Sir, - With the coming of the Roses Festival the following information may be of interest. In the park not far from the railway station in Tralee there is a monument to "William Pembroke Mulchinock and the Rose of Tralee". Then follows a verse from the song.
The tradition in the town is that the words and music were written by Mulchinock (1820-1864) for Mary O'Connor. She was a servant girl employed in the house where he lived with his mother and siblings. He had fallen in love with Mary. However, as his family was upper class, the romance was frowned upon and he was induced to go abroad. When he returned after some years Mary was dead.
On the other hand, any versions of The Rose of Tralee which have come my way indicate that the music was composed by Charles Glover (1806-1863) and the words written by one Edward Mordaunt Spencer. The wording of the song suggests that the latter was familiar with the area around Tralee.
The British Library in London sent me excerpts from a book of poems by Mordaunt Spencer, published in 1846. Among them is The Rose of Tralee, with a note stating that it was "set to music by Stephen Glover and published by C Jeffrays, Soho Square". Stephen Glover lived from 1813 to 1870 and was, like the other Glover, a prolific songwriter. They probably were brothers. But the index of music books in the British Library indicates that the song was composed by Charles and was registered there about 1850.
Irrespective, then, of which Glover composed the music, it seems clear the Mulchinock was not responsible for either the music or the words.
A further significant point is that Mulchinock produced a collection of his poems in the USA in 1851, but it does not contain The Rose of Tralee. Surely, if he had written it, it would have appeared in his collection.
My belief, therefore, is that while Mulchinock may have fallen in love with Mary O'Connor, other people were responsible for the song. So yet another illusion is shattered and the inscription on the monument in Tralee needs to be revised. - Yours, etc., Jack Whelan,
Claremont Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4.