An illustrated talk by Pat Lonergan on Count John McCormack.
Count John McCormack is the the famous tenor, who lived in Moore Abbey, Monasterevin 1925 to 1937.
He is renowned for his performances of the operatic and popular song repertoires and for his diction and breath control.
He was also a Papal Count. He became a naturalised American citizen before returning to live in Ireland.
Count John McCormack made hundreds of recordings, the first on phonograph cylinder in 1904.
In 1906, he made his operatic debut at the Teatro Chiabrera, Savona.
His most commercially successful series of records were those for the Victor Talking Machine Company during the 1910s and 1920s. McCormack was associated particularly with the songs of Thomas Moore, notably "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls" and "The Minstrel Boy".
After a series of infectious illnesses, including influenza and pneumonia, McCormack died in September 1945 and is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, in Dun Laoghaire–Rathdown, Dublin.
