic group or another. In the context of this process
of refinement, Hansen suggests that early film exhibitors viewed the work-
ing classes as a barrier to success, writing that “the ‘laboring man’s’ sup-
port not only presented immediate problems of hygiene and discipline but
above all an obstacle to a long-range economic goal: attracting the better-
paying middle-class clientele.” Instead, she suggests that in its attempts to
attract a better class of audience, early film producers made a deliberate
effort to suppress class and ethnic diversity. In its treatment of the Irish,
I am not convinced that early cinema did attempt to suppress class and
ethnic diversity. Instead, by the end of the first decade of the twentieth
century, cinematic representations of the Irish were becoming increasingly
varied and shaded with more complex meanings, echoing the process that
seems to have begun in vaudeville three decades earlier.16
Ultimately, in much the same way that it is difficult to discern a
uniquely Irish audience for vaudeville and early cinema, it is also difficult
to describe a “typical” Irish character in vaudeville. Certainly, the drunks,
laborers, and housemaids are all there. In their various guises we can see
evidence of anti-Irish and anti-immigrant prejudice, but also signs of a
growing Irish American community attempting to come to terms with
its changing position in American society. Vaudeville songs, plays, and
sketches also engage with the politics of emigration from Ireland, provid-
ing one outlet for a nationalist consciousness that the experience of emigra-
tion reinforced.
W. H. A. Williams suggests that culture had an important part to play
in the social mobility and acceptance of the Irish into American society in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
The Irish seemed to understand that they would have to succeed as a people,
not just as individuals. They would have to construct an image of themselves
as Irish and as Americans that would gain acceptance in the broad mainstream
of American culture.17
The variety and vaudeville stage in the latter half of the nineteenth cen-
tury, I have argued, provided one of the spaces in which this process took
place. In its representations of the Irish we can see not merely a reflection
of native-born American attitudes toward one of the largest immigrant
groups in the country, but also evidence of a developing Irish American
identity and sensibility. It is possible to see the vaudeville stage in the latter
half of the nineteenth century as the site of complex negotiations about
Conclusion 173
what it meant to be Irish in America during this period. In some cases,

vaudeville’s Irish characters were constructed by native-born American
performers. In others, however, it was Irish Americans themselves who
were portraying the Irish on stage. In his study of Irish performance in
New York in the nineteenth century, Stephen Rohs writes that “rather than
indicating a single, coherent notion of Irishness, music and other forms of
cultural performance gave rise to a multitude of meanings.”18 My research
into the representations of the Irish in vaudeville supports this view and
suggests that, rather than the simplistic and crudely stereotyped portray-
als of the Irish in early American cinema, the range and scope of Irishness
as performed in vaudeville was wide, complex, and replete with meaning.
In providing one site in which the negotiations about what it meant to be
Irish in America could be played out, vaudeville was an important and
often overlooked factor in the formation of an Irish American identity.
Appendix: Database of Irish
Vaudeville Acts 1865–1905
T
his database lists Irish vaudeville acts as gleaned from the pages of
US newspapers during the course of research for this book. It does
not aim to be exhaustive, and for a number of the acts and per-
formers listed, no further information was found in other archive sources.
Nevertheless, the database gives a flavor of how Ireland and the Irish were
presented on the vaudeville stage, and would be helpful in supporting fur-
ther research. In compiling the database, the original sources have been
abbreviated as follows:
ADD Akron Daily Democrat (Akron, OH)

AR Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AR)
BDE Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BDR Bisbee Daily Review (Bisbee, AR)
BN Bourbon News (Paris, KY)
CB Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, IL)
CDL Cleveland Daily Leader (Cleveland, OH)
CDN Charleston Daily News
CF Cambria Freeman (Ebensburg, PA)
CL Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, OH)
CML Cleveland Morning Leader (Cleveland, OH)
CS Coconino Sun (Flagstaff, AR)
DA Daily Astorian (Astoria, OR)
DB Daily Bulletin (Honolulu, HA)
DC The Daily Critic (Washington, DC)
DCJ Daily Capital Journal (Salem, OR)
DCT The Times (Washington, DC)
DD Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA)
DG Daily Globe (St Paul, MN)
DNR Daily National Republican (Washington, DC)
176 Appendix
DP Daily Phoenix (Columbia, SC)

DPL Daily Public Ledger (Maysville, KY)
DT Daily Times (Richmond, VA)
DYJ Yellowstone Journal (Miles City, MO)
EA Elk Advocate (Elk County, PA)
EB Evening Bulletin (Maysville, KY)
EC Evening Critic (Washington, DC)
ECJ Evening Capital Journal (Salem, OR)
ES Evening Star (Washington, DC)
ET Evening Times (Washington, DC)
EW New York Evening World
GDL Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, OK)
HEB Honolulu Evening Bulletin
HG Hawaiian Gazette
HJ Hancock Jeffersonian (Findlay, OH)
HR Honolulu Republican
HWN Highland Weekly News (Hillsborough, Highland County,
OH)
KCJ Kansas City Journal
KIA Kentucky Irish American
LADH LA Daily Herald
LAH LA Herald
LDI Lancaster Daily Intelligencer (Lancaster, PA)
LR Logan Republican (Logan, UT)
MC Morning Call (San Francisco)
MDA Memphis Daily Appeal
MDL Marietta Daily Leader (Marietta, OH)
MJ Minneapolis Journal
MP Montana Post
MT Morning Times (Washington, DC)
NDU Nashville Daily Union
NOC New Orleans Crescent
NR National Republican (Washington, DC)
NUA Nashville Union and American
NYS New York Sun
NYT New York Times
NY Tribune New York Tribune
ODB Omaha Daily Bee
PCDR Petroleum Centre Daily Record (PA)
PD Pittsburgh Dispatch
Appendix 177
PET Philadelphia Evening Telegraph

