The McNulty Family

The McNulty Family.

Roscommon Historical Research - Proud to be associated with the Roscommon Singers Circle.

The McNulty archive has been donated to New York University by the family. Follow the link for more information.

The Tamiment Library Archives of Irish America Blog.

The Irish Arts Centre, New York hosted a special concert, "A Tribute to the Famous McNultys: The First Family of Irish Music",on Friday, March 11th 2011 at 8:00pm.

Annie "Ma" McNulty, a native of Kilteevan, Co. Roscommon (below) was the founder of a famous entertainment group known as "The McNulty Family" who performed on radio and stage in New York City and further afield from the 1920's up until the 1960's.

During that time they are reported to have produced 157 different recordings of their music. Annie and the McNulty family entertained the people in America and Ireland for nearly four decades. It is only fitting that she and her family should be remembered in their native place.

The McNulty Family.

The McNulty family of New York was one of the most popular Irish entertainment groups from the 1920's to the 1960's and their records on Decca and Copley were hugely popular in North America and Ireland. The family consisted of Annie "Ma" McNulty and her two children Peter and Eileen.

Their repertoire included a wide range of Irish Ballads such as the rousing "Rocky Road to Dublin", the patriotic "Shall my Soul Pass Through Old Ireland" and the sentimental "A Mothers Love's a Blessing". Also included were a number of songs that they wrote themselves, or for which they wrote the music. These included "Suzy O'Malley" and "The Old Potato Cake", written by Annie, and the famous "The Groves of Kilteevan" for which Peter wrote the music.

Annie McNulty (nee Burke) 1887 - 1970 & Eileen, Annie & Peter McNulty, as they appeared on stage. (© D. Coyne)

The Early Years.

Annie McNulty was born Annie Bridget Burke on 2nd. December 1887 at Cloonmurly, Kilteevan, Co. Roscommon. She was the youngest of nine children. Her father Patsy Burke was a weaver by trade and worked from his home. Her mother was Abby Hanley. From a very early age Annie was in great demand as a singer and accordion player at local dances and social occasions. Her first concert appearance was in Kilteevan National School on Sunday 24th. February 1907. On that occasion she was joined by Maggie Brennan, a dancer, who afterwards commented "A person with only one foot could dance to that music".

An image of the ticket for Annie's first concert (© McNulty family archive).

A photo of Annie reportedly taken before she came to America in 1910 and a family photograph of what may be her mother & sisters from the same period. (Her mother was Abby Hanly). (© McNulty family archive).

Very young Peter & Eileen McNulty and supporting cast. (© McNulty family archive).

Move to America.

In 1910 Annie decided to go to America. She first settled in Massachusetts, where she met and married John McNulty from Drumkeeran, Co. Leitrim. They had two children, Eileen and Peter. They moved to Manhattan and in 1926 formed "The McNulty Family". Their first record was made in 1936. They had a radio programme called "The Irish Show Boat" and were incredibly popular. They worked mainly in New York but also visited Chicago, Boston & Newfoundland. Their last recordings were made in the late 1950's though the family continued to perform into the 1960's.

Copley 45 extended play record with "The Hills of Knock-na-Shee", "Queenstown Harbor", "Fair Roscommon Polka" & "My Charming Nell McCoy" & the standard 45 with "Queenstown Harbor" & "My Charming Nell McCoy". (No date).)(M. Byrne).

End of an Era.

Peter died in 1960 at the early age of 43. Annie passed away at Hoboken, New Jersey in January 1970 at the age of 82. Eileen married John J. Grogan in 1937 and they had two children Patricia and James.

We would love to have more McNulty Family material in our archive. If you have anything - old vinyl records, photographs, newspaper articles etc. please contact us.

The information for this essay on the McNulty Family is mainly taken from "...the lilting sons of country folk ..." by Declan Coyne (2000) and from the authors correspondence with the McNulty family. Illustrations are from P. Grogan, D. Coyne, J. Vesey & M. Byrne. © Copyright reserved. Unauthorised use not allowed. Used with permission. Map is by Google Earth.

The following essay we don't have (if you have a copy please contact us?): Pat Byrne "Stage Irish in Britain's Oldest Colony: Introductory Remarks Towards an Analysis of the Influence of the McNulty Family on Newfoundland Music." in "Canadian Folklore" Vol. 13 - No.1 (1991) - (pages 59 - 68).

South Roscommon Singers Circle present an annual "Annie McNulty" Award as part of the "South Roscommon Singers Festival" held at the end of October each year. The 2007 recipient was Mick Moloney, well known Irish musician & lecturer at New York University, where the McNulty Family archive is now preserved. Mick Moloney is currently working on a CD compilation of the McNulty songs and a comprehensive biography of the family to go with it. It is due for release in 2009.