GLOVER, Charles – Irish song ‘The Rose of Tralee’ – FOUR CELLOS (easy)

Other Identification:
“The Rose of Tralee” is a nineteenth-century Irish ballad about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called The Rose of Tralee. The Rose of Tralee International Festival has in more recent times been inspired by the ballad.

The words of the song are credited to Edward Mordaunt Spencer and the music to Charles William Glover, but a story circulated in connection with the festival claims that the song was in fact written by William Pembroke Mulchinock, out of love for Mary O’Connor, a poor maid in service to his family. However, in 2019 the Rose of Tralee International Festival, concluded [from the detailed research of Dr. Andrea Nini] that a poem written by Tralee poet William Pembroke Mulchinock called ‘Smile Mary My Darling’ was published and passed off by Edward Mordaunt Spencer in 1846 in his book of poetry ‘The Heir of Abbotsville’, with the air being re-set by Glover from one of his previous ballads.

The Rose of Tralee International Festival is an international event which is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world. The festival, held annually in the town of Tralee in County Kerry, takes its inspiration from a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called “The Rose of Tralee”.