PJ Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, OH)
PS Paducah Sun (Paducah, KY)
RD Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA)
RDG Rutland Daily Globe (Rutland, VT)
RT The Times (Richmond, VA)
SAL San Antonio Light (San Antonio, TX)
SCD Stark County Democrat (Canton, OH)
SDR Springfield Daily Republic (Springfield, OH)
SDRU Sacramento Daily Record-Union
SFC San Francisco Call
SGR Springfield Globe-Republic (Springfield, OH)
SH Sunday Herald (Washington, DC)
SHWNI Sunday Herald & Weekly National Intelligencer (Washington, DC)
SLED Salt Lake Evening Democrat
SLH Salt Lake Herald
SLR St Louis Republic
SMG Sunday Morning Globe (Washington, DC)
SPA St Paul Appeal (St Paul, MN)
SPDG St Paul Daily Globe (St Paul, MN)
SPG St Paul Globe (St Paul, MN)
SS Seattle Star
ST Scranton Tribune (Scranton, PA)
TC The Columbian (Bloomsburg, PA)
TT Tacoma Times (Tacoma, WA)
TTO Tiffin Tribune (Tiffin, OH)
WAM Weekly Arizona Miner (Prescott, AR)
WAT Whig and Tribune (Jackson, TN)
WC Washington Critic
WCE Wichita City Eagle (Wichita, KA)
WDE Waco Daily Examiner (Waco, TX)
WE Wichita Eagle (Wichita, KA)
WS Watchman and Southron (Sumter, SC)
WT Washington Times
Name of Act Details Source
1865
“The Hibernicon” “A splendid panorama of Ireland,” with a lecture CML, February 24, 1865.
by Professor McEvoy, Irish songs by “Misses
Goodall and Taylor,” and “comicalities” from
John Heron.
John Heron Appeared in “The Hibernicon” in February and CML, March 14, 1865.
March 1865, in a “matchless delineation of Irish CL, June, 10 1865.
character.” Played the character of “Barney the
Guide” in “the roaring farce The Irish Lion.”
This character appears again in the Hibernicons
staged in 1867 and 1870.
178
Dan Bryant Report on the former blackface performer’s Irish DNR, July 10, 1865.
characters as he performed them in Dublin. DNR, September 13,1865.
Later report notes that he had a “brilliant career
as a delineator of Irish character.”
J. J O’Sullivan Irish comedian. CDN, August 21,1865.
Ben Wheeler Irish vocalist and comedian. NDU, October 17,1865.
Mr and Mrs W. J “The Irish Boy and Yankee Girl.” Appeared DNR, October 19, 1865.
Florence in sketches entitled “Born to Good Luck,” DNR, October 20,1865.
“Mischievous Annie,” “Irish Lion,” “Twice
Married,” and “The Yankee Housekeeper.”
Mr and Mrs Frank Rea Performed a selection of American, English, DNR, December 4,1865.
Scottish, and Irish melodies.
1866
‘The Irish Republic’ A circus-type show, with acts including The PET, March 17, 1866, 3rd Edn.: 6.
Fenian Brothers, “celebrated acrobats and
tumblers”; a clown named Mr O’Myhoney who
jumped and somersaulted through a British
crown placed in the ring; a “learned elephant”
named Mr Sweeney; and a musical interlude
entitled “How Are You, Harp of Erin.”
The Hibernicon With new scenes including the landing of St CDL, April 26, 1866.
Patrick in Ireland, the Battle of Clontarf and a
lake by moonlight.
“Andy Blake, Or The Sketch concluding a variety bill performed by MP, June 16, 1866.
179
Irish Diamond” Walter Bray’s Dramatic and Concert Troupe.
Mr and Mrs W.J “Mr Florence gives his inimitable ‘Paddy PET, September 10,1866, 4th Edn.: 8.
Florence Rafferty’ and the ‘Returned Volunteer.’”
Dan Bryant Performed four different characters, sang “The PET, November 17,1866, 4th Edn.: 3.
Green Above the Red,” and danced “The
Ruction Jig” and “Macgillicuddy’s Reel.”
Mr and Mrs Barney “Original impersonators of Irish and Yankee life PET, December 21, 1866, Fourth Edn.: 3.
Williams in America and Europe.”
1867
“The Hibernicon, or, A A “musical and panoramic exhibition” with CDN, May 08, 1867.
Tour in Ireland” Charles MacEvoy in the role of Barney the Guide.
continued
“Our Father Sould Irish sketch. PET, September 3, 1867, 4th Edn.: 5.
Charcoal”
Mr and Mrs W.H Davis Appeared in a variety entertainment including EA, November 7, 1867.
Irish singing.
O’Baldwin “Irish giant and pugilist.” NR, December 13, 1867.
1868
The Florences “Delineations of Irish and Yankee characters.” NOC, March 17, 1868: 6.
“Irish Soldier” A “comedietta” performed at the Varieties NOC, March 18, 1868: 4.
Theatre, New Orleans.
William Carleton Irish comedian and vocalist. PET, July 20, 1868, 5th Edn.: 8.
180
“The New Hibernicon” “A fine moving panorama illustrating some of NYS, September 7, 1868.
the most striking scenery in the old country.”
Miss Sallie Eldridge Irish “songster” and dancer. NUA, October 21, 1868.
1869
William Carleton Appeared in a burlesque entitled “The Dublin PET, March 9, 1869, 4th Edn.: 3.
Dancing Master.” PET, March 11, 1869, 5th Edn.: 3.
Also performed “his great Irish character, Pat
McCann.”
Dan Bryant Performed “some lively sketches in the Hibernian NOC, March 21, 1869, Morning Edn.: 3.
line.”
John Collins Irish comedian and vocalist. PET, May 11, 1869, 5th Edn.: 5.
G.H. Grady Member of a troupe called Four Star Clowns, in HJ, May 14, 1869.
which he performed Irish and Dutch delineations.
Fannie DeVere and Irish jig dancers. MDA, October 6, 1869.
Fanny May
1870
John Collins Irish comedian and vocalist. PET, January 24, 1870, 4th Edn.: 5.
“The Hibernicon” Entertainment taking the form of a tour in CDN, March 19, 1870.
Ireland, with music sung by Jerry Cohan who CDN, March 22, 1870.
played the role of Barney the Guide.
Mr and Mrs Barney Appeared in “Irish comicalities.” WAM, April 9, 1870.
Williams
181
Harry and Rose Watkins “Irish delineations.” MDA, May 2, 1870.
Wheeler Family Included Mr Wheeler as an Irish comedian. CF, August 4, 1870.
Frank Drew “Irish comedian, vocalist and burlesque PET, November 4, 1870, 4th Edn.: 3.
representative.”
McCarthy Minstrels Included Harry McCarthy, a “first class minstrel NUA, December 20, 1870.
and burlesque delineator of negro character”
who also appeared in other comic characters
including Ned Ryan, the Irish emigrant.
1871
Joe Murphy Performed Irish, Dutch, and Ethiopian ES, January 31, 1871.
characters.
continued
Dr Corry’s Ireland in “The largest and best panorama of the Emerald PET, April 7, 1871, 5th Edn.: 3.
Shade and Sunshine Isle,” accompanied by songs, sketches, dances,
and Irish vocalists and comedians.
Ned O’Baldwin, the The “celebrated champion of the fistic arena” MDA, October 27, 1871.
Irish Giant. appeared on the bill at the Olympic Varieties.
Kirwin and Baskin’s Included Acton E. Kelly as Professor PCDR, October 28, 1871.
Hibernian Minstrels O’Shaughnessy on Home and Current Affairs,
and a comedian called Andy Carland who
impersonated an old Irish woman.
1872
182
John Collins Irish comedian. DNR, January 22, 1872.
Ned O’Baldwin, the Took part in a sparring match at the Varieties NYS, February 5, 1872.
Irish Giant theatre, Pittsburgh.
The Carletons William Carleton and his wife appeared in WAT, February 10, 1872.
“Gems of Erin.” NUA, March 2 1872.
Kelly An Irish comedian with D’atalle’s Gaieties DNR, March 30, 1872.
Comique troupe.
T.G. Riggs Irish comedian. MDA, November 11, 1872.
1873
Pat Rooney Performed Irish specialties at Washington’s NR, February 14, 1873.
Theatre Comique.
William Carleton “Distinguished Irish comedian.” NR, February 14, 1873.
Jenny Gilmer “Pleasing Irish actress and songstress.” NR, February 14, 1873.
Acton Kelly Appeared as Barney the Guide in MacEvoy’s CDN, February 25, 1873.
Hibernicon.
“Irish Tutor” A “rollicking farce” concluding a variety bill at ES, March 19, 1873.
Washington’s Theatre Comique.
The Fieldings Appeared in an Irish sketch entitled “The NYS, March 28, 1873.
Beggars of Ireland.”
Baker and Farron Performed Dutch and Irish specialties in a sketch NR, May 16, 1873.
entitled “Chris and Lena.”
“Murphy’s Shirt” Sketch concluding variety bill at Washington’s NR, October 21, 1873.
Theatre Comique.
183
Shiel Barry Performed Irish characters. LADH, November 11, 1873.
1874
“Keegan’s Tailor Shop” An Irish “comedietta” that portrayed “with a broad NYT, January 4, 1874.
pencil the contrast between the American-Irish
and the old-fashioned folks of the Emerald Isle.”
“Pat and Biddy” Sketch referred to as “as Irish as a green neck-tie.” NR, January 13, 1874.
Dalley’s Historic Panoramic views of Ireland together with Irish TTO, February 5, 1874.
Hibernia songs and sketches.
MacEvoy’s New Included W. F Lawlor as Barney the Guide, Neal NUA, February 22, 1874.
Hibernicon: Or, Ireland Conway performing Irish jigs, and the singers
in America Kate Reilly and Mary McCrea.
continued
Joseph Murphy Appeared in “Irish, Dutch, Negro, and Chinese LADH, July 23, 1874.
comedy.”
Baker’s Grand A panorama of Irish scenery, interspersed with HG, October 28, 1874.
Hibernian Gems Irish songs and characters, on the bill at the
Royal Hawaiian Theatre.
Healey and Cohan’s Included Jerry Cohan’s Irish delineations. SCD, December 31, 1874: 5.
Hiberniana
1875
Mr Maas Part of Mrs Maas’s Troupe, in which he DP, February 25, 1875.
performed as “a perfect darkey, an inimitable
184
Dutchman, [and] a rollicking Irishman.”
Dr Healey’s Hibernian Included Dan Morris as Barney the Guide and NUA, March 17, 1875.
Gems Dublin Dan, Con T Murphy as the lecturer
and tourist, Josie Morris “the dear little Irish
shamrock,” and Nora O’Brien “the beautiful
little Irish colleen.”
Murphy and Morton Irish song and dance artists. NR, March 17, 1875.
Ben Wheeler Irish characters. LADH, March 18, 1875: 3.
Bordwell’s Mirror of Included the Irish Comedy Company. NUA, March 25, 1875.
Ireland
Ed Murray and Alice Irish sketch team. NR, March 31, 1875.
Ross
Harry Kernell “Mirth-provoking Irish comedian.” NR, April 13, 1875.
Frank Mara Irish comedian. NR, May 3, 1875.
William and Sadie “Irish and Negro sketches.” NR, May 6, 1875.
Hasson
Bob Scott “Irish character, vocalist, dialogue and specialty NR, May 10, 1875.
artist.”
Billy Carroll Irish comedian. NR, June 8, 1875.
Annie and Andy Hughes “Irish dialect, song and dance artists” who NR, August 23, 1875.
performed in a sketch entitled “The Irish NR, August 25, 1875.
Servants.”
Harrigan and Hart Appeared in new play entitled “The Doyle NR, September 20, 1875.
185
Brothers.”
James Welch and Maud Irish sketch artists. NR, September 18, 1875.
Lemoine NR, November 25, 1875.
McCullough and Friels Irish characterizations. NR, September 28, 1875.
MacEvoy’s New Irish comedy and specialty company, including MDA, December 15, 1875.
Hibernicon the Hibernian Minstrels. CB, December 16, 1875.
1876
Murphy and Mack Irish character artists. NR, January 24, 1876.
John and Maggie Irish character artists. NR, February 7, 1876.
Fielding
John Williams Irish songs and dances. NR, February 22, 1876.
continued
Conroy and Daly Irish comedians, appeared in a sketch entitled BDE, May 2, 1876: 4.
“Troubles in a Tenement.”
McGill and Strong’s Panoramic views of Ireland together with RDG, May 25, 1876.
Minstrel Company sketches and songs. Company was headed by
Sadie McGill and Bryan O’Lynn.
Dan Nash Irish comedian. RDG, October 20, 1876.
Hugh Fay Irish comedian. NR, November 16, 1876.
Scanlan and Cronin Irish comedians. NR, November 20, 1876.
1877
Sheehan and Jones Irish comedians. NR, October 29, 1877.
186
Ferguson and Mack “Autocrats of Irish comedy.” NR, October 19, 1877.
J. F Ward Irish comedian. NR, December 17, 1877.
1878
Healey’s Hibernian Included McEvoy’s Hibernian Irish Brigade. WCE, January 3, 1878.
Minstrels
Sellon and Burns “The Irish Giants.” NR, February 26, 1878.
Malkin and Bryan Irish comedians. NR, August 26, 1878.
Maud Palmer Performed “Irish gems.” NR, August 26, 1878.
Mackin and Bryant Performed Irish specialties. NR, September 3, 1878.
Hibernian Troubadours “Delineators of pure and unadulterated Irish wit HWN, September 26, 1878.
and comedy.”
Billy and Nellie Hasson Irish sketch team. NR, November 19, 1878.
Gerin and Hayden German and Irish specialties. DG, November 22, 1878.
1879
“The Irish Piano-Four” Comedy sketch. NR, July 1, 1879.
Dick and Fitzgerald Performed “Ethiopian scenes” and “Irish dialect DG, November 5, 1879.
recitations.”
Deana and John Irish sketch team. DG, November 23, 1879.
Shepard
1880
187
Billy Wylie Irish comedian, referred to as “a variety actor of LDI, January 1, 1880.
some reputation.” LDI, January 6, 1880.
Harry and John Kernell “Original Irish comiques.” LDI, January 6, 1880.
George W. Hunter Irish comedian. LDI, February 13, 1880.
Archie McCarthy, “the Performed the character “McCormick the DD, March 5, 1880.
Irish negro.” Copper” with the New Orleans Minstrels.
Howard and Coyne “Great impersonators of Irish character.” SH, March 21, 1880.
Conway and Egan Irish vocalists and dancers. SH, April 4, 1880.
continued
1881
Dan Morris Sullivan’s Programme included “A Trip Through the SDRU, March 21, 1881.
“Mirror of Ireland” Emerald Isle.”
and the Irish Comedy
Company.
Gus Hill’s Varieties Variety company including “Dutch, Irish and DA, April 17, 1881.
Negro eccentricities.”
Ferguson and Mack Irish comedians. LDI, May 26, 1881.
Harry Mullen Irish comedian. EC, July 25, 1881.
Kelly and Hanly Irish sketch artists. TC, August 5, 1881.
188
Healey’s Hibernian Show included two Irish “end men,” nineteen LDA, September 17, 1881.
Minstrels vaudeville artists, and “the beautiful scenery of
Ireland.”
1882
“Muldoon’s Picnic” “That funniest of Irish sketches,” with the dialect LDI, February 8, 1882.
actors John Gilbert and John Hart as the characters
of Mike Muldoon and Dennis Mulcahey.
“Muldoon’s Blunders, or Kelly and Ryan comedy sketch. LDI, February 15, 1882.
That Man From Galway” LDI, February 16, 1882.
“Irish Servants” A “laughable Irish sketch” performed by a team ODB, March 6, 1882: 8.
called The Two Hughes.
Flora Moore Performed Irish songs and imitations. ODB, March 6, 1882: 8.
Jas C. Kennery and Irish team. WDE, March 18, 1882.
Chas Hagen
Charles McCarthy and Appeared in a “Chinese Irish sketch.” NR, June 5, 1882.
George Monroe
Paddy and Ella Murphy “Refined Irish sketch artists.” EC, July 3, 1882.
Maggie Cline “Delineator of Irish comicalities.” EC, July 17, 1882.
“The Irish Emigrants” Sketch featuring the dialect team Mark and DG, July 30, 1882.
Valentine.
“Irish Widows” Sketch featuring the Irish comedians Condon EC, August 22, 1882.
and Cavy.
189
“Irish Patrol” Sketch included on variety bill at the Fulton LDI, August 26, 1882.
Opera House.
Kelly and Ryan Performance comprised of “local take-offs and ODB, December 2, 1882.
Irish wit.”
“O’Reilly’s Party” Irish sketch featuring Murray and Murphy, DG, December 10, 1882.
concluded a minstrel show by “The Big Four”
Minstrel Company.
Kelly and Ryan “A very refined and pleasing Irish sketch.” SLH, December 14, 1882.
Flora Moore “One of the best female Irish specialty SLH, December 14, 1882.
performers on the American stage.”
continued
1883
“McSorley’s Inflation” Harrigan and Hart play. NY Tribune, January 28, 1883: 7.
Murphy and Mack Irish impersonators. NR, February 2, 1883: 6.
Ellen Banks “The only lady in the country who does Irish DG, February 18, 1883: 6.
character in male attire.”
“Squatter Sovereignty” Harrigan and Hart play, “illustrat[ing] the life of DG, February 18, 1883: 4.
the ‘shanty Irish’ on the outskirts of New York.”
Hanley and Logan Act billed as “The Slender Six Foot Nigs.” DG, April 8, 1883: 7.
The Four Shamrocks Irish variety team, appeared in a sketch entitled BDE, May 13, 1883: 2.
“Felix Bradley’s Surprise.”
190
Sweeny and Ryland Billed as the “Irish autocrats.” DG, June 24, 1883: 1.
Belle Gray Irish character artist. DG, June 24, 1883: 6.
Barry and Fay Toured New England with their Irish DG, August 29, 1883.
Aristocracy Company.
1884
“Mulcahy’s Jubilee” Irish play performed at Tony Pastor’s theatre NYS, January 29, 1884.
featuring Dan Sully.
Morren and Norton “The neat Irish sketch team.” SPDG, March 2, 1884: 6.
“Irish Aristocracy” With Hugh Fay as “the would-be aristocratic SPDG, March 20, 1884.
Irishman” and Billy Barry as “his jolly old-
fashioned friend.”
The Irish Four Variety team. SLH, April 6, 1884.
McGowan and O’Neill Irish sketch team. DYJ, May 11, 1884.
Sheridan and Flynn Billed as “The Milesian Mimics,” appeared in an SAL, May 17, 1884.
Irish sketch entitled “The Cranky Micks.”
The Carletons Irish team. DYJ, May 22, 1884.
Ed C. Kennedy Irish comedian. SPDG, September 21, 1884: 6.
The Four Comets Vaudeville team including two performers “of SPDG, November 24, 1884: 5.
the old humorous type of Hibernians.”
Sullivan and Casey Performed “breakneck Irish songs and dances.” SPDG, November 24, 1884: 5.
1885
“The Emigrants” Sketch featuring Baker and Farron that included SGR, February 22, 1885.
191
“Irish business.”
Welker and Huckins Irish sketch team. SGR, May 3, 1885.
“Dynamite” Irish comedy with Barry and Fay. SPDG, May 18, 1885: 8.
Billy Wolf Irish comedian. SAL, June 8, 1885.
“Two Men of Sandy Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and SPDG, July 22, 1885: 3.
Bar” Drew.
“Unneighborly Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and Drew. SPDG, July 29, 1885: 3.
Neighbors”
“Riley’s Birthday Party” Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and Drew. SPDG, August 6, 1885: 3.
continued
“The Big Ham Bone” Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and SAL, November 12, 1885.
Drew.
O’Brien and Redding Irish sketch artists. SPDG, November 15, 1885.
“Tralee” Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and Drew. SAL, November 28, 1885.
“Mrs Maloney’s Irish comedy afterpiece with Donnelly and Drew. SAL, November 28, 1885.
Boarders”
1886
Howorth’s Hibernica Show presenting “panoramic views of the WS, January 19, 1886
Emerald Isle” and including a comedy piece DT, December 15, 1886.
entitled “Two Dans.”
192
Harrigan’s Hibernian Included scenes of Ireland and Tim and Jerry TC, January 22, 1886.
Company of Irish and Cohan as guides.
American Tourists
Miles Morris Irish comedian. ODB, March 3, 1886: 5.
Sam Ryan Irish comedian. LDI, March 12, 1886.
Fred W. Millis Performed a range of characters, including one DB, March 17, 1886.
called Mr Muldoon.
John Fox Irish comedian. Performed Irish songs and NR, March 31, 1886.
sayings. WC, April 2, 1886.
Harry Kernell and Sam Irish specialties. LDI, September 18, 1886.
Ryan
“Dunc McDonald’s Irish comedy sketch. SLED, November 29, 1886.
Arrival”
Heffernan and “The Irish Embassadors [sic].” WC, December 2, 1886.
McDonald
“The O’Reagans” Edward Harrigan play. NY Tribune, December 9, 1886: 4.
1887
Armstrong and McBride An “Irish Tourist Company” act. SPDG, January 2, 1887: 5.
“Pat’s Wardrobe” Irish comedy with Pat and Katie Rooney. SDR, January 17, 1887.
Gibson and Ryan Irish comedians, appeared in “Muldoon’s NR, January 22, 1887.
Picnic.”
John T. Kelly Irish comedian, appeared in sketch entitled “Our SPDG, January 31, 1887: 3.
193
Irish Boarders.”
John C. Fox and Irish act, with Watson dressed as a woman. SDR, April 25, 1887.
Thomas F. Watson
McGregor and Shannon Performed a variety show that included Irish HG, May 10, 1887: 5.
character sketches.
The Osburns “Greatest of all Irish delineators.” SPDG, August 14, 1887: 6.
Kelly and Murphy Irish boxing act. BDE, September 6, 1887: 3.
Morris Cathcart Irish comedian. WE, September 24, 1887: 4.
Lanagan and Haggarty Irish sketch artists. SDRU, November 29, 1887.
continued
1888
Harry and John Kernell Referred to as “two of the best Irish comedians.” NYS, February 12, 1888: 9.
The Osbornes Irish sketch artists. ODB, February 26, 1888: 8.
Hoey and Daley Irish comedians. NYT, March 21, 1888: 2.
Burns and Donnelly Irish comedians. ODB, March 25, 1888: 5.
Dolan Brothers Irish comedians. ODB, April 22, 1888, Part I: 7.
John T. Kelly Appeared in a sketch entitled “An Irish Stew.” ODB, April 22, 1888, Part I: 7.
“Senator McFee” Vaudeville sketch referred to as “the funniest ECJ, June 5, 1888.
Irish comedy ever written.”
194
James Drew Irish comedian. SPDG, November 11, 1888: 2.
Murray and Murphy “Noted vaudeville specialists” who appeared in ODB, November 11, 1888, Part I: 5.
“Our Irish Visitors.”
Tennyson and Irish duets and dances. BDE, November 13, 1888: 4.
O’Gormon
James Reilly “An Irish comedian of a type opposite to Kernell’s.” NYS, November 18, 1888: 5.
1889
Clark and Angeline Irish sketch team. WC, May 21, 1889.
Jones and Edwards Irish comedians. WC, May 21, 1889.
“Flanagan’s Troubles” A musical skit featuring Mullen and Dunn and SPDG, August 25, 1889: 8.
Riley and Wolfe.
Billy McCoy and “The Irish Thrushes,” appeared in a sketch SPDG, August 25, 1889: 8.
Minnie McAvoy entitled “The Fagans.”
John and Mamie Cline “Irish specialty duo.” SPDG, September 22, 1889: 3.
Ferguson and Mack Irish comedians, appeared in a sketch entitled SPDG, November 3, 1889: 10.
“McCarthy’s Mishaps.”
1890
John A. Coleman Irish dancer. NYT, April 6, 1890: 12.
Gilthrup and Keenan Irish comedian. BDE, April 19, 1890: 2.
Quinley and Fagan Irish reel and jig dancers. BDE, April 19, 1890: 2.
John E. Drew Irish and German comedian. SPDG, April 27, 1890: 5.
Daly and Devere Irish sketch artists. WC, May 17, 1890.
195
Bobby Gaylor Irish comedian, appeared in the music hall scene SLH, July 1, 1890: 5.
in Boucicault’s play After Dark.
Conroy and Mack Irish comedians, appeared in a sketch entitled BDE, October 7, 1890: 4.
“The Tenants.”
Sadie Connolly “The Irish dialect comedienne.” SPDG, November 16, 1890: 11.
Harry Kernell Appearing in his own company’s “high-class” DC, November 29, 1890.
vaudeville programme, in the one-act comedy
“McFadden’s Elopement.”
1891
Pat Murphy Irish comedian. EW, January 20, 1891, Sporting Extra: 2.
continued
Murphy and Cross Irish comedians. EW, January 20, 1891, Sporting Extra: 2.
Kittie Morris and Henry Irish team. ODB, January 25,1891, Part II: 13.
Williams
Annie Gerard “The true Irish girl.” PD, February 15, 1891, Part II: 14.
Reynolds and Spires Irish comedians. SPDG, February 17, 1891: 3.
Collins and Welch Irish sketch team. PD, April 19, 1891, part II: 14.
Dave Roach Irish comedian. EW, May 26, 1891: 3.
Spencer and Simonds Appeared in sketch entitled “Irish students.” NYS, May 31, 1891: 15.
Charles F. McCarthy “A capital impersonator of Irish women.” NYS, September 6, 1891: 15.
196
Barry and Bannon “Celebrated Irish comedians,” performed in a SHWNI, October 4, 1891: 7.
sketch entitled “Peck’s Bad Boy.” SH, 04 October 1891.
John L. Sullivan Irish boxer turned vaudeville actor. Times (Richmond, VA), November 22,
1891.
Thomas E. Murray “An actor of Harrigan’s type” who appeared in a NYS, November 26, 1891.
show entitled “Our Irish Visitors.”
1892
Barry and Bannon Irish comedians appeared in a sketch entitled SPDG, January 10, 1892: 8.
“Peck’s Bad Boy.”
Sweeney and Ryland These “refined Irish punsters” from vaudeville SPDG, January 10, 1892: 8.
appeared in the music hall scene of Boucicault’s
play After Dark.
Daly and Devere Irish sketch team. EW, March 12, 1892, Extra edn.: 3.
Frank Manning and Performed a Dutch and Irish act. PD, April 3, 1892: 24.
Mack Wolley
Tim Cronin Irish character impersonations. NYS, May 20, 1892: 3.
The Nawns Appeared in “a rough-and-ready Irish sketch” at NYS, October 30, 1892: 7.
Proctor’s.
Burns and Donnelly Irish comedians. NYT, November 13, 1892: 13.
1893
T. J. Murphy Irish comedian and dancer. ODB, January 10, 1893: 3.
Burke Brothers Performed a sketch entitled “The Wild Irish West.” BDE, January 29, 1893: 4.
McCabe and Daniels Irish comedians. EW, February 7, 1893, Extra edn.: 5.
197
John Kernell Irish comedian who sang and told stories in NYT, July 2, 1893: 21.
dialect.
Walter Leroy Irish comedian. SLH, September 24, 1893.
Webster and Conlin Irish comedians. EW, October 31, 1893, Extra edn.: 5.
1894
Bonnie Thornton Irish singer. NYT, January 14, 1894: 10.
Donnelly and Girard Irish team. NYT, January 14, 1894: 10.
John T Kelly Popular Irish comedian (from Kelly and Ryan) ODB, January 23, 1894: 8.
appeared in a comedy entitled “McFee of Dublin.”
Webster and Condon Irish comedians. NYT, January 28, 1894: 10.
continued
McBride and Flynn Irish comedians. NYT, February 18, 1894: 15.
Bertha Brush Billed as “The Irish Queen.” EW, April 3, 1894, Extra edn.: 5.
Pat J. Ricks Irish comedian. EW, April 3, 1894, Extra edn.: 5.
“The Divil’s in the Sketch featuring Charles T. Monk and Edward NYT, April 25, 1894: 3.
Irish” W. McNeil.
John and James W. Mac Billed as “Two Irish Sports” NYT, May 13, 1894: 12.
Murphy and Raymond Irish comedians. ODB, May 13, 1894: 10.
Annie Hart Appeared in “Tim Sullivan’s Chowder.” NYT, June 10, 1894: 12.
Cain and Orndorff German and Irish “character artists.” MC, June 17, 1894: 16.
198
Yank Omo “The Irish ‘Jap.’” EW, June 23, 1894, Last edn.: 6.
Tom Flynn Irish comedian. NYT, July 8, 1894: 21.
Conroy and Fox Irish sketch artists. EW, July 10, 1894, Brooklyn last edn.: 5
Ward and Lynch Irish comedians. NYT, July 15, 1894: 21.
McBride and Goodritch Irish comedians. NYT, July 22, 1894: 21.
Rowland and Keene Irish comedians. NYT, August 12, 1894: 11.
Steve Maley Irish monologuist. NYT, August 12, 1894: 11.
“Ireland vs. Germany” Sketch featuring Watson and West. NYT, August 12, 1894: 11.
Two American Macs “The Irish Swells.” EW, August 18, 1894, Extra edn.: 4.
Russell Brothers Appeared in new sketch entitled “Mamie the EW, August 25, 1894, extra edn. 5.
Flower Girl.”
Davis and Lacy Irish comedians. NYT, September 9, 1894: 10.
The Marlons Irish comedians. NYT, September 9, 1894: 10.
Murphy and McCoy Irish comedians. NYT, September 9, 1894: 10.
“Slattery’s Reception” Irish comedy performed by Gus Hill’s vaudeville NYT, September 9, 1894: 10.
company.
John W. Kelly “The master spirit of Irish humor,” billed as “The NYT, October 7, 1894: 10.
Rolling Mill Man.” NYT, October 28, 1894: 13.
The Hamiltons Irish sketch team. NYT, October 14, 1894: 13.
Clark and Angeline Appeared in a sketch entitled “Irish Comfort.” NYT, October 28, 1894: 13.
Edward O’Conner Irish comedian. NYT, November 11, 1894: 10.
Tim Healy and William Knockabout Irish comedians. NYT, November 11,1894: 10.
199
Teed
Fisher and Carroll Irish comedians. NYT, December 16, 1894: 10.
Ritchie and Ritchie Appeared in an Irish sketch. NYT, December 16, 1894: 10.
1895
Scanlon and Kilroy Irish comedians. MC, February 3, 1895: 16.
Barney Ferguson “The recognized leader of Irish vaudeville SPDG, March 10, 1895: 10.
comedians” appeared in a skit entitled “Duffy’s
Blunders.”
Conley and Madden Irish comedians. WT, April 28, 1895, Part II: 11.
Pat Reilly Irish comedian. SFC, May 6, 1895.
continued
McCarty and Reynolds Irish sketch artists and dancers. SPDG, May 26, 1895: 8.
Miles and Ireland Irish dancers. SPDG, June 26, 1895: 4.
John Kernell Appeared in “McFadden’s Elopement,” referred RD, August 15, 1895: 4.
to as “thoroughly clean and wholesome in tone.”
Russell Brothers Appeared in sketch entitled “The Two Off-uns.” MT, September 29, 1895, Part II: 12.
Gilmore and Leonard “Representative Irish comedians.” MT, October 13, 1895, Part II: 12.
Pollie Holmes “The Irish Duchess.” MT October 27, 1895, Part II: 12.
McAvoy and May Irish comedians. ET, December 14, 1895: 3.
1896
200
Jester “The Irish ventriloquist.” ODB January 21, 1896: 8.
“The Arrival of Irish sketch featuring the team of Hughes, BDE, February 16, 1896: 23.
McGuinness” Morton, McBride and Walton.
Lalor and Chester “The Irish Lords.” MT, April 26, 1896, Part II: 12.
Morton and Mack “Irish comedians, bagpipe players and dancers.” SFC, May 3, 1896: 24.
Ed Sanford and James Irish and Dutch team. MT, May 19, 1896: 4.
Lee
Herbert Cawthorne Irish comedian. MT, June 7, 1896, Part II: 13
Leslie and Tenley Irish comedians. MT September 1, 1896: 5.
Ed Rodgers Irish comedian and dancer. RD, September 4, 1896: 2.
“One Phase of Life” Vaudeville sketch performed at Proctor’s theatre NYS, November 11, 1896: 7.
featuring a tramp and the Irish wife of a farmer.
Edward Heffernan “The clever Irish monologuist.” SFC November 27, 1896: 7.
Russell Brothers Appeared in an “up-to-date” version of “Irish MT, December 8, 1896: 4.
Servant Girls.”
1897
Perry and Burns “Some clever Irish work.” ET, January 19, 1897: 5.
Gracie and Reynolds Irish comedians. ET, February 17, 1897: 4.
Dillon and Garland Irish sketch artists. ODB, March 21, 1897: 13.
Conroy and McDonald Irish comedians. SPG, April 13, 1897: 4.
“Mary McFadden’s Irish comedy sketch. ST, April 17, 1897: 5.
201
Eccentricities”
Dan McCarthy Appeared in sketch entitled “Dominick, Mind ET, April 29, 1897.
the Baby.”
Conroy and McFarland Irish comedians. NYS, May 2, 1897: 10.
Leland and Leslie Irish boxing act. ODB, June 14, 1897.
Kennedy and Bryce Irish comedians. ET, June 26, 1897: 4.
Francis Bryant Irish monologue artist. SFC, July 23, 1897: 7.
Barney Ferguson Irish comedian. ET, August 25, 1897.
Conroy and McFarland “Exponents of Irish comedy.” ET, August 25, 1897.
continued
Dave Conroy and Phil Irish comedians. DCT, August 29, 1897, Part II: 13.
McFarland
Marron and James Billed as “The Boys of Kilkenny.” RD, August 31, 1897: 4.
The Rossley Brothers Irish character comedians and dancers. RT, September 1, 1897: 6.
Dick Sands “P. T Barnum’s original Irish woman.” RD, September 1, 1897: 4.
John Brock Irish comedian. DCT, October 31 1897, Part II: 16.
Dan Gracey and Ada Appeared in an Irish comedy sketch. BDE, November 7, 1897: 24.
Burnett
McCale and McDaniels, Irish comedians. KCJ, November 14,1897: 9.
“The American Macs”
202
Finley and Tuhey “Irish dancers and bagpipes.” NY Tribune, November 21, 1897: 10.
1898
Conroy and McFarland Irish comedians. DCT, January 20, 1898: 4.
Nellie Waters “Singer of Irish and negro songs.” DCT, January 20, 1898: 4.
Daly and Devere “Two of the cleverest comedy sketch artists in MDL, February 17, 1898.
the ranks of vaudeville.” Mr Daly played an Irish
washer woman.
Ahern and Patrick Appeared in an “Irish travesty” entitled “The KCJ, March 17, 1898: 12.
Copper and the Kid.”
Bogert and O’Brien “Eccentric musical comedians.” KCJ, March 20, 1898: 9.
Gilmore and Leonard Vaudeville comedians known as “Ireland’s Kings.” SPA, March 19, 1898.
Morton and Slater Headed a vaudeville programme performed ST, April 12, 1898.
by Shea’s Comedians at the Linden Theatre,
Scranton OH. Morton and Slater appeared in “a
very amusing Irish sketch.”
Gannon Brothers “The greatest of all knockabout Irish sketch teams.” EB, June 4, 1898.
Perry and Burns Irish dialect act. RD, July 12, 1898: 2.
John T. Tierney Performer with Irish brogue. RD, July 12, 1898: 2.
McDonald Brothers Dutch and Irish comedians. RT, June 24, 1898.
Perry and Burns “Irish singing and talking comedians.” RT, July 9, 1898.
Wakefield “The Irish Duke.” ODB, August 24, 1898: 8.
203
McCarthy and Reynolds Irish character sketch artists. RD, August 27, 1898: 4.
Sheehan and Kennedy “Irish travesty actors.” ET, September 3, 1898: 8.
“Casey’s Wife” Jewish-Irish comedy sketch. SPA, October 8, 1898.
John Shannon and “Negro and Irish comedians.” Osgood played the ODB, October 16, 1898: 15.
Harry Osgood Irish character.
Touhey and Mack Act singing Irish songs. ET, October 25, 1898: 8.
Conroy and McCoy Irish comedians. SPG, December 18, 1898: 26.
“A Woman in the Case” An Irish farce comedy featuring “high-class” PJ, December 24, 1898.
vaudeville performers including Bartlett and
May, the Hanleys and Lea Peasley.
continued
1899
Dan Gracey Irish comedian. DCT, January 5, 1899: 5.
The Nawns “Ideal imitators of Irish character.” SPG, January 15, 1899: 20.
Leonard and Fulton Performed “something in the line of Irish KCJ, January 19, 1899: 3.
comedy.”
Conroy and McDonald “Irish singers, dancers and storytellers.” ODB, January 31, 1899: 2.
The Columbian Four Act included “very clever imitations of Chinese, SPG March 6, 1899: 4.
English, German, Irish, Scotch and negro
bands.”
John T. Tierney Irish monologist. ODB, March 19, 1899: 15.
204
Tenley and Simonds Irish comedians. ET, March 21, 1899: 8.
Mike McGee Stage name of Irish comedian James Curran. NYS, April 15, 1899: 4.
Tom Gleason Performed “thoroughly characteristic Irish SPG April 18, 1899: 2.
comedy and songs, with an almost irreproachable
brogue.”
Ed Dolan Irish comedian. SFC, April 23, 1899.
Callahan and Mack Appeared at Pastor’s in Irish comedy entitled NY Tribune, May 7, 1905: 3.
“The Old Neighborhood.”
Fox and Summers “The Irish Entertainers.” ODB, May 21, 1899: 15.
James B and Fanny Irish comedians. SFC, May 28, 1899: 29.
Donovan
Connors and Connors Male-female team. Mr Connors referred to as EB, June 12, 1899.
“one of the foremost Irish comedians” while Miss
Connors was “one of the greatest exponents of
‘coon shouting’ on the stage.”
“The Coming Man” A “laughable Irish farce,” described as “the Independent (Honolulu), June 15, 1899.
greatest aggregation of vaudeville talent ever seen
in Honolulu at one time.”
The Three La Raines “An acrobatic Irish comedy act.” ADD, July 18, 1899.
Wright and Wakefield “An Irish turn full of fun and ginger.” Daily Press (Newport News, VA), July 18,
1899.
Gallagher and Barnett “The kings of Irish comedy,” also billed as “Irish Daily Press (Newport News, VA), July 19,
millionaires.” 1899.
205
Pat Kelly “King of Irish comedians.” SFC, August 7, 1899: 5.
Campbell and Caulfield “Irish Emperors.” RT, August 13, 1899: 3.
Sheehan and Kennedy Irish comedians. ET, September 19, 1899: 5.
Perry and Burns Irish storytellers. ET, September 26, 1899: 6.
Ryan and Richfield Appeared in sketch entitled “A Headless Man.” ET, September 26, 1899: 6.
John F. Leonard and Appeared in “Two jolly Rovers” as O’Rourke and ET, October 10, 1899: 8.
Sherman Wade O’Reilly, “among the most impressive Celts to be
found on the vaudeville stage.”
John and Eunice Patten Irish comedy team. BN, November 10, 1899.
continued
Conroy and McDonald “Kings of Irish fun.” SPG, November 19, 1899: 28.
McCale and Daniels Appeared in act entitled “The Irish Tourists.” NY Tribune, November 26, 1899: 8.
The Nawns Appeared in an Irish farce as part of a “polite ET, December 7, 1899: 4.
vaudeville” programme.
Conroy and McDonald Irish vaudeville comedians. SPG, December 26, 1899: 8.
1900
Leonard and Fulton Irish sketch artists. DCT, February 11, 1900, Part II: 5.
Annie Yeamans Played the Irish cook in “Why Smith Left BDE, March 4, 1900: 24.
Home.”
206
Pat Reilly Irish comedian. BDE, March 4, 1900: 24.
Welch Brothers Irish comedians. ST, March 8, 1900: 10.
Evans and Devees Performed in “a refined Irish comedy sketch.” SPG, March 27, 1900: 5.
Filmore and Mack Performed in “a rollicking Irish comedy sketch.” SPG, March 27, 1900: 5.
Sullivan and Keeler Irish comedians. DCT, April 8, 1900, Part II: 5.
Joe Flynn The “greatest exponent of Irish comedy.” ADD, April 13, 1900: 6.
Smith O’Brien “Jovial Irish comedian.” DCT, May 13, 1900, Part II: 5.
Crane the Irish Performed “comedy acts of mystery” in a DCT, June 16, 1900: 7.
Magician vaudeville programme at Glen Echo Park.
Manning and Davis Appeared in “The Irish Pawnbroker.” NY Tribune, July 1, 1900: 14.
Lottie West Simonds “The Irish countess.” NY Tribune, July 22, 1900: 14.
The Rixfords “Comedy acrobats,” appeared as part of “Irish NY Tribune, July 22, 1900: 14.
week” at Koster and Bial’s theatre.
Ascot and Eddy Acrobats, also on bill for Irish week at Koster and NY Tribune, July 22, 1900: 14.
Bial’s.
Wood and Stone Irish comedians. NY Tribune, July 22, 1900: 14.
Fisher and Carroll “Celtic wits” billed as “the original Irish fusiliers SLR, September 9, 1900, Part II: 7.
of vaudeville.”
Denton and Dallon “Artistic Irish comedy artists.” SLR, September 9, 1900, Part II: 7.
Sheehan and Kennedy Irish sketch artists. EB, September 12, 1900.
Joseph J. Sullivan “Irish character work.” DCT, September 16, 1900, Part II: 4.
Joe Flynn “The Irish Wit.” DCT, October 7, 1900, Part II: 5.
207
Byron and Langdon Act included Irish songs. SPG, October 21, 1900: 24.
Casey and Leclair “Irish character sketchists.” DCT, October 21, 1900, Part II: 5.
Gallagher and Barrett “The Irish millionaires.” KIA, October 27, 1900.
Tenley and Simonds “Natural Irish comedians.” ET, November 1, 1900: 8.
“Pipe Dream” Irish sketch. HEB, November 7, 1900.
Sheehan and Kennedy “Kings of Irish comedy.” ET, November 13 1900: 5.
James F Leonard Irish comedian. DCT, November 27, 1900: 7.
Lawrence Crane “The Irish Adonis musician.” DCT, December 9, 1900, Part II: 4.
Manning and Davis Appeared in “The Irish Pawnbroker.” RT, December 9, 1900.
continued
1901
“An Irish Christmas” A musical comedy, part of the vaudeville bill at HR, January 1, 1901.
The Orpheum, “the only vaudeville house in
Honolulu.”
Cunningham and Fagan “The Irish tourists.” AR, January 2, 1901.
Murphy and Nolan “The Happy Irishmen.” KIA, January 12, 1901.
McCale and Daniels Irish comedians. RT, January 13, 1901: 10.
Nellie Hill and Hattie Irish and Dutch act. MJ, January 15, 1901: 7.
Miles
Two American Macs Irish comedians. KIA, January 26, 1901.
208
Fitzgibbons, McCoy and Appeared in “an Irish character sketch” entitled MJ, February 15, 1901: 7.
Fitzgibbons “Her Naughty Brother.”
Sullivan and Inman “Irish funmakers.” SPG, April 7, 1901: 24.
McFarland and Murray Irish comedians. SPA, May 18, 1901.
Morrisey and Rich Irish comedians. SPG, May 26, 1901.
McFarland and Murray “The Irish Ambassadors.” SPG, June 9, 1901: 28.
Tenley and Simonds “The natural Irish comedians.” SLR, August 11, 1901, Part I: 9.
Murray and McFarland Irish knockabout act. KIA, August 17, 1901.
McFarland and Murray “Jolly Irish comedians.” KIA, August 24, 1901.
Nellie Waters “the original delineator of negro and Irish KIA, September 14, 1901.
melodies” appeared at the Buckingham Theatre,
Louisville KY.
Wrothe and Wakefield Irish sketch team. KIA, September 21, 1901.
Spencer Brothers Irish comedians and dancers. WT, October 3, 1901: 5.
James B and Fannie Appeared in an “Irish repartee act.” NY Tribune, October 20, 1901: 12.
Donovan
Casey and LeClair Appeared in a sketch entitled “The Irish NY Tribune, October 20, 1901: 12.
Tenants.”
Miles and Nitram Appeared in an Irish sketch at Proctor’s 58th NY Tribune, October 20, 1901: 12.
Street Theatre.
209
Mr and Mrs Mark Appeared in sketch entitled “Why Doogan SMG, October 27, 1901: 8.
Murphy Swore Off.”
Markey and Stewart “Irish monologue and parody singers.” SPA, November 2, 1901.
Bryant and Brennan Irish comedians. SPG, November 11, 1901: 4.
James Wesley and Appeared in “The Irish Pawnbroker.” SPG, November 11, 1901: 4.
William Murray, billed
as “The Two Macs.”
The Two American “Leaders in extravagant Irish comedy.” MJ, November 13, 1901: 4.
Macs
Conway and Held Irish sketch artists. NY Tribune, November 17, 1901: 14.
Callahan and Mack “Exceptionally clever Irish comedians.” WT, November 24, 1901, Part II: 4.
continued
“Pat” Reilly Performed “Dooley-like talks, brimful of Irish wit.” WT, November 28, 1901: 5.
George H Emerick Died in December 1901. Noted as the writer MJ, December 28, 1901.
of many Irish vaudeville sketches, including
“Finnegan’s Ball,”, “Shooting the Chutes” and
“McSorley’s Twins.”
1902
Russell Brothers Were due to give their last performance of WT, January 12,1902: 2.
“The Irish Servant Girls” and to appear in a
new sketch by George M. Cohan entitled “A
Romance of New Jersey.”
210
Mr and Mrs Mark Appeared in “a fresh Irish sketch about the SLR, January 26, 1902, Part III: 6.
Murphy troubles of a fireman.”
Tom Nawn Irish comedian appeared in “Pat and the Genii.” WT, January 30, 1902: 5.
Barney Ferguson and Irish comedians. WT, February 9, 1902: 2.
Will Mack
“Funny Irish Widow” Irish sketch. MJ, February15, 1902: 7.
Murray and Mack Irish comedians. SFC, February 24, 1902.
Gracie Emmett Appeared in “Mrs Murphy’s Second Husband.” SLR, March 2, 1902, Part III: 5.
McDonald Brothers Irish comedians. KIA, April 5, 1902.
Kennedy and Wilson “The Irish Aristocrats.” NY Tribune, April 6, 1902: 7.
Touhey and Lacy Irish comedy act. NY Tribune, April 27, 1902: 12.
Lonnie Wilson Irish comedian. RD, May 18, 1902.
Reynolds and Pearce “Irish character impersonators.” SLR May 22, 1902: 8.
Hickey and Nelson Male-female team. Hickey “was grotesquely SLR, May 26, 1902: 6.
funny with his big shoes, small hat and Irish
character make-up.”
Kelly and Adams Irish sketch artists. NY Tribune, June 3, 1902: 5.
Mr and Mrs Mark “The king and queen of Irish comedy” in their ADD, July 8, 1902: 5.
Murphy latest vaudeville sketch, “The Seventh Son.”
Rosselly and Rostelle “Irish comedy sketch artists.” ADD August 30,1902: 6.
Tom Waters “Natural Irish comedian.” SPG, October 12, 1902: 22.
Spencer Brothers Irish character comedians. SLR, October 17, 1902: 3.
211
Edwards and Lawrence Dutch and Irish comedians. WT, October 21, 1902: 7.
Smith and Welch Irish comedians. WT, October 26, 1902.
Pat Reilly and Frank D. “The original Irish comedians.” RT, November 5, 1902: 7.
Bryan
Pete Baker and John Irish and Dutch comedy. RD, November 6, 1902: 6.
Kernell
Mat Kennedy Irish comedian. SPG, November 9, 1902: 30.
Hal Conlet and May An Irish comedian and “coon-song shouter.” SFC, December 16, 1902.
Nelson
continued
1903
Lottie West Simonds “The Irish Countess.” SLR, April 19, 1903, Part II: 8.
Charles B Lawlor Vaudeville performer who was “able to sing an EW, June 26, 1903, Night edn.
Irish song as few men can.”
Corbley and Burke “An Irish sidewalk conversation act.” EW, June 27, 1903.
Callahan and Mack “Truly Irish comedians.” EW, June 30, 1903: 4.
Rooney and Forrester Act billed as “Irish nonsense.” SS, July 4, 1903.
John Kernell Irish comedian, headed bill at Pastor’s. EW, July 4, 1903, Sporting ed.
William Ahearn (aka Report of death of this vaudeville Irish SFC, July 24, 1903.
212
Ahern) comedian.
Russell and O’Connell Irish comedians. NY Tribune, July 26, 1903: 3.
O’Connell and Forrest Irish comedians. SCD, July 31, 1903.
Arthur Whitelaw Irish character monologue. SLR, September 6, 1903, Part III: 8.
Conroy and McFarland Irish comedians. MJ, September 12, 1903: 12.
Spencer and Held “Irish jesters.” SLR, October 8, 1903: 5.
Kelly and Kane Irish character comedians. SLR, October 15, 1903: 3.
Kennedy and Evans “Gay cavaliers of Irish wit.” MJ, October 17, 1903, Part II: 6.
Kittie Francis “Famous for her humorous Irish and ‘wench’ GDL, October 24, 1903.
impersonations.”
Ferguson and Mack “Irish knockabouts.” EW, October 27, 1903: 6.
Ward and Curran Appeared in sketch entitled “The Terrible Judge.” EW, October 27, 1903: 6.
Spencer and Held Irish comedians. MJ, November 7, 1903, Part II: 3.
Elizabeth Murray Irish stories and “coon songs.” SFC, December 21, 1903.
1904
McBride and Whitehead Irish comedians. TT, January 13, 1904: 4.
“My Busy Day” Sketch featuring an Irish office boy. SFC, February 8, 1904: 14.
The Lombards Irish comedians. TT, February 15, 1904: 4.
Bobby Gaylor Appeared with Fannie Rice’s vaudeville company MJ, March 5, 1904: 6.
at the Metropolitan Theatre in Minneapolis. In
his act as an Irish impersonator, he “develop[ed]
the humorous characteristics of the highest type
213
of Irish-American citizen.”
Madden and Jess “The only Irish act that ‘makes good’ without MJ, March 5, 1904: 6.
telling a joke or singing a song.”
Martin O’Neil Irish comedian. SFC, April 10, 1904.
Murphy and Davis “Irish fun dispensers.” SPG, May 1, 1904: 36
MJ, April 23, 1904: 13.
Gracey and Burnett Irish sketch artists. SPG, May8, 1904: 36.
Guy Rawson “The Irish jester.” KIA, May 14, 1904.
Barrett Brothers Irish comedians. SLR, May 15,1904, Part II: 2.
Lawrence Crane Irish magician. SLR, May 15, 1904, Part II: 2.
continued
Charlie Farrell Performed the character of an “Irish copper” in a BDR, May 25, 1904: 8.
vaudeville show.
Tom Haverly “One of the funniest Irish comedians in vaudeville.” MJ, May 28, 1904: 12.
Perry and Spencer “Irish character comedians.” SLR, June 10,1904: 6.
Honan and Kearney Irish comedians. SPDG, June 12, 1904: 34.
Barney Gilmore and Billed as “Ireland’s Wings.” NYS, June 26, 1904, Part III: 5.
John Leonard
Barney Reynolds Irish comedian. NYS, June 26, 1904, Part III: 5.
Casey and Leclair Appeared at Pastor’s in sketch entitled “the Irish NYS, June 26, 1904, Part III: 5.
Tenants.”
214
Morrisey and Rich “Irish jesters.” SLR, July 14, 1904: 6.
Lawrence Crane Irish magician. NY Tribune, July 31, 1904: 10.
The Mannings Appeared in Irish sketch entitled “Troublesome MJ, October 1, 1904, Magazine: 8.
Servants.”
Parnell Barrett and Performed in an Irish skit. KIA, October 8, 1904.
Jerome Driscoll
Dan McAvoy Appeared as a “typical green-whiskered Irish NYT, December 28, 1904: 14.
man” in “The Mayor of the Bowery.”
1905
Russell Brothers Appearing in “The Female Detectives.” SPG, January 8, 1905: 20.
Eddie Girard Appeared as an Irish policeman in “Dooley and SLR, January 22, 1905, Part IV: 4.
the Diamond.”
“In Trust” Performed at Keith’s theatre, “a particularly NY Tribune, January 29, 1905: 4.
clean, wholesome Irish dialect comedy.”
Pat Bartlett “The Irish mimic.” PS, March 16, 1905: 2.
“The Irish Detective” Vaudeville sketch. PS, March 30, 1905: 5.
“The Irish Japanese” Billed as a “comical acrobatic travesty” DCJ, March 31, 1905: 5.
performed by the Wiley Ferris Company.
Tyce and Jermon “The real Irish girl and the dainty singing SLR, April 2, 1905, Part IV: 4.
comedienne.”
Dacey and Chase Appeared in a sketch entitled “The Irish Uncle’s SLR, April 2,1905, Part IV: 4.
215
Visit.”
Pat and Fannie Kelley “Hibernian comedy stars.” DCJ, April 8, 1905: 5.
The Delaceys Performed “a coon sketch” and “a double Irish DCJ, April 21, 1905: 5.
and German sketch.” Their act was described as
“clean, refined, instructive and amusing.”
Annie Yeamans Played an “Irish ‘cook lady’” in sketch entitled EW May 20, 1905.
“Why Smith Left Home.”
William Onslow Irish comedian. LAH, May 21, 1905.
Ward and Simonds Irish comedians appeared in sketch entitled “A DCJ, May 29, 1905.
Curious Cure.”
M.J. Hooley Appeared in an “Irish character skit.” DCJ, June 13, 1905, Last edn.: 5.
continued
Hague and Herbert Irish sketch team. MJ, July 31,1905: 4.
Madden and Jess Irish comedians. WT, August 6,1905, Women’s Magazine:
3.
Halladay and Leonard Irish comedians. NY Tribune, August 27, 1905: 2.
Nellie Baker Irish monologist and singer. DPL, August 30, 1905.
Hughes and Burns Irish comedians. LR, October 7, 1905.
Madden and Jess “Premier Irish comedians.” MJ, October 8, 1905.
Paddy Maher Irish comedian and “parody singer.” LAH, October 15, 1905.
Lottie West Symonds “The Irish Countess.” LAH, November 5, 1905: 2.
216
Murray and Mack Appeared in a sketch entitled “Around the PS, November 11, 1905.
Town.”
“Finnegan’s 400” Irish comedy sketch. CS, November 18, 1905.
Campbell and Canfield Irish comedians. SLR, December 4, 1905: 4.
Dacey, Chase and Adair Appeared in a sketch entitled “The Irish Uncle’s LAH, December 4, 1905: 4.
Visit.”
Foster and Bell Irish comedians. LAH, December 12, 1905: 10.
Notes
1 INTRODUCTION
1. Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland , trans. J. J. O’Meara,

