Selena O'Neill 1903
To Selena A. O'Neill.
"The Fairy Fiddler".
Whose sweeping bow on Vibrant Strings,
Brave days of old to Memory brings,
And Thrills our Souls with Strains divine -
Enraptured Slaves at Music's Shrine.
A Volume rare from a loyal Friend,
To One most worthy I gladly send;
Melodic Treasure in Gold and Green -
This Birthday Gift for Music's Queen.
From the Compiler & Editor.
Capt. Francis O'Neill.
Mar 20th 1912
Biography:
Selena O’Neill assisted Francis O’Neill with a number of his collections of Irish music. She began her musical studies at an early age, studying first at the Nativity Parochial School, and then, while still a teenager, at the Chicago Musical College (now the Chicago College of Performing Arts, housed at Rochester University, New York). Though she received classical training, O’Neill—a first-generation American whose father was a fiddler from County Cork—had both a love and an instinctive talent for Irish music, and quickly gained a reputation for her performances. The Captain himself praised her talents in a number of his writings, stating,
“A violinist of phenomenal talent, she is equally proficient as a pianist, and … such is her instinctive grasp of the peculiarities and swing of all varieties of Irish music, that her astonishing ability in playing the most difficult dance music in perfect time and thrilling spirit has attracted wide-spread attention.” (Music Mad)
The “Fairy Fiddler,” as she came to be called, won many Irish music competitions, including the Gaelic Feis at Chicago (1913). Often, she competed successfully on both violin and piano; indeed, her piano renditions of Irish dance tunes were so skillfully played that the participants in the dance portions of these competitions requested that she perform with them rather than their own accompanists. Critical accounts of these events show her immense popularity amongst the crowds:
“‘Miss O’Neill, an accomplished violinist, who could play any piece of Irish music, sustained the introduction with a rendition that created a furor.”
“An exceptional exponent of traditional Irish music.”
“Miss Selena O’Neill’s wonderful playing of Irish airs on the violin took the house by storm, and her accompaniments of the dancing were above praise.” (Music Mad)
O’Neill continued her performing career throughout the 1910s and 20s, and recorded a number of folk tunes with Victor Records in 1928. However, her most lasting contributions to the Irish repertory were her collaborations with Captain Francis O’Neill.
The two O’Neills—who were almost certainly not related—began working together around 1907, when James O’Neill stepped down as the Captain’s transcriber. Many sources list Selena as Francis O’Neill’s niece, though noted O'Neill historian Michael O'Malley has not found any reliable proof of relation. However, it can be noted that O’Neill was somewhat reserved in complimenting members of his own family. While his friends and musicians he admired received effusive dedications, his remarks about his wife and daughters--talented in their own right--are terse, on the occasion that they exist at all. The fact that O’Neill is so sentimental in his descriptions of Selena, then, suggests that he may have been a friend (or even fan) of Selena’s, rather than a direct relative.
Selena assisted O’Neill with transcribing Irish music (which they gathered both by interviewing traditional musicians and by editing existing written collections from as early as the 1830s) and writing arrangements for voice and piano. She assisted O’Neill with three of his collections, including O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland: Double Jigs, Single Jigs, Hop or Slip Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes (1907), O’Neill’s Irish Music: 400 Choice Selections Arranged for Piano and Violin: Airs, Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Long Dances, etc. - Most of Them Rare, Many of Them Unpublished (1915), and Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922; second edition 1924).
Bibliography
Music Mad: Captain Francis O’Neill and Traditional Irish Music - An Exhibition from the Captain Francis O’Neill Collection of Irish Music. 1990.
O’Neill, Francis. Irish Minstrels and Musicians, with Numerous Dissertations on Related Subjects. Darby, PA: Norwood Editions, 1973.
“Preserving Irish Traditional Music in Chicago: Francis O’Neill.” Digital Chicago History. Accessed April 8, 2021. http://digitalchicagohistory.org/exhibits/show/irish-music-in-chicago/the-music/the-music—who-contributed-.
“Selena O’Neill.” Discography of American Historical Recordings. Accessed April 8, 2021. https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103344.
[Biography by Heather Moore]
Provenance:
From the Museum of the Irish American Heritage Center. Thanks to Patrick Callahan for supplying this important copy.
