Delia Murphy in the 1930s
(The Capuchin Annual, 1941)
Delia Murphy (1902-71), who passed away fifty years ago on February 11, 1971, was the ‘ballad queen of Ireland’ for most of her life. During her career she collected and recorded nearly four hundred folk songs, the best-known of which were: If I were a Blackbird, Dan O'Hara, The Moonshiner, The Spinning Wheel, Three Lovely Lassies from Bannion, Boston Burglar and The Connemara Cradle Song. Delia was largely responsible for the revival and popularisation of Irish folk songs, encapsulating in her songs the values of her childhood. She sang about ordinary people, their problems, pleasures and values, with love, affection and sincerity. On the stage, especially, she had a riveting presence and had an inborn ability to convey her feelings.
Delia Murphy was born in Ardroe, near Claremorris, in County Mayo, Ireland, on February 16, 1902, after her parents had returned there in 1901 from America. Her father, John, a native of the local Hollymount area, had worked in the Klondike goldmines in Colorado, USA, where he met her mother, Anna Fanning from Roscrea, County Tipperary. They were married in Denver, Colorado. Within two years of returning to Mayo, they purchased Mount Jennings House and estate, the local Big House in the parish of Roundford. Delia was the second eldest of their eight children, seven daughters and one boy. At an early age, she came to know and love the folk culture of her locality, especially local lore and ballads. She was educated at two local primary schools (changing school because of her interest in music), in the Presentation Convent, Tuam, the Dominican Convent, Eccles Street, Dublin, and graduated from University College, Galway, with a degree in commerce. There she met Dublin-born Thomas J Kiernan (1897-1967), whom she married in 1924. He left his employment as an inspector of taxes to become a distinguished Irish diplomat. While serving as First Secretary of the Irish High Commission in London from 1924 to 1935, their four children were born there. The family moved back to Dublin when Thomas was appointed director of broadcasting in Radio Éireann. During this time, Delia sang regularly on Irish radio and at concerts around the country. In 1941, Thomas was appointed Minister to the Vatican, and in 1946 he opened Ireland’s first mission to Australia, serving as ambassador from 1950. Later, he was appointed ambassador to West Germany 1955, Canada in 1957, and the USA in 1961-1964, where he was involved in preparations for President Kennedy’s historic visit to Ireland in June 1963. These moves shaped Delia’s life and career opportunities as she became the diplomat’s wife, accompanying her husband on his missions, but she sang at concerts, functions, and on radio in each country. Regardless of the occasion, Delia always performed at her best and each audience was special for her. She was an extrovert, who loved people everywhere, and took great delight in seeing people enjoy her songs. In Rome, she showed great courage and love for all human beings when she assisted an Irish priest, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty (1898-1963), an official in the Roman Curia, in hiding Jews and Allied soldiers in the Nazi-occupied city during the Second World War. Working together, they facilitated the escape of over 6,000 and deserve to be remembered as the Irish Schindlers.
After her husband’s death in 1967, Delia remained in Canada for a further two years before returning to Ireland. Delia Murphy died suddenly at her home at Chapelizod, Dublin, in February 1971, and was buried in Deansgrange cemetery. A memorial in her honour near her Mayo home, Mount Jennings House, was unveiled on April 25, 1982, by RTÉ presenter Donncha Ó Dúlaing. Aiden O’Hara published her biography in 1997: I’ll live till I die: the Story of Delia Murphy.


Exploring Mayo by Bernard O’Hara is now available Worldwide as an eBook for the amazon Kindle application.
The print version of Bernard O’Hara’s book Exploring Mayo can be obtained by contacting www.mayobooks.ie.
Bernard O'Hara's book entitled Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish is now on sale in the USA and UK as a paperback book at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or Barnes and Noble
It is also available as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).
An earlier publication, a concise biography of Michael Davitt, entitled Davitt by Bernard O’Hara published in 2006 by Mayo County Council , is now available as Davitt: Irish Patriot and Father of the Land League by Bernard O’Hara, which was published in the USA by Tudor Gate Press (www.tudorgatepress.com) and is available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).