rev. ed. (London: Penguin, 1982), 101,103; “Australian immigrants complain
about fighting Irish image,” Irish Central, January 14, 2011, http://www.irish-
central.com/news/Australian-immigrants-complain-about-fighting-Irish-
image — -SEE-VIDEO-113578919.html; “Australian Embassy blasts racist
advert asking ‘no Irish’ to apply for bricklaying job,” Irish Independent, March
12, 2012, http://www.independent.ie/national-news/australian-embassy-
blasts-racist-advert-asking-no-irish-to-apply-for-bricklaying-job-3047010.
html; “Australia visa in jeopardy for rowdy Irish Down Under,” Australian
Visa Bureau, May 9, 2012, http://www.visabureau.com/australia/news/09-05-
2012/australia-visa-in-jeopardy-for-rowdy-irish-down-under.aspx.
2. Vincent J. Cheng, Inauthentic: The Anxiety over Culture and Identity
(Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004), 29, 32; Diane Negra,
“Irishness, Innocence, and American Identity Politics before and after
September 11,” in The Irish in Us: Irishness, Performativity and Popular Culture,
ed. Diane Negra (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006), 355; Diane
Negra, “The New Primitives: Irishness in Recent US Television,” Irish Studies
Review 9, no. 2 (2001): 229–39.
3. Dale T. Knobel, Paddy and the Republic: Ethnicity and Nationality in
Antebellum America (Scranton, PA: Wesleyan University Press, 1986), 4; Dale
T. Knobel, “‘Celtic Exodus’: The Famine Irish, Ethnic Stereotypes, and the
Cultivation of American Racial Nationalism,” Radharc 2 (2001): 8.
4. William H. A. Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream: The Image of
Ireland and the Irish in American Popular Song Lyrics 1800–1920 (Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 1996), 1–2.
5. Kevin Kenny, The American Irish: A History (Essex: Longman, 2000), 8;
Lawrence J. McCaffrey, The Irish Diaspora in America (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1976), 67; James P. Byrne, “The Genesis of Whiteface in
Nineteenth Century American Popular Culture,” MELUS 29, no. 3/4 (2004):
145; Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge,
2008), 49.
218 Notes
6. Deirdre Moloney, “Who’s Irish? Ethnic Identity and Recent Trends in Irish
American History,” Journal of American Ethnic History 28, no. 4 (2009): 106.
7. John F. Dovidio et al., eds., SAGE Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and
Discrimination (London: SAGE, 2010), 8.
8. Dale T. Knobel, “A Vocabulary of Ethnic Perception: Content Analysis of the
American Stage Irishman, 1820–1860,” American Studies 15 (1981): 48.
9. Dovidio et al., SAGE Handbook, 217; Rupert Brown, Prejudice: Its Social
Psychology (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995), 84; C. Neil Macrae, Charles Stangor,
and Miles Hewston, eds., Stereotypes and Stereotyping (New York: Guilford
Press, 1996), 13, 24.
10. Dovidio et al., SAGE Handbook, 7, 121, 136; Macrae, Stangor, and Hewston,
Stereotypes, 21–2; Gordon Allport, cited Dovidio et al., SAGE Handbook,
241.
11. Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the
Gilded Age, 2nd ed., (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 5; Table XXIX—Total
and urban population at each census: 1790 to 1900 and Table XLV—Number
of immigrants to the United States: 1821 to 1900, Twelfth Census of the
United States—1900—Census Reports Volume I—Population Part 1, Section
1, Statistics of Population, lxxxiii, United States Census Bureau, https://www.
census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html.
12. Kenny, The American Irish, 46; Patrick J. Blessing, “The Irish,” in Harvard
Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, ed. Stephan Thernstrom (Cambridge,
MA: Belknap Press, 1980), 528–29; Leonard Dinnerstein and David Reimers,
Ethnic Americans: A History of Immigration and Assimilation (New York: New
York University Press, 1977), 11.
13. McCaffrey, The Irish Diaspora, 62–3; Blessing, “The Irish,” 530–31; Kerby
A. Miller, Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 328.
14. Miller, Emigrants and Exiles, 315; Kevin Kenny, “Labor and Labor
Organizations,” in Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the
Irish in the United States, ed. J. J. Lee and Marion R. Casey (New York: New
York University Press, 2006), 354, 356; Blessing, “The Irish,” 529, 531; Hasia
Diner, Erin’s Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth
Century (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983), 31, 77,
80–3.
15. Blessing, “The Irish,” 528, 531; Timothy J. Meagher, ed., From Paddy to Studs:
Irish-American Communities in the Turn of the Century Era, 1880 to 1920
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986), 8; David N. Doyle, Irish Americans,
Native Rights and National Empires: The Structure, Divisions and Attitudes of
the Catholic Minority in the Decade of Expansion 1890–1901 (New York: Arno
Press, 1976), 46.
16. Andrew M. Greeley, The Irish Americans: The Rise to Money and Power (New
York: Harper and Row, 1981), 111; Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan,
Beyond the Melting Point: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians and Irish of
Notes 219
New York City (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1970), 217; Kathleen Donovan,
“Good Old Pat: An Irish-American Stereotype in Decline,” Eire-Ireland 15,
no. 3 (1980): 9; Ellen Skerret, “The Development of Catholic Identity among
Irish Americans in Chicago, 1880–1920,” in From Paddy to Studs, 133;
Meagher, From Paddy to Studs, 9; William V. Shannon, The American Irish: A
Political and Social Portrait (New York: Collier, 1974), 142.
17. Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 241; Greeley, Irish Americans, 9.
18. Cited Maureen Waters, The Comic Irishman (Albany, NY: State University of
New York Press, 1984), 41.
19. Ibid., 42.
20. Jeffrey H. Richards, “Brogue Irish Take the American Stage, 1767–1808,”
New Hibernia Review 3, no. 3 (1999): 48.
21. Knobel, “Vocabulary of Ethnic Perception,” 45–6.
22. Knobel, “Vocabulary of Ethnic Perception,” 47; Albert F. McLean Jr.,
American Vaudeville as Ritual (Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press,
1965), 3.
23. Knobel, “Vocabulary of Ethnic Perception,” 49–50, 61.
24. Ibid., 62, 66–7, 68.
25. “Our City Amusements,” New York Times, December 3, 1858.
26. Ibid.
27. Robert M. Lewis, ed., From Traveling Show to Vaudeville: Theatrical Spectacle
in America, 1830–1910 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003),
215.
28. Campbell MacCulloch, “Vaudeville: Drama and Opera in Tabloid Form,” St
Louis Republic Sunday Magazine, June 4, 1905.
29. Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz, eds., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology
(Edinburgh: Chambers, 2006), 1195; McLean, American Vaudeville, 18; Joe
Laurie Jr., Vaudeville: From the Honky-Tonks to the Palace (New York: Henry
Holt, 1953), 10.
30. Lewis, From Traveling Show to Vaudeville, 315; MacCulloch, “Vaudeville:
Drama and Opera in Tabloid Form.”
31. Robert W. Snyder, The Voice of the City: Vaudeville and Popular Culture in
New York, 2nd ed., (Chicago: I. R. Dee, 2000), 12; Lewis, From Traveling
Show to Vaudeville, 315.
32. “Variety: The Class of Amusement Known by that Title,” Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, January 21, 1877; Snyder, Voice of the City, 18–19; Shirley Staples,
Male-Female Comedy Teams in American Vaudeville 1865–1932 (Ann Arbor,
MI: UMI Research Press, 1984), 3; Midway cited Lewis, From Traveling Show
to Vaudeville, 320.
33. MacCulloch, “Vaudeville: Drama and Opera in Tabloid Form.”
34. Laurie Jr., Vaudeville, 19.
35. McLean, American Vaudeville, 3, 24; John Springhall, The Genesis of Mass
Culture: Show Business Live in America, 1840–1940 (New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2008), 175, 177.
220 Notes
36. Armond Fields, Tony Pastor, Father of Vaudeville (Jefferson, NC: McFarland
and Co., 2007), 44, 186, 179.
37. Douglas Gilbert, American Vaudeville: Its Life and Times (New York: Dover
Publications, 1940), 61.
38. Williams, ‘Twas Only An Irishman’s Dream, 130, 128; Snyder, Voice of the
City, 111, 107.
39. James M. Nelson, “From Rory and Paddy to Boucicault’s Myles, Shaun and
Conn: The Irishman on the London Stage, 1830–1860,” Eire-Ireland 13,
no. 3 (1978): 91–2.
40. Holger Kersten, “Using the Immigrant’s Voice: Humor and Pathos in
Nineteenth Century ‘Dutch’ Dialect Texts”, MELUS 21, no. 4 (1996): 3, 10.
41. Ibid., 16.
42. Robert C. Allen, “Vaudeville and Film, 1895–1915: A Study in Media
Interaction” (PhD dissertation, University of Iowa, 1977), 5; Tom Gunning,
“The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectator and the Avant-Garde,”
in Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative, ed. Thomas Elsaesser (London:
BFI: 1990), 60; Michael Chanan, The Dream That Kicks: The Prehistory and
Early Years of Cinema in Britain, 2nd ed., (London: Routledge, 1996), 132.
43. Lewis Jacobs, The Rise of the American Film, cited Joseph M. Curran,
Hibernian Green on the Silver Screen: The Irish and American Movies (New
York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 18–19; Ruth Barton, Irish National Cinema,
2nd ed., (London: Routledge, 2005), 19; Kevin Rockett, “The Irish Migrant
and Film,” in Screening Irish-America: Representing Irish-America in Film and
Television, ed. Ruth Barton (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2009), 27, 17.
44. Rockett, Irish Filmography, 230–40.
45. Patrick G. Loughney, “In the Beginning Was the Word: Six Pre-Griffith
Motion Picture Scenarios,” in Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative, ed.
Thomas Elsaesser (London: BFI, 1990), 211.
46. Gilbert, American Vaudeville, 62; Robert W. Snyder, “The Irish in Vaudeville,”
in Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United
States, eds. J. J. Lee and Marion R. Casey (New York: New York University
Press, 2006), 406.
47. Mick Moloney, “Irish-American Popular Music,” in Making the Irish American:
History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States, eds. J. J. Lee and Marion
R. Casey (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 387; Frank Cullen,
Vaudeville Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America,
Vol. 1 (New York: Routledge, 2007), 960.
48. Susan Kattwinkel, Tony Pastor Presents: Afterpieces from the Vaudeville Stage
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1998), 6.
49. Stephanie Rains, The Irish-American in Popular Culture 1945–2000 (Dublin:
Irish Academic Press, 2007), 145, 149–51, 157–58.
50. M. Alison Kibler, Rank Ladies: Gender and Cultural Hierarchy in American
Vaudeville (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999), 58.
Notes 221
2 “IRISH BY NAME”: AN OVERVIEW OF IRISH AND

