Capturing O'Neill: Dedication pages of books on Irish traditional music, signed by Capt. Francis O'Neill Main Menu Biography of Capt. Francis O'Neill Capt. Francis O'Neill biography Notes from the Curators Book Titles Key Figures Key Figures Timeline Index of recipients Map Other materials Other materials

Capturing O'Neill

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With the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin and the Ward Irish Music Archives in Milwaukee, this initiative will build an online display of signed dedication pages of books by Capt. Francis O'Neill, gifted to others by the author. Each entry will have a biography of the recipient, and (if possible) a story of provenance for each book. This project will be researched and assembled by the students in Scott Spencer's (University of Southern California) "Irish Music" Spring 2021 graduate course, and curated by by Drs. Aileen Dillane (University of Limerick), Michael O'Malley (George Mason University), Daniel T. Neely (Irish Echo), and Scott Spencer (USC) with the Ward Irish Music Archives and ITMA.

The goal of this display is to contextualise O'Neill's projects and publications on Irish traditional music in the larger Irish experience. This includes placing O'Neill, through his gifts of books and florid dedication pages, at the heart of the Irish Diaspora and its associated political and social movements at the turn of the century; before the 1916 Uprising; and through the 1922 creation of the Free State.

Mike O'Malley has written a short biography of O'Neill for this site, and his book on the subject is forthcoming.

O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903)
The Dance Music of Ireland (1907)
O'Neill's Irish Music: 250 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin (1908)
Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910)
Popular Selections from O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland (1910) [edited by Selena O'Neill]
Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913)
O’Neill’s Music of Ireland: 400 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin (1915)
Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922)
Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody 2nd edition [1924]

Readers can navigate this site through the Table of Contents in the upper left hand corner of this page.

Do you have a signed O'Neill book? If so, we would love to include a scan of the dedication page, as well as your story. You can participate by uploading information and images through this online form, or by sending an email to scottspe@usc.edu for information and instructions.

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