Sounding Out Chicago
The above is a recording of Dr Aileen Dillane discussing Francis O’Neill at the Irish-American Heritage Center in Chicago. The title of the talk is “Sounding out Chicago in the Read More …
What Would the Chief Think?
Francis O’Neill’s story is that of an amateur musician that took his passion to great heights when many had lost faith in the music of the “Old Country”. How many Read More …
Francis O’Neill Anniversary
Today, January 28th, is the 83rd anniversary of Francis O’Neill’s death in 1936. He was 87 when he died of a heart attack. Anna Rogers O’Neill, his wife of many Read More …
James O’Neill
A talented musician, from Northern Ireland originally, James O’Neill (no relation) was a friend of Francis’s who became his most valuable accomplice in music collecting. In his book Irish Traditional Read More …
Chief O’Neill: The Book
The Chief O’Neill blog is pleased to announce Chief O’Neill: The Book! Coming May 2021 from Somerville Press. This blog has been only a side-line to my main project: writing Read More …
The Boys From The East
I have been struck recently by a number of remarkable historical connections between Japan and West Cork (and even Bantry in particular). Of course, O’Neill visited Yokohama in his early Read More …
Chief O’Neill Traditional Music Festival in Bantry
O’Neill released a major work of historical and contemporary research on the topic of Irish music in 1913 titled Irish Minstrels and Musicians. Not only did it advance the serious Read More …
Upcoming Chief O’Neill Festival
Francis O’Neill Irish Arts Week August 6-10, 2018 8th Annual Irish Culture Summer Program Irish American Heritage Center 4626 N. Knox Ave. – Chicago The Francis O’Neill Irish Arts Week is Read More …
Dunn Family Collection (Take 2)
A second take on the Dunn Family Collection of Wax Cylinder recordings mentioned previously. Shannon Heaton’s excellent Irish Music Stories Podcast episode 18 features an interview with the curators of the Read More …
Bantry Bay Revisited
Return to Bantry Bay. Just as Francis O’Neill returned in very different circumstances from when he left at 16— in his mid-fifties as a newly retired Chicago Chief of Police. Read More …