ETHNIC PERFORMANCE IN VAUDEVILLE
1. Program for Pastor’s Opera House 201 Bowery, 1868, BRTD TP, T-MSS
1995–028, b3.f17; program for Pastor’s New Theatre, w/c October 21, 1878,
BRTD TP, T-MSS 1995–028, b5.
2. Program for Pastor’s Broadway Theatre, December 1878 and undated pro-
gram, Kernell and Kernell Scrapbook, BRTD TW, MWEZ x n.c.4547; pro-
gram for Proctor’s Crierion Theatre, April 9, 1888, and undated program for
Walnut Street Theatre, BRTD TP, T-MSS 1995–028, b3.f17.
3. Program for Poole and Donnelly’s Grand Opera House, w/c September 28,
1878, Kernell and Kernell scrapbook, BRTD TW, MWEZ x n.c.4547.
4. Aoileann Ní Éigeartaigh, “Frank McCourt: From Colonized Imagination to
Diaspora,” in Rethinking Diasporas: Hidden Narratives and Imagined Borders,
eds. Aoileann Ní Éigeartaigh, Kevin Howard, and David Getty (Newcastle:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007), 5.
5. David R. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American
Working Class, rev. ed., (London: Verso, 1999), 137; Ignatiev, How the Irish
Became White, 70, 134.
6. Kenny, The American Irish, 67–71; Luke Gibbons, Transformations in Irish
Culture, vol. 2, (Cork: Cork University Press, 1996), 175, 176.
7. Kenny, The American Irish, 81–2, 126; John Higham, Strangers in the Land:
Patterns of American Nativism, 1860–1925, 2nd ed. (New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press, 1988), 13–16, 20, 85–6.
8. Robert Nowatzki, “Paddy Jumps Jim Crow: Irish-Americans and Blackface
Minstrelsy,” Eire-Ireland 41 (2006).
9. Robert Toll, Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth Century America
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), v; Eric Lott, Love and Theft:
Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1993), 5–6, 9; Edward Le Roy Rice, Monarchs of Minstrelsy:
From “Daddy” Rice to Date (New York: Kenny Publishing, 1911), 11, http://
www.archive.org/details/monarchsminstre00ricegoog.
10. Rice, Monarchs of Minstrelsy, 7.
11. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness, 104; Toll, Blacking Up, 56–7; Peter Quinn,
“Looking for Jimmy,” in Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of
the Irish in the United States, eds. J. J. Lee and Marion R. Casey (New York:
New York University Press, 2006), 667.
12. Nowatzki, “Paddy Jumps Jim Crow,” 170; Toll, Blacking Up, 175.
13. New Negro Forget-Me-Not Songster (Cincinnati: UP James, 1911; Hathi Trust
Digital Library), 101–06. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101073
360180;view=1up;seq=1.
14. Ibid., 98–101.
15. Kenny, The American Irish, 81–2.
222 Notes
16. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness, 105–6; Lott, Love and Theft, 6, 52.
17. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness, 117.
18. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness, 98–9; Maureen Murphy, “Irish-American
Theatre,” in Ethnic Theatre in the United States, ed. Maxine S. Seller (Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press, 1983), 223; Lott, Love and Theft, 81.
19. Roediger, Wages of Whiteness, 100.
20. Alexander Saxton, “Blackface Minstrelsy and Jacksonian Ideology,” American
Quarterly 27, no. 1 (1975): 5–6; Lott, Love and Theft, 95; Cullen, Vaudeville
Old and New, 770; Williams, ‘Twas Only An Irishman’s Dream, 66.
21. New York Telegraph, May 2, 1917, Carroll Johnson clippings file, BRTD RL,
env. 844; Carroll Johnson, “My Little Irish Queen” (New York: 1889; Duke
University Libraries Digital Collections), http://library.duke.edu/digitalcol-
lections/hasm_b0662/; Carroll Johnson, “Wish You Could Hab Seen Dat
Nigger’s Eye” (Rhode Island, 1897; LOC African-American Sheet Music,
1850–1920), http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rpbaasm&fileNa
me=0100/0153/rpbaasm0153page.db&recNum=0.
22. Rice, Monarchs of Minstrelsy, 186–87; Billy Emerson clippings file, BRTD
RL, ser. 3, vol. 450: 152, 154.
23. Billy Emerson clippings file, BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 450: 156.
24. Ibid.
25. Dan Bryant clippings file, BRTD; “Belle of Broadway” (New York: H. De
Marsan, n.d.; LOC American Memory Collection, American Singing:
Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets), http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
h?ammem/amss:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28sb10024b%29%29; “Kingdom
Coming” (New York: Charles Magnus, n.d.; LOC American Singing:
Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets), http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/
h?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID+@lit(hc00045a)); “Limerick is Beautiful”
(New York: H. De Marsan, n.d.; LOC American Singing: Nineteenth-Century
Song Sheets), http://www.loc.gov/item/amss003677/#about-this-item; “I’ll
Never Forget Thee Dear Mary” (New York: 1866; Duke University Libraries
Digital Collections), http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm_b0619/.
26. Williams, ‘Twas Only An Irishman’s Dream, 65; Toll, Blacking Up, 176.
27. Johnny Roach’s When McGuinness Gets a Job Songster (New York: Popular
Publishing, 1880), 26–7.
28. Toll, Blacking Up, 66–7, 115.
29. Wheatley and Traynor’s Dublin Boy Songster (New York: Popular Publishing,
1883), 39.
30. Ibid.
31. Kelly and Ryan’s Hibernian Ballet Songster (New York: Popular Publishing,
1879), 14.
32. Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 49–50.
33. Lott, Love and Theft, 95; Nowatzki, “Paddy Jumps Jim Crow,” 170; Toll,
Blacking Up, 180.
Notes 223
34. Musser, “Ethnicity, Role-Playing and American Film Comedy,” 50.

