Ryan, Joseph J.

Bax, Sir Arnold Edward Trevor (1883–1953), composer, was born 8 November 1883 in Streatham, London, the son of prosperous quaker parents. His father, Alfred Ridley Bax, was a barrister of the Middle Temple, who, possessed of private means, devoted the greatest part of his attention to…

Butler, Thomas O'Brien (1861–1915), composer, was born Thomas Whitwell in November 1861 in Cahirciveen, in the south-west of Co. Kerry. Details of his early life are scarce but he appears to have been a man of independent means who travelled extensively. His musical education was…

Duff, Arthur Knox (1899–1956), composer, arranger, and music producer, was born 13 March 1899 at 27 Bloomfield Avenue, Dublin. His father, John William Duff, was from King's Co. (Offaly) and worked first as an accountant, later as a clerk in a local tobacco factory on the South…

Hardebeck, Carl Gilbert (1869–1945), collector and arranger of traditional songs, teacher of music, and composer, was born 10 December 1869 in Clerkenwell, London, son of Carl Joseph Hardebeck, an expatriate German and a successful jeweller, and Catherine Hardebeck (née Jones), who was…

Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’) (1917–85), composer and music teacher, was born in December 1917 in Wexford town, the fifth of six children of James Kelly, baker, and Margaret Kelly (née Redmond). His schooling took place at the local …

May, Frederick (‘Freddie’) (1911–85), composer, was born 9 June 1911 in Dublin, son of Frederick May, who worked in the city's Guinness brewery, and his wife, Jeanne. The family were Church of Ireland and Freddie enjoyed a relatively comfortable upbringing on Marlborough Road,…

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Brien, Vincent. View the original entry.

O'Brien, Vincent (1870–1948), conductor, music teacher, and répétiteur, was born in May 1870 in Dublin (where he lived all his life), son of Richard V. O'Brien and his wife, Elizabeth O'Brien (née Halton). The family's musical lineage was strong: the father was an…

O'Dwyer, Robert (1862–1949), conductor, composer, and teacher of music, was born 27 January 1862 in Bristol of Irish parentage; his name at birth was Dwyer. He began his career in 1891 conducting the Carl Rosa Opera Company and then toured with the Rousbey Opera Company until 1896.…

Ó Gallchobhair, Éamonn (Eamonn O'Gallagher) (1900–82), composer and music critic, was born Edward Joseph Gallagher on 30 September 1900 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, the second eldest of at least five children (one girl and four boys) of Edward Gallagher (d. 1918), a Scottish-born plumber and…

O'Leary, Arthur (1834–1919), composer and pianist, was born 15 March 1834 in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He evidently displayed considerable early proficiency as a pianist and this brought him to the attention of an influential patron, Wyndham Goold (1814–54), Irish landowner and MP for Co.…

Victory (Thomas Joseph) Gerard (1921–95), composer and music producer, was born 24 December 1921 in Dublin, son of Thomas Victory, a small shopkeeper who had settled in Dublin and had business premises in Thomas Street, and his wife, Delia Victory (née Irwin), who came from Galway. The…

White, Harold R. (‘Dermot Macmurrough’) (1872–1943), music journalist and composer, was born 12 January 1872 in Dublin, son of Edgar White, an engineer and surveyor. Possessed of a fine treble voice, he served as a chorister in Christ Church cathedral from 1881 to 1887 and…