O’NEILL, Capt. Francis. O’Neill’s Irish Music. 400 choice selections arranged for piano or violin. Airs, jigs, reels, hornpipes, long dances, etc. Most of them rare; Many of them Unpublished. Collected and edited by Capt. Francis O’Neill (Ret. Gen. Supt. of Police).

Arranged by Selena O’Neill. Chicago: Lyon & Healy [1915]. Quarto. Enlarged edition. pp. 192. Light green paper boards, printed in green with a Celtic border. Spine repaired slight fraying to foredge. A very good copy. Very rare.
Francis O’Neill (1848-1936) was the Cork-born Chicago police officer, often styled “Captain” though he rose to Superintendent of Police (1901-05), who became the seminal collector of Irish traditional music. Raised near Bantry, County Cork, he went to sea as a teenager and circled the globe before settling in Chicago in the early 1870s. Joining the Chicago Police Department in 1873, O’Neill advanced through patrol, detective and command posts, gaining a reputation for efficiency and incorruptibility; as Superintendent he modernised procedures and recruitment during a turbulent, fast-growing city era. O’Neill’s lasting fame rests on his parallel vocation.
A skilled flautist and whistler, he recruited Irish musicians onto the force, hosted sessions at home, and working closely with Sergeant James O’Neill (no relation), a gifted scribe, rescued hundreds of dance tunes and airs from oral circulation. His landmark volumes include O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903; 1,850 tunes), The Dance Music of Ireland (1907; “O’Neill’s 1001”), Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913), and Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922). These collections influenced players on both sides of the Atlantic and remain standard sources to this day. After retiring in 1905, he continued to champion the tradition, corresponding with musicians and scholars worldwide. He died in Chicago on 26 January 1936, his name synonymous with the preservation of Irish music.

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