35. Kelly and Ryan’s Hibernian Ballet Songster, 4.
36. Saturday Evening Post, January 14, 1922, Barry and Fay clippings file, BRTD.
37. “Jews Rich in Humor,” Salt Lake Herald, May 22, 1899.
38. James H. Dorman, “American Popular Culture and the New Immigration
Ethnics: The Vaudeville Stage and the Process of Ethnic Ascription,” American
Studies 36, no. 2 (1991): 179–93; Cullen, Vaudeville Old and New, 1176;
“Mrs. Maas’ Troupe,” Daily Phoenix (AR), February 25, 1875; “Dramatic and
Musical,” Saint Paul Globe (MN), March 6, 1899.
39. Review of Casey’s Wife in Saint Louis Republic, February 3, 1903; “Johnny
Ray, Comedian, Dies,” New York Times, September 5, 1927; Caroline Gaffin,
Vaudeville: The Book (New York: M. Kennerley, 1914), 27–9; Staples, Male-
Female Comedy Teams, 43.
40. Williams, ‘Twas Only An Irishman’s Dream, 120; “Wife Divorces Singer, “
New York Times, April 2, 1925; Cullen, Vaudeville Old and New, 518–21;
Laurie Jr., Vaudeville, 205; “What the Theatres Are Offering This Week,” Los
Angeles Herald Sunday Supplement, March 26, 1905.
41. Rockett, Irish Filmography, 230–40; A Dutchman in Ireland is included in a
list of scripts from Tony Pastor’s Opera House, BRTD TP, T-MSS 1995–028,
b1.f8; Theatre programs, BRTD TP, T-MSS 1995–028, b5; Fields, Tony
Pastor, 96; Go West, or The Emigrant Palace Car, HRC TP, b6.f6.
42. Lannigan’s Ball Songster (New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1863), 53–4.
43. J. K. Emmet’s Love of the Shamrock Songster, (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1882), 40.
44. Timothy J. Meagher, “Abie’s Irish Enemy: Irish and Jews, Social and Political
Realities and Media Representations,” in Screening Irish-America: Representing
Irish-America in Film and Television, ed. Ruth Barton (Dublin: Irish Academic
Press, 2009), 47; Thomas Cripps, “The Movie Jew as an Image of Assimilation,
1903–1927,” Journal of Popular Film 4, no. 3 (1975): 201.
45. “The Stage All Around the World,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 21, 1898;
“New American Plays,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 19, 1899; Casey’s Wife
clippings file, BRTD.
46. “New American Plays,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 19, 1899.
47. Irish Pawnbrokers clippings file, BRTD; Johnny Roach’s When McGuinness
Gets a Job Songster, 39.
48. Snyder, Voice of the City, 111; Laurie Jr., Vaudeville, 223.
49. New York Telegraph, September 6, 1911, included in Four Mortons clippings
file, BRTD RL, env. 1554.
50. “Vaudeville in Yiddish,” New York Dramatic Mirror, December 19, 1903.
51. “Row in a Philadelphia Theatre: Irishmen Greet ‘McSwiggan’s Parliament’
with Hisses and Stale Eggs,” New York Sun, April 30, 1887.
52. “The Theatre Doors Shut: ‘McSwiggan’s Parliament’ Not Again Performed,”
New York Times, April 30, 1887.
53. Ibid.
224 Notes
54. “Waterbury Irishmen Won’t Witness Offensive Caricatures of Hibernians on

the Vaudeville Stage,” New York Tribune, December 21, 1902; “The Stage
Irishman,” New York Times, May 11, 1902.
55. “Billy Barry, The Comedian,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 4, 1898; “The
Rising Generation,” Scranton Tribune (PA), January 8, 1898.
56. “The Stage,” Washington Times Part 2 (DC), January 16, 1898.
57. Cullen, Vaudeville Old and New, 960.
58. Williams, ‘Twas Only An Irishman’s Dream, 158; Cullen, Vaudeville Old and
New, 484, 961, 407.
59. “Variety: The Class of Amusement Known by that Title,” Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, January 21, 1877; Snyder, Voice of the City, 48; Laurie Jr., Vaudeville,
18, 82; Gilbert, American Vaudeville, 62.
60. “The Will of Barney Williams,” New York Times, May 5, 1876; “Amusements,”
Daily National Republican (DC), January 29, 1863.
61. “Amusements,” Daily National Republican, February 4, 1863.
62. “A New Irish Comedian,” Daily National Republican, July 28, 1864;
“Amusements,” Daily National Republican, August 6, 1864; “Dramatic,” New
York Times, January 4, 1874; James H. Dorman, “American Popular Culture
and the New Immigration Ethnics: The Vaudeville Stage and the Process of
Ethnic Ascription,” American Studies 36, no. 2 (1991): 186.
63. “Colony of Actors,” St Paul Globe (MN), August 18, 1901; Cullen, Vaudeville
Old and New, 631.
64. “High-Class Vaudeville,” Sunday Herald and Weekly National Intelligencer
(DC), December 6, 1891.
65. “Hyde and Behman’s Theatre,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 2, 1888; “Harry
Kernell is Dead,” New York Times, March 14, 1893; New York Spirit of the Times,
March 18, 1893, Harry Kernell scrapbook, BRTD TW MWEZ+++n.c.4526;
“John Kernell, Actor, Dead,” New York Times, December 20, 1903.
66. Harry A. Kernell, letter to the editor, New York Tribune, January 11, 1922;
Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster (New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1875),
4; New York Clipper 1881/82, 456, 548 (Fulton History), http://www.fulton-
history.com/Fulton.html.
67. “Amusements,” St Paul Daily Globe (MN), April 24, 1880; New York Clipper
1887/88, 94 (Fulton History), http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html;
“Sam Rickey Wasting Away,” New York Times, September 8, 1885.
68. “Hogan’s Alley,” St Paul Appeal (MN), March 19, 1898; “Linden Theater
Re-opens,” Scranton Tribune (PA), April 12, 1898; “Amusements,” New York
Sun, June 11, 1899; “Advertisements,” San Francisco Call, February 13, 1899;
“At the Theaters,” Saint Paul Globe (MN), December 24, 1899.
69. “How Audiences Affect Actors,” Minneapolis Journal, January 4, 1905.
70. “At the Theaters,” Minneapolis Journal , March 5, 1904; New York Mirror,
December 23, 1893, Bobby Gaylor clippings file, BRTD; “Variety at the Star
Theatre,” New York Times, March 27, 1888; “Comic Opera Invasion, “ New
York Evening World, May 18, 1889; “The Theatres Next Week,” New York
Notes 225
Evening World (NY), May 25, 1889; New York Dramatic Mirror 1890/92, 4
(Fulton History), http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html.
71. “Theatrical Notes,” Paducah Evening Sun (KY), November 11, 1905;
“Entertainment and Social,” Daily Capital Journal (Salem, OR), March 31,
1896; “At the Theatres,” Saint Paul Globe (MN), March 8, 1897; “Mirth
Reigns at California: Murray and Mack Delight Audiences with Comicalities,”
San Francisco Call , February 24, 1902; “Amusements,” Yakima Herald (WA),
February 18, 1903.
72. “A Long, Sad Farewell,” Broadway Weekly, May 21, 1903, Dan McAvoy clip-
pings file, BRTD RL, env. 1376.
73. “Utica is Pleased with Dan McAvoy,” 1904, Dan McAvoy clippings file,
BRTD RL, env. 1376.
74. “McAvoy Defends His Stage Mayor,” December 30, 1904, Dan McAvoy clip-
pings file, BRTD RL, env. 1376.
75. Ibid.
76. Undated clipping, Dan McAvoy clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1376.
77. “McAvoy’s Face is a Legal Issue,” December 28, 1904, Dan McAvoy clippings
file, BRTD RL, env. 1376.
78. “The Stage Irishman,” The Gaelic American, January 7, 1905.
79.. Ibid.
80. Armond Fields, Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles (London,
McFarland, 2006), 14.
81. Annie Hart clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 629.
82. “New Advertisements,” Pittsburgh Dispatch (second part), February 15, 1891;
Don Meade, “Kitty O’Neil and Her ‘Champion Jig’: An Irish Dancer on
the New York Stage,” New Hibernia Review 6, no. 3 (2002); Gracie Emmett
scrapbook, BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 451: 3–28; “Gracie Emmett, Appeared in
One Comedy Role in US for 5,000 Times,” New York Times, June 11, 1940.
83. Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 84; “Hopkins’ Trans-Oceanic Star
Specialty Co.,” Marietta Daily Leader (OH), February 17, 1898; “Hyde and
Behman’s,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 26, 1898; Cullen, Vaudeville Old and
New, 1103–05; James and Fannie Donovan clippings file, BRTD RL, ser. 2,
vol. 128: 97; Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 86–7.
84. Toledo Blade, February 21, 1921, Mortons’ clipping file, BRTD RL, env. 1554.
85. Boston Transcript, May 13, 1919, Mortons’ clipping file, BRTD RL, env.
1554.
86. Mortons’ clipping file, BRTD RL, env. 1554.
3 PERFORMING IRISHNESS AT TONY PASTOR’S

OPERA HOUSE, 1865–1874
1. Eric Ferrara, The Bowery: A History of Grit, Graft and Grandeur (Charleston,
SC: The History Press, 2011), 39.
226 Notes
2. Tony Pastor’s New Irish Comic Songster, 48–9, collected in Tony Pastor’s
Complete Budget of Comic Songs (New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1864);
Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/tonypastorscomp00pastgoog.
3. Fields, Tony Pastor, 33, 44; Susan Kattwinkel, “Negotiating a New Identity:
Irish Americans and the Variety Theatre in the 1860s,” in Interrogating
America Through Theatre and Performance, ed. William W. Demastes and Iris
Smith Fischer (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 48–9.
4. BRTD TP T-MSS 1995–028, b1.f8. The twenty-two plays concerned with
Ireland and the Irish are: Stephens’ Escape, or English Rule in Ireland (January
and April 1866); Ireland in 1866 (March 1866); The Heart of Erin, or Men of
‘98 (December 1866); Hills of Kerry (March 1867); Irishman in Greece (April
1867 and March 1872); Ireland’s Champion, or O’Donnell of the Hills (October
1867); For Ireland, or The Wearing of the Green (March 1868); Jonathan Wild,
or Jack Sheppard in Ireland (August 1868); Ireland After Dark, or Dead O’
Night Boys (November 1868); Irish Hearts and Irish Homes (February 1869);
The Chieftain’s Daughter, or The Irish Insurgent (April 1869); Life in Ireland,
or The Fair of Clogheen (May 1869 and March 1874); Cormac of the Cave, or
Heart of an Irishman (November 1869); Dutchman in Ireland (January 1870);
Irish Insurgent (January 1870); The Fenian’s Oath, or The Idiot of Killarney
(February 1870); Irishman in Cuba (March 1870); Exile of Erin (March 1870);
Dan Donnelly, Champion of Ireland (May 1870, May 1871, January 1873
and March 1884); Don’t Go Molly Darling, described as “an Irish sketch”
(1872); The Green above the Red (undated, but also described as an “Irish
drama”); and Mac Morgh, or Dan Rhua (also undated). The additional three
plays whose titles point to at least some Irish characters are: Shan McCollum
(February 1867); The Magic Mirror, or Reilly’s Adventures Among the Turks
(November 1867); and Dare Devil Pat, or The Dashing Rider of the Plains
(February 1873).
5. Kattwinkel, “Negotiating a New Identity,” 51. The American-set plays identi-
fied by Kattwinkel as featuring Irish characters are: Kidnapped, or The Stolen
Child (n.d); Match Girl of New York (n.d); Uncle Sam’s Veterans, or The Soldiers’
Return (1866); New York Volunteers (1867); New York Before and After Dark
(1868); High Life and Low Life, or Scenes in New York (1869); Toil (1871); and
The Tenth Ward by Day and Night (February and November 1873).
6. The twelve surviving scripts are Cormac of the Cave, HRC TP b2.f6; Dan
Donnelly, Champion of Ireland, HRC TP b3.f1–2; Don’t Go Molly Darling,
An Irish Sketch, HRC TP b3.f5; Hills of Kerry, HRC TP b7.f5; The Idiot of
Killarney, or The Fenian’s Oath, a Drama in Two Acts , HRC TP b7.f6; Ireland
in 1866, or The Dark Hour Before the Dawn, a Drama in One Act, HRC
TP b8.f2; Ireland’s Champion, HRC TP b8.f3; Irishman in Cuba, HRC TP
b8.f5; Irishman in Greece, by John F. Poole, HRC TP b8.f6; Life in Ireland, or
The Fair of Clogheen, HRC TP b10.f3; Might and Right, or The Days of 76 , A
National Drama in One Act, HRC TP b12.f2; The Steerage, or Life on the Briny
Deep, an Original Dramatic Composition, HRC TP b16.f5.
Notes 227
7. BRTD TP T-MSS 1995–028, b1.f8.

8. Kenny, The American Irish, 172, 175.
9. Fields, Tony Pastor, 33, 42, 44.
10. “City Amusements,” New York Herald, December 7, 1865.
11. “Amusements,” New York Herald, January 8, 1866.
12. Fields, Tony Pastor, 47.
13. Fields, Tony Pastor, 49.
14. “Amusements,” New York Herald, September 25, 1866.
15. Kattwinkel, “Negotiating a New Identity,” 54.
16. Pierce Egan, Boxiana; Or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism: From
the championship of Cribb to the present time, vol. 2 (London: George Virtue,
1824), 388–94.
17. Kattwinkel, Tony Pastor Presents, 207–23, 245–63, 265–80.
18. Kattwinkel, “Negotiating a New Identity,” 54.
19. Barton, Irish National Cinema, 22.
4 REPRESENTATIONS OF IRISH MASCULINITY IN

VAUDEVILLE
1. Joane Nagel, “Masculinity and Nationalism: Gender and Sexuality in the
Making of Nations,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 21, no. 2 (1998): 251; Gail
Bederman, Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in
the United States, 1880–1917 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 11.
2. Michael S. Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History, 2nd edn. (New
York: Oxford University Press: 2006), 58, 4, 23; Patricia Kelleher, “Class and
Catholic Irish Masculinity in Antebellum America: Young Men on the Make
in Chicago,” Journal of American Ethnic History 28, no. 4 (2009): 10.
3. Gibbons, Transformations in Irish Culture, 131.
4. Geraldine Meaney, Gender, Ireland and Cultural Change: Race, Sex and Nation
(New York: Routledge, 2010), 5.
5. Geraldine Moane, “Colonialism and the Celtic Tiger: Legacies of History and
the Quest for Vision,” in Reinventing Ireland: Culture, Society and the Global
Economy, ed. Peadar Kirby, Luke Gibbons, and Michael Cronin (London:
Pluto Press, 2002), 117.
6. Donovan, “Good Old Pat,” 6; Snyder, Voice of the City, 113; Rockett, Irish
Filmography, 230–40.
7. Carl Wittke, The Irish in America, 2nd edn. (New York: Russell and Russell,
1970), 260; Snyder, Voice of the City, 48, 114; Cullen, Vaudeville Old and New,
624; photograph of Kelly and Ryan, Thomas Ryan clippings file, BRTD RL,
env. 1987.
9. Billy Wylie, “Notebook of Vaudeville Songs, Skits and Gags, 1877–79,”
BRTD EC, T-MSS 1929–001, b3.f70.
228 Notes
10. New York Mirror, December 24, 1899, Tom Nawn clippings file, BRTD RL,
env 1594.
11. New York Telegraph, February 4, 1906, Tom Nawn clippings file, BRTD RL,
env 1594; New York Evening World, March 11, 1916.
12. David N. Doyle, “The Remaking of Irish America, 1845–1880,” in Making the
Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States, ed. J. J. Lee
and Marion R. Casey (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 231.
13. Cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 137.
14. “Poor O’Hoolahan” cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 137;
John Kaiser, “Michael Casey and His Gang of Irish Laborers” (Edison
Records, 1905; Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Special
Collections, University of California Santa Barbara) http://cylinders.library.
ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=21&query=irish+wit+and+hum
or&num=1&start=4&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia.
15. Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America, 48; Kenny, “Labor and Labor
Organizations,” 355; Kenny, The American Irish, 156–57.
16. Gilbert, American Vaudeville, 65.
17. Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 1; Kevin Kenny, “Race, Violence,
and Anti-Irish Sentiment in the Nineteenth Century,” in Making the Irish
American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States, ed. J. J. Lee and
Marion R. Casey (New York: New York University Press, 2006), 372.
18. Kenny, The American Irish, 157.
19. Wylie, “Notebook of Vaudeville Songs.”
21. Johnny Roach’s When McGuinness Gets a Job Songster, 3–4.
24. Kenny, The American Irish, 157.
25. “Murder in New-Rochelle,” New York Times, September 16, 1878.
26. Moane, “Colonialism and the Celtic Tiger,” 117–18; Richard Stivers, Hair
of the Dog: Irish Drinking and Its American Stereotype, rev. ed. (New York:
Continuum, 2000), 1, 128–33; Kenny, The American Irish, 136.
27. Stivers, Hair of the Dog, 77, 92.
28. Ibid., 136, 179, 169, 180.
29. Kelly and Ryan’s Hibernian Ballet Songster, 32; Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish
Songster, 40–1.
31. Ibid.
32. Clipping dated May 21, 1911, Mortons clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1554.
33. William D. Hall, An Undesirable Neighbor (1900; LOC, The American
Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870–1920), 4–5,
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@OR%28@field%28
AUTHOR+@3%28Hall,+William+D++%29%29+@field%28OTHER+@3
%28Hall,+William+D++%29%29%29.
Notes 229
34. Rockett, The Irish Filmography, 230; “Keith’s Theatre,” Cambridge Chronicle
(MA), February 6, 1897; “Amusements,” New York Tribune, June 10, 1894.
35. “The Gayety,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 8, 1895.
36. “Amusements,” New York Sun, April 17, 1898; “What the Theaters Are
Offering This Week,” Los Angeles Herald Sunday Supplement, September 3,
1905; “New Acts This Week,” Variety, January 14, 1921.
37. “Joseph Hart Vaudeville Co. direct from Weber and Fields Music Hall, New
York City,” (1899; LOC Theatrical Poster Collection), http://www.loc.gov/
pictures/item/2014635705/.
38. Fieldings’ Tipperary Couple Songster (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1874), 34–5, 38.
39. Harrigan’s Hibernian Tourist Songster (New York: New York Popular
Publishing, 1886), 28.
40. For a fuller discussion of the Minstrel show dandy, see, for example, William
J. Mahar, Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and
Antebellum American Popular Culture (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1999), 195–267; Barbara L. Webb, “The Black Dandyism of George Walker:
A Case Study in Genealogical Method,” The Drama Review 45, no. 4 (2001):
7–24.
42. Melissa Bellanta, “Leary Kin: Australian Larrikins and the Blackface Minstrel
Dandy,” Journal of Social History 42, no. 3 (2009): 677–95; Higham, Strangers
in the Land, 8; Stephen Rohs, Eccentric Nation: Irish Performance in Nineteenth
Century New York City (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 2009),
34–72, 49.
43. Rohs, Eccentric Nation, 52, 29.
44. Fieldings’ Tipperary Couple Songster, 45.
45. J. K. Emmet’s Love of the Shamrock Songster (New York: A. J. Fisher, 1882), 33;
Wylie, “Notebook of Vaudeville Songs.”
46. Harry Kernell’s Eccentric Irish Songster, 21.
48. J. F. Poole, “No Irish Need Apply,” cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s
Dream, 136.
50. Ibid., 7.
51. Ibid., 28.
52. Ibid.
54. Kimmel, Manhood in America, 40–1; Colleen McDannell, “‘True Men as We
Need Them’: Catholicism and the Irish-American Male,” American Studies
27, no. 2 (1986): 27, 29.
55. Martin McLoone, Irish Film: The Emergence of a Contemporary Cinema
(London: British Film Institute, 2000), 174–83; Kathleen Heininge,
Buffoonery in Irish Drama: Staging Twentieth Century Post-Colonial Stereotypes
(New York: Peter Lang, 2009), 267.
230 Notes
56. Harry Lacy, Sam Todd of Yale (1898; LOC, The American Variety Stage:
Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870–1920), 3, http://memory.loc.gov/
cgi-bin/quer y/r?ammem/varstg:@OR(@f ield(AU THOR+@3(Lacy,+
Harry+))+@field(OTHER+@3(Lacy,+Harry+))).
57. Len Spencer and Steve Porter, “Flanagan’s Night Off,” (Edison Records,
1906; Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Special Collections,
University of California Santa Barbara) http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/
search.php?queryType=@attr%201=21&query=irish+wit+and+humor&num=
1&start=13&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia.
58. Steve Porter, “A Morning in Mrs Reilly’s Kitchen” (Edison Records, 1908;
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Special Collections,
University of California Santa Barbara) http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/
1&start=6&sortBy=cnum&sortOrder=id.
59. Johnny Roach’s When McGuinness Gets a Job Songster, 3–4.
60. Dovidio et al., SAGE Handbook, 217.
61. Lawrence E. Mintz, “Humor and Ethnic Stereotypes in Vaudeville and
Burlesque,” MELUS 21, no. 4 (1996): 21; Wylie, “Notebook of Vaudeville
Songs”; Murphy and Mack’s Jolly Sailors Songster (Pittsburgh: American
Publishing Company, 187?), 56.
62. Mortons clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1554; Sheehan and Sullivan publicity
material, BRTD EC, T-MSS 1929–001, b3. f17.
63. Doyle, “The Remaking of Irish America,” 238; Margaret Lynch-Brennan,
“Ubiquitous Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in
America, 1840–1930,” in Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of
the Irish in the United States, ed. J. J. Lee and Marion R. Casey (New York:
New York University Press, 2006), 345.
64. Miller, Emigrants and Exiles, 493; Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream,
135.
65. Blessing, “The Irish,” 531; Wittke, The Irish in America, 60.
67. The Bitter and Sweet of a Traveling Company. n.d., BRTD TP, T-MSS 1995–
028, b1.f19; “Tammany,” cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream,
139.
68. “Are You There, Moriarty?,” performed by Mick Moloney, McNally’s Row
of Flats: Irish American Songs of Old New York, by Harrigan and Braham
(Nashville, TN: Compass Records, 2006).
69. “McGinty the Ladies’ Pride,” cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream,
139.
70. Fergusons’ Aristocratic Nigs Songster (New York: Clinton T. De Witt, 1879),
57.
71. “Theatricals,” St Paul Globe (MN), April 4, 1902; Eddie Girard clippings file,
BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 414, 146.
72. Eddie Girard clippings file, BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 414, 145.
Notes 231
73. Ibid., 146.

74. Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 189.
75. “Gotham Notes,” The Colored American (DC), September 15, 1900.
76. “The Right to Get Drunk and its Effects,” New York Times, July 10, 1867.
77. “The Sound Democrat” and The Mulligan Nominee cited Williams, ‘Twas
Only an Irishman’s Dream, 141.
78. “Old Boss Barry,” performed by Moloney, McNally’s Row of Flats.
80. Ibid., 31.
81. Ibid., 32.
82. Paul W. Hyde, A Morning’s Hearing (1896; LOC, The American Variety
Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870–1920), 1, http://memory.
loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?varstg:2:./temp/~ammem_NE6m::.
83. Ibid., 2.
84. Ibid., 6–7.
85. William H. A. Williams, “Green Again: Irish American Lace Curtain Satire,”
New Hibernia Review 6, no. 2 (2002): 12, 13.
86. “My Dad’s Dinner Pail,” performed by Moloney, McNally’s Row of Flats.
87. Cited Williams, “Green Again,” 13.
88. Snyder, Voice of the City, 114; M. Alison Kibler, “Rank Ladies, Ladies of
Rank: The Elinore Sisters in Vaudeville,” American Studies 38, no. 1 (1997):
109; Thomas Ryan cited Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 88.
89. Hall, An Undesirable Neighbor, 1.
90. Ibid., 8–9.
91. Ibid., 15.
5 REPRESENTATIONS OF IRISH WOMEN IN

VAUDEVILLE
1. “McFadden’s Row of Flats,” New York Times, March 10, 1903; “Irishmen Hurl
Eggs at a Lot of Players,” New York Times, March 28, 1903; “‘McFadden’s
Row of Flats’ is Mobbed in Philadelphia,” New York Times, March 31, 1903;
Letter to the editor, New York Times, April 5, 1903.
2. M. Alison Kibler, “The Stage Irishwoman,” Journal of American Ethnic
History (Spring 2005): 15; “‘McFadden’s Flats’ Quiet,” New York Times, April
7, 1903.
3. L. Perry Curtis Jr., Apes and Angels: The Irishman in Victorian Caricature
(Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997), 25; Meaney, Gender,
Ireland and Cultural Change, 5, 21–40; Catherine Nash, “Embodied Irish: Gender,
Sexuality and Irish Identities,” in In Search of Ireland: A Cultural Geography, ed.
Brian Graham (London: Routledge, 1997), 114; Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch,
“Landscape, Space and Gender: Their Role in the Construction of Female Identity
in Newly-Independent Ireland,” Canadian Woman Studies 17, no. 3 (1997): 26.
232 Notes
4. “Girl to Show the Irish Type,” New York Evening World , December 21, 1904.
5. Barbara Welter, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820–1860,” American
Quarterly 18, no. 2 (1966): 151–74; Diner, Erin’s Daughters, xiv, 42, 72, 46, 53.
6. Rockett, Irish Filmography, 230–40.
7. Maureen Murphy, “Bridget and Biddy: Images of the Irish Servant Girl in
Puck Cartoons 1880–1890,” in New Perspectives on the Irish Diaspora, ed.
Charles Fanning (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000),
152–75.
8. Cited Wittke, The Irish in America, 44.
9. Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 86; Andrew Urban, “Irish Domestic Servants: ‘Biddy’
and Rebellion in the American Home, 1850–1900,” Gender and History 21,
no. 2 (2009): 265.
10. Ralph M. Skinner and Charles J. Campbell, The Bal Masque (1900; LOC,
The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870–
1920), 7–8, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@OR(@fi
eld(AUTHOR+@3(Skinner,+Ralph+M+,+and+Charles+J++Campbell+))+@fi
eld(OTHER+@3(Skinner,+Ralph+M+,+and+Charles+J++Campbell+))).
11. Geraldine Maschio, “Ethnic Humor and the Demise of the Russell Brothers,”
Journal of Popular Culture 26, no. 1 (1992): 81–2; “The Irish Servant Girls,”
June 6, 1896 and photographs of Russell Brothers in costume, Kernell and
Kernell scrapbook, BRTD TW, MWEZ x n.c.4547; Laurence Senelick,
The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre (London: Routledge, 2000),
240–41.
12. “Egg Russell Brothers in a Brooklyn Theatre,” New York Times, February 1,
1907.
13. Maschio, “Ethnic Humor,” 85, 90.
14. Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 84; “Palm Garden Show,” St Paul Globe
(MN), September 20, 1898.
15. George Monroe clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1501; Gerald Bordman,
American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (New York: Oxford University Press,
1978), 101; “Plays and Players,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 23, 1900.
16. My Aunt Bridget clippings file, BRTD; George Monroe clippings file, BRTD
RL, env. 1501; “In Brooklyn Theaters,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 18,
1900.
17. Review of The Never Homes, George Monroe scrapbook BRTD RL, ser. 2,
vol. 280: 99–100.
18. Ibid.
19. George Monroe clippings file, BRTD RL, env. 1501.
20. Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 142–51; Kimmel, Manhood in America, 66.
21. “Rights of Ladies,” cited Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 142.
22. E.L. Gamble, “Girls Will Be Girls,” Gamble’s Vaudeville Journal (Stage
Publishing, 1911; Internet Archive), 7–8, http://www.archive.org/details/
gamblesvaudevill00gamb.
23. Senelick, The Changing Room, 297.
Notes 233
24. Bronwen Walter, Outsiders Inside: Whiteness, Place and Irish Women (London:
Routledge, 2001), 66, 69; Faye Dudden cited Walter, 69.
25. Toll, Blacking Up, 163; Lott, Love and Theft, 164–65; Senelick, The Changing
Room, 298.
26. Senelick, The Changing Room, 297–98; Toll, Blacking Up, 144, 163; Senelick,
The Changing Room, 300.
27. Senelick, The Changing Room, 307–10, 312.
28. George Monroe, “The Luxury of Laugher,” The Green Book Album, 556,
and March 17, 1913 article in George Monroe clippings file, BRTD RL, env.
1501; Kibler, Rank Ladies: Gender and Cultural Hierarchy, 71; Senelick, The
Changing Room, 237.
29. Richard Ekins, “Screening Male Femaling: Cross-Dressing and Sex-Changing
in the Movies,” Chrysalis: The Journal of Transgression Gender Identity 2, no. 4
(1996/97), 47–51.
30. “Brooks Theatre,” Guthrie Daily Leader (OK), November 28, 1902; “Leader
Force Will See Mickey Finn,” Guthrie Daily Leader, October 24, 1903; “The
Plays in Brooklyn This Week,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 4, 1897; “Affairs
in the Mimic World,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 5, 1902; “Stage Fun of
Many Kinds,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 5, 1897; “Brooklyn Music Hall,”
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 10, 1899; “Vaudeville Houses,” Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, November 24, 1901; “Ventriloquist and Other Novelties in Vaudeville,”
St Louis Republic, January 15, 1901.
31. Senelick, The Changing Room, 238; “The Theaters,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle,
April 10, 1888; “The Funke,” Lincoln Courier (NE), November 25, 1899.
32. “Theaters,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 7, 1889.
33. Kibler, Rank Ladies: Gender and Cultural Hierarchy, 69–71.
34. Kibler, “Rank Ladies, Ladies of Rank,” 103–05.
35. Walter, Outsiders Inside, 19; Meaney, Gender, Ireland and Cultural Change,
22; Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 41–9.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid., 27.
40. Ibid.
41. Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 55, 113; Stivers, Hair of the Dog, 187–89.
42. Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 111.
43. Johnny Roach’s Centennial Come and Join the Band Songster (New York: Robert
M. De Witt, 1876), 18.
44. Albert Campbell and Bob Roberts, “Come Down McGinty,” (Edison Records,
1906; Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project, Special Collections,
University of California Santa Barbara), http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/
1&start=5&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia.
45. Murphy and Mack’s Jolly Sailors Songster, 56.
234 Notes
46. Fergusons’ Aristocratic Nigs Songster, 10.

47. Barbara O’Connor, “‘Colleens and Comely Maidens’: Representing and
Performing Irish Femininity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” in
Ireland in Focus: Film, Photography and Popular Culture, ed. Eóin Flannery
and Michael J. Griffin (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009), 144–
65; Diane Negra, Off-White Hollywood: American Culture and Ethnic Female
Stardom (London: Routledge, 2001), 25–54; Rains, The Irish-American in
Popular Culture, 149–51.
49. Sheridan, Mack and Day’s Grand Combination Songster (New York: Robert M.
De Witt, 1874), 31.
50. Tony Pastor’s Latest and Best 1877 Songster (New York: C. T De Witt, 1877), 36.
51. Wylie, “Notebook of Vaudeville Songs,” 79.
52. Ibid., 82.
53. Murphy and Mack’s Jolly Sailors Songster, 6.
54. “Maggie Cline Dies: ‘Irish Queen’ of ‘90s,” New York Times, June 12, 1934.
55. Meade, “Kitty O’Neil,” 13–14.
56. Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 13–17.
57. Rains, The Irish-American in Popular Culture, 144–87.
58. Ibid., 152.
59. “Nora Kelly, ‘The Dublin Girl,’ Pastor’s,” Variety, August 4, 1906.
60. “Nora Kelly Never Saw Dublin,” Variety, August 18, 1906.
61. Diner, Erin’s Daughters, 94; Lynch-Brennan, “Ubiquitous Bridget,” 332;
Janet Nolan, Ourselves Alone: Women’s Emigration from Ireland, 1885–1920
(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1989), 94; Blessing, “The Irish,”
531; Kenny, The American Irish, 186.
62. “Brooklyn Theaters,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 22, 1901; Gracie
Emmett scrapbook, BRTD RL, ser. 3, vol. 451: 7, 15; “The Week’s Playbills,”
Washington Herald (Part 3), January 19, 1908; “Brooklyn Theaters,” Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, September 17, 1901.
63. Edward M. Favor, “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs Murphy’s Chowder”
(Edison Records, 1901; Internet Archive) http://www.archive.org/details/
EdwardM.Favor-71-75.
64. Cordelia’s Aspirations cited Williams, “Green Again: Irish American Lace
Curtain Satire,” 13.
65. Ibid.
66. Kibler, “Rank Ladies, Ladies of Rank,” 102–03.
67. Staples, Male-Female Comedy Teams, 87, 88–9; “Such an Education has my
Mary Ann” and “Maggie Murphy’s Home,” performed by Moloney, McNally’s
Row of Flats.
68. Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 208; Ada Jones and Len Spencer,
“Maggie Clancy’s New Piano,” (Edison Records, 1906; Internet Archive),
http://www.archive.org/details/AdaJonesAndLenSpencer41–50.
Notes 235
6 CONCLUSION
1. Rains, Irish-American in Popular Culture, 182.

2. Ben Singer, “Modernity, Hyperstimulus, and the Rise of Popular
Sensationalism,” in Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life, ed. Leo Charney
and Vanessa R. Schwartz (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), 90;
Lewis, From Traveling Show to Vaudeville, 317; Cripps, “The Movie Jew as an
Image of Assimilation,” 193.
3. Russell Merritt, “Nickelodeon Theatres 1905–1914: Building an Audience
for the Movies,” in The American Film Industry, ed. Tino Balio (Madison,
WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976), 60; Ben Singer, “Manhattan
Nickelodeons: New Data on Audiences and Exhibitors,” Cinema Journal 34,
no. 3 (1995), 28.
4. Moving Picture World 1, no. 7 (April 20, 1907).
5. Moving Picture World 1, no. 42 (December 21, 1907).
6. Gunning, “The Cinema of Attractions,” 60; Rockett, Irish Filmography, 96,
242–45; Rhodes, Emerald Illusions, 262, 20.
7. Moving Picture World 2, no. 12 (March 21, 1908): 241; Niver, Kemp R., Early
Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress, ed. Bebe
Bergsten: 50, xii.
8. Moving Picture World 1, no. 6 (April 13, 1907): 90.
9. Moving Picture World 2, no. 10 (March 7, 1908): 192; Niver, Early Motion
Pictures, 64; Moving Picture World 3, no. 10 (September 5, 1908): 181.
10. Moving Picture World 5, no. 27 (December 31, 1909).
11. Moving Picture World 7, no. 10 (September 3, 1910): 537.
12. Moving Picture World 4, no. 13 (March 27, 1909): 378.
13. Lawrence J. McCaffrey, “Going My Way and Irish-American Catholicism:
Myth and Reality,” in Screening Irish-America: Representing Irish-America in
Film and Television ed. Ruth Barton (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2009),
187; Nickelodeon 3, no. 5 (March 1, 1910).
14. Moving Picture World 6, no. 11 (March 19, 1910): 442; Nickelodeon. 1, nos.
1/2 (January/February, 1909): 48.
15. C ited Richard Abel, Americanizing the Movies and “Movie-Mad” Audiences,
1910–1914 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 55–6.
16. Miriam Hansen, “Early Cinema: Whose Public Sphere,” in Early Cinema:
Space, Frame, Narrative, ed. Thomas Elsaesser (London: BFI, 1990),
230–31.
17. Williams, ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, 1.
18. Rohs, Eccentric Nation, 22.
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ORIGINAL SCRIPTS
(Note: These are reproduced as per the inventory of the Tony Pastor collection at
the Harry Ransom Centre, University of Texas at Austin. Dates are given if it is
clear when the plays were written. Otherwise performance dates, where known,
are provided in the text).
Cormac of the Cave.
Dan Donnelly, Champion of Ireland.
Don’t Go Molly Darling, An Irish Sketch, by Frank Dumont. 1872.
Hills of Kerry.
The Idiot of Killarney, or The Fenian’s Oath, a Drama in Two Acts, by W. B.
Cavanagh.
Ireland in 1866, or The Dark Hour Before the Dawn, a Drama in One Act, by John
F. Poole. 1866.
Ireland’s Champion.
Irishman in Cuba.
Irishman in Greece, by John F. Poole. 1867.
Life in Ireland, or The Fair of Clogheen, by John F. Poole.
Might and Right, or The Days of 76 , A National Drama in One Act, by John F. Poole.
The Steerage, or Life on the Briny Deep, an Original Dramatic Composition.
FILMOGRAPHY
Caught By Wireless (Biograph 1908)

A Daughter of Erin (Selig 1908)
Drill, Ye Tarriers Drill (American Mutoscope and Biograph 1900)
The Drunken Acrobats (American Mutoscope 1896)
Dutch and Irish Politics (Lubin 1903)
The Finish of Bridget McKeen (Edison 1901)
How Bridget Made the Fire (American Mutoscope and Biograph 1900)
How Bridget Served the Salad Undressed (American Mutoscope 1898)
How Murphy Paid His Rent (Lubin 1903)
Maggie Hoolihan Gets a Job (Pathé-Frères 1910)
Monday Morning in A Coney Island Police Court (Biograph 1908)
My Wild Irish Rose (Warner Bros. 1947)
The Policeman’s Revolver (Essanay 1909)
The Settlement Workers (Selig Polyscope 1909)
Shamus O’Brien (Selig 1908)
The Shaughraun (Vitagraph 1907)
The Truants (American Mutoscope and Biograph 1907)
A Wayside Shrine (Vitagraph 1910)
The Yellow Peril (Biograph 1908)
Index
“Alderman Flynn,” 124–5 “Come Down McGinty,” 149

“All Coons Look Alike to Me,” 42 Conroy and McDonald, 54, 201, 204,
Any Port in a Storm, 118 206
“Are You There Moriarty?,” 121 Cordelia’s Aspirations, 126–7, 157
Aunt Bridget’s Baby, 137 Cormac of the Cave, or Heart of an
see also Monroe, George W. Irishman, 84–5
Crane, Lawrence, 207, 213, 214
Bal Masque, The, 135 cross-dressing, 135–43
Banks, Ellen, 190 Crowders, Reuben. See Hogan,
Bards of Tara. See Kelly and Ryan Ernest
Barry, Billy, 29, 46–8, 190 Cummings, Pet, 53
Barry and Bannon, 196
Barry and Fay, 46–7, 190, 191 Daly and Devere, 59–60, 136–7, 195,
Bayes, Nora, 41 197, 202
“Biddy Doyle,” 148–9 Dan Donnelly, Champion of Ireland,
Bitter and Sweet of a Traveling 85–6
Company, The, 121 “Daughters of Erin, The,” 151
blackface, 30–9, 141–2 “De Southwark Rebolution,” 33–4
Bradford and Delaney, 101 Donnelly and Drew, 191, 192
Bridget’s Word Goes, 59, 136–7 Donovan, James B. and Fanny, 59,
Bryant, Dan, 37, 49, 178, 179, 180 204, 209
Bryant and Hoey, 29 Don’t Go Molly Darling, An Irish
Sketch, 86–7
Carleton, WIlliam, 64, 180, 182, 183 Dooley and the Diamond, 122, 215
Carletons, The, 182, 191 Dooley the Hod Carrier, 45
Casey and LeClair, 207, 209, 214 “Dot Wife of Mine,” 150
Casey the Fireman, 41 “Drill, Ye Tarriers Drill,” 103
Casey’s Wife, 43–4, 203 Drunkard’s Dream, The, 106
Caught By Wireless, 167–8 Drunken Acrobat, The. See O’Brien
Cavanagh, W. B., 64, 71 and Havel
“Chinese They Must Go, The,” 102 “Dublin Policemen,” 121
Cline, Maggie, 58, 152–3, 163, 189 Dumont, Frank, 64, 86
“Coal Heavers, The,” 103 Dutch and Irish Rivals, 27
Cohan, Jerry, 109–10, 181, 184, 192 Dutchman in Ireland, A, 42
250 Index
Elinore, Kate. See Elinore Sisters Gaylor, Bobby, 37, 54, 195, 213
Elinore Sisters, 144–5, 157–8, 163 gender
Emerson, Billy, 36–7 in colonial and nationalist
Emmett, Gracie, 58–9, 156–7, 163, discourse, 24–5, 77, 80–2,
210 95–7, 110, 115–16, 131–3,
ethnic stereotypes, 4, 10–11 145–7, 150–2
dialects, 17–18 and Irish American identity, 93–4,
in early cinema, 18–19 105–6, 110–15, 128–30, 154,
in vaudeville, 16–17, 24, 29–30, 159
40–5, 49 “George Magee,” 110
African American, 41, 42, 71–5, Gerard, Annie, 58, 163, 196
90–1, 140–1 Germany vs. Ireland, 29, 42
“Dutch” (German), 27, 40–3, Gilmore and Leonard, 53–4, 200,
49, 65, 91, 150, 181, 183, 203
184, 187, 188, 195, 197, Girard, Eddie, 122, 215
198, 200, 203, 204, 208, Girls Will Be Girls, 140
211, 215 Go West, or The Emigrant Palace Car, 42
Italian, 41, 50, 65, 91, 103–4, Go West on the Emigrant Train.
117–18 See Go West, or The Emigrant
Jewish, 40–1, 43–5, 50, 203 Palace Car
see also blackface; Irish Goldberg, Leonora. See Bayes, Nora
stereotypes “Grogans, The,” 119
Grogan’s Chinese Laundry, 137
“Fair Irish Girls,” 151
“Faugh-A-Ballagh Boys,” 112 Harrigan, Edward, 23, 37–8, 48, 109,
Fay, Hugh, 46, 186, 190 113, 121, 124, 126–7, 157, 158,
see also Barry and Fay 185, 190, 192, 193
female impersonators. Hart, Annie, 58, 163, 198
See cross-dressing; Monroe, Healey’s Hibernian Minstrels, 186, 188
George W.; Russell Brothers, “Hibernian Ballet Dancers, The,” 40
The Hibernicon, The, 178, 179, 180, 181,
Fenian’s Dream, or Ireland Free at Last, 183, 185
The, 67 High Life and Low Life, or Scenes in
Ferguson, Barney, 199, 201, 210 New York, 91
Ferguson and Mack, 27, 186, 188, Hills of Kerry, 75–9
195, 210, 212 His Honor, Mayor of the Bowery,
Fieldings, The, 109, 111, 183, 185 55–7, 214
Finish of Bridget McKeen, The, 134 “Hod Carriers, The,” 98
“Flanagan’s Night Off,” 116–17 Hogan, Ernest, 42
Florences, The, 178, 179, 180 Hooley, R. M., 36
Four Shamrocks, The, 97, 161, 190 How Bridget Made the Fire, 134
Foy, Eddie, 23, 48–9 How Bridget Served the Salad
Francis, Kittie, 143–4, 212 Undressed, 134
“Full Moons, The,” 38 “How Differend Dings Will Be,” 43
Index 251
“I Haven’t Been Home Since mother, 126, 145–50

Morning,” 107 politician, 123–5
“I Leave Ireland and Mother Because comparison to African Americans, 3
We Are Poor,” 147 in contemporary media, 1
Idiot of Killarney, or The Fenian’s Oath, in early cinema, 19–20, 97,
71–5 108–9, 134, 165–71
“I’m What You Call a Military Man,” see also ethnic stereotypes
113 Irishman in Cuba, 88–9, 93
immigration to US (19th century), Irishman in Greece, 90–1
5–6, 8, 10 “Is That Mr Reilly?,” 102–3
Irish immigration statistics: 5–7
Ireland in 1866, or The Dark Hour Janitress, The, 59, 136
Before Dawn, 68–71 Johnson, Carroll, 36
Ireland’s Champion, or O’Donnell of “Just Landed,” 125
the Hills, 79–82
Irish in the United States Kalem Company, 92–3
class, 7–8 “Kate Riley,” 152
employment, 6–7 Keegan’s Tailor Shop, 50, 183
labor unrest, 101 Kelly, John T., 38, 193, 194, 197
population, 7 see also Kelly and Ryan
racial tensions, 30–4, 102–4, 141 Kelly, John W., 97, 199
religion, 3 Kelly, Nora, 155
settlement patterns, 6 Kelly, Sheila, 132–3
Irish Pawnbrokers, The, 44 Kelly and Ryan, 27, 29, 40, 49, 97–8,
“Irish Servant Girls, The.” See Russell 99, 103, 106, 114–15, 129,
Brothers, The 146–7, 161, 188, 189
“Irish Servants, The,” 185 Kernell, Harry, 37, 47, 50–1, 53, 113–14,
Irish stereotypes 124–5, 162, 185, 192, 195
on the antebellum stage, 2, 4, 8–11 Kernell, John, 52, 197, 200, 211, 212
on the British stage, 8–9 Kernell Brothers, 27, 29, 50–3, 187,
character types in vaudeville 194
colleen, 132–3, 150–5, 159, 164, “Knights of Irish Labor,” 101
184
cop, 120–4, 187, 202, 214, 215 “Laboring Man, The,” 112–13
domestic servant, 134–45, 156, lace curtain Irish, 7–8, 120–8, 155–9
159 Life in Ireland, or The Fair of Clogheen,
drunken Irish, 36–7, 43, 72, 75, 66, 82–3
79–80, 82, 84, 90–3, 98, 101,
104–9, 112, 114–19, 124, 126, Mag Haggerty sketches, 127, 158
158 see also Ryan and Richfield
fighting Irish, 53, 82, 86, 88–90, “Maggie Clancy’s New Piano,” 158
93, 100, 104, 107–8, 111–15, Maggie Hoolihan Gets a Job, 169–70
150, 152 “Maggie Murphy’s Home,” 158
laborer, 97–104 Maloney, Billy, 137
252 Index
“Mary Hughes,” 152 “My Little Irish Queen,” 36

McAvoy, Dan, 55–8, 214 My Wild Irish Rose, 37
“McCormack the Copper,” 121–2
McFadden’s Row of Flats, 131–2 Nawn, Tom, 100, 210
McSwiggan’s Parliament, 46 Nawns, The, 197, 204, 206
“Michael Casey and his gang of Irish Neeson, Patrick, 53
laborers,” 101 Never Homes, The, 137, 139
“Mickey Doran,” 152 see also Monroe, George W.
“Micks,” 109 New York Mechanics, 91
Might and Right, or The Days of “No Irish Need Apply,” 63, 113, 151
’76, 27, 65, 89–90, 93
minstrel shows. See blackface O’Brien and Havel, 108–9
Monday Morning in A Coney “O’Brien’s Raffle,” 107
Island Police Court, 168–9 Ogden, J. H., 49–50, 162
Monroe, George W., 137–9, 142–3, Olcott, Chauncey, 38
189 One Touch of Nature, 100
Moore, Flora, 27, 189 O’Neil, Kitty, 29, 58, 153
“Morning in Mrs Reilly’s Kitchen, “O’Shaughnessy Guards, The,” 114
A,” 117 Our Bridget’s Home, 137
Morning’s Hearing, A, 125–6, 168 see also Monroe, George W.
Morris and Allen, 45 Over the Garden Wall, 137
Morton, Sam and Kitty. see also Monroe, George W.
See Mortons, The
Morton and Slater, 54, 203 “Parade of the A.O.H,” 114, 115
Mortons, The, 59–61, 107, 119, 163 Pastor, Tony, 16, 24, 27, 29, 42, 47,
“Mother’s Last Words,” 147 61, 63–94, 151, 162, 190, 204,
Mrs Bridget O’Shaughnessy, Wash Lady, 212, 214
137–9, 142 “Pat and the Dutchman,” 42–3
see also Monroe, George W. “Pat O’Brien,” 112–13
Mrs Maas’s Troupe, 41, 184 Peasleys, The, 27
Mrs Murphy’s Second Husband, 58–9, “Philadelphia Riots,” 33
156–7, 210 Policeman’s Revolver, The, 169
see also Emmett, Gracie Poole, John F., 63, 6, 67, 68, 82, 89,
“Mulcahey Twins, The,” 109 90, 113
Muldoon’s Picnic, 47, 53, 188, 193 “Poor O’Hoolahan,” 101
Murphy, Mr and Mrs Mark, 54, 59, population growth, 5
60, 209, 210 see also immigration to US
Murphy and Francis, 42 (19th century)
Murphy and Mack, 152, 185, 190 Primrose, George H., 37
Murphy and Shannon, 43 “Purty Pat, the Masher,” 118–19, 149
Murray, Elizabeth, 144, 213
Murray and Mack, 55, 210, 216 Ray, Johnny, 41
My Aunt Bridget, 137 “Real Coon Habits,” 42
see also Monroe, George W. “Representative Irishman, A” 147–8
Index 253
Richmond, Adah, 114 “Tammany,” 121

Rickey, Sam, 53 “Terrible Example, A,” 106
“Rights of Ladies,” 139–40 “That’s My Sister,” 98–100
“Rising Politician, The,” 125 Thornton, Bonnie, 197
“Rollicking, Roving Barney,” 109–10 Thorntons, The, 59
Rooney Sr., Pat, 23, 48, 97, 102, Truants, The, 168
118–19, 149, 182 Two Armstrongs, The, 29
Russell Brothers, The, 37, 135–6, 198,
200, 201, 210, 214 Undesirable Neighbor, An, 107–8,
see also cross-dressing 127–8
Ryan, Thomas J., 127 Unwelcome Visitors, 27, 42
see also Kelly and Ryan; Ryan and urbanization, 5
Richfield
Ryan and Richfield, 127, 157, 205 van Brunt, Walter, 42
variety theatre. See vaudeville,
Sam Todd of Yale, 116 development of
Scanlan, Walter. See van Brunt, vaudeville
Walter audiences, 11–12, 14–15, 17–18,
Scanlan and Cronin, 112, 122, 186 162, 165–6
“Scrubbing Women,” 146–7 “clean-up,” refinement of, 14–15
Settlement Workers, The, 170 development of, 13–16, 49
“Shamrock Guards, The,” 114–15 and early cinema, 18–20
Sheehan and Jones, 27, 186
Sheehan and Kennedy, 203, 205, 207 Waters, Nellie, 144, 202, 209
Sheehan and Sullivan, 119 Wayside Shrine, A, 171
Simonds, Lottie West, 206, 212, 216 Weber and Fields, 41
“Slavery Days,” 38 “When McGuinness Gets a Job,” 103,
“Sound Democrat, The” 124 104, 117–18
St. George Hussey, Miss, 144 “When Us Four Coons Are Wed,”
stage Irish 38–9
on antebellum stage, 9–11 “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs
in British theatre, 8–9 Murphy’s Chowder,” 157
protests against, 46–7, 55–7, 131–2, Widow Dooley’s Dream, The, 137
136 see also Monroe, George W.
Steerage, or Life on the Briny Deep, Williams, Mr and Mrs Barney, 49,
65, 91 179, 181
Stephens’ Escape, or English Rule in “Wish You Could Hab Seen Dat
Ireland, 67–8 Nigger’s Eye,” 36
stereotyping, theory, 4–5
see also ethnic stereotypes; Irish Yeamans, Annie, 206, 215
stereotypes Yellow Peril, The, 168
Stuart Sisters, 151 “Young America and Ould Ireland,”
“Such an Education has my Mary 63–4
Ann,” 158 Young America in Ireland, 68

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PA L G R AV E S T U D I E S I N T H E AT R E A N D P E R F O R M A N C E H I S T O RY

Also in the series:

Appendix: Database of Irish Vaudeville Acts 1865–1905 175

2.1 Theatre programs showing the prevalence of Irish—and

In citing archival material, the following abbreviations have been used:

Stereotypes can function as markers of dominant “ingroups” and mar-

WHO WERE THE IRISH IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY

Whereas up to 1830 the majority of immigrants from Ireland to North

THE IRISH ON THE ANTEBELLUM STAGE: AN

Shakespeare’s Henry V. The character of Teague, the Irish manservant,

Bourgeois’ description summarizes many of the stereotypes associated

Characterized by “change” as well as by the properties of “distinction,” “con-

THE POPULAR STAGE IN

War period. Entertainment in America in the second half of the nine-

The reporter investigating the various amusements available in New York

According to Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, the use of vaudeville

An article in the periodical Midway in 1905 noted that American women

For W. H. A. Williams, vaudeville can be seen as a “theatre of assimi-

nationalities. Thus vaudeville created “a brief community of strangers”

While the strained attempts at meaningful talk appeared hilariously funny

man. In front of an audience that shared similar experiences, laughing at the

VAUDEVILLE AND EARLY CINEMA: A “VITAL

In terms of the end point of my research, 1905 marks an equally significant

Unfortunately it is impossible to recreate this unique atmosphere from a

A small number of Irish American vaudeville and variety performers

I therefore begin in the next chapter by providing an overview of Irish

and 5 I consider how gender might have influenced representations of

Two Armstrongs, “the greatest of Irish knockabout comedians.” An undated

essence, I question whether there is any evidence that these stereotypes

IRISH PERFORMERS IN BLACKFACE

being forced into “the ranks of the destitute self-employed,” working as

in native-born Americans’ attitudes toward the Irish. As well as fighting

There were parallels between blackface entertainment and Irish stage

Oh, de Natives dey went up to meet

In the same songster, “De Southwark Rebolution” addresses Irish animos-

Oh when de mob an’ de Irish nation

But de Irish shoot white natives down,

Saxton refers to four men—Thomas Rice, Dan Emmett, E. P. Christy,

De object of dis order is

Dey took away my boy, he was his mother’s joy,

Of all the happy darkies that ever yet was born,

Each nigger’s full of kissing, for there’s honey in the air.

One possible reason why so many Irish performers entered blackface

It is surely no coincidence that so many of the pioneers of blackface minstrelsy

ETHNIC “CROSS-DRESSING” IN VAUDEVILLE

Charles Musser has referred to the performance of one ethnicity by another

I see you all laugh at us, and wonder who we are,

Variety and vaudeville theatre relied heavily on stereotypes to enable

The notion that stereotypes of one ethnic group replaced those of

Upon my own wird I’ll never flirt,

As I shall illustrate in Chapter 4, flirting, going out drinking (“on a

ludicrous, impossible to be taken seriously. On the other hand, Irish per-

IRISH PERFORMERS AND IRISH ACTS IN VAUDEVILLE

Vaudeville and variety performers, certainly from the early period of my

Mr Barry’s name in this play is Martin McShane, and he is an Irishman with a

In July 1864, Dan Bryant, already an established blackface performer,

Washington DC, a local newspaper told the public to “expect something

Mr Kernell is a favorite and an acknowledged Irish comedian, whose imper-

Figure 2.2 Harry Kernell.

Figure 2.3 John Kernell.

“Ireland’s Kings,” appeared in St Paul, Minnesota, in Hogan’s Alley,

Bobby Gaylor was another variety performer who seemed to make a

In contrast to the “sedate” Irishman performed by Harry Kernell, the