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his nostalgic collection of Irish ballads and poems celebrates the rich history and culture of the Irish-American experience. Spanning the early 19th century through the 1930s, these carefully selected pieces capture the hopes, dreams, and struggles of Irish immigrants as they built new lives in America.
From the decorous parlours of the Irish middle class to the tumultuous vaudeville halls, these songs and verses paint a vivid picture of a people finding their place in a new land. Iconic figures like 'Irish Molly-Os,' 'Mother Machrees,' and 'Dacent Irish Boys' come to life, embodying the spirit of a proud and resilient community. Many of these pieces, such as 'My Wild Irish Rose' and 'My Irish Molly', still figure in the repertoire of Irish traditional groups. However, they owe far more to the era of vaudeville, music hall and Tin Pan Alley than to any Irish Music Tradition.
While some entries may lean into the "Oirishness" that purists love to critique, this collection embraces the sentimental charm that endeared these works to generations of Irish Americans. For them, these ballads and poems were a cherished connection to the green hills of a distant homeland, a badge of honour in their adopted country.
Compiled with love and unapologetic nostalgia, A Little Bit of Heaven: An Irish American Anthology pays tribute to the enduring legacy of the Irish on both sides of the Atlantic. It is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the Irish-American experience through the power of song and verse.
About the author
Sean McMahon was born in Derry in 1931 and he was educated at St Derrys Columbs College and in Queens University in Belfast. He returned to Derry to teach in St Columbs and taught Mathematics until his retirement in 1988. During his teaching years he staged many productions of works by Shakespeare and modern dramatists both for St Columbs and for amateur theatre groups in Derry. He also wrote the lyrics for musical shows. His literary career properly began with his anthology The Best from the Bell, which was followed by A Book of Irish Quotations and Rich and Rare, an anthology of prose and verse. Over the past twenty years he has written and edited dozens of books, including biographies of Ulster writers Sam Hanna Bell and Robert Lynd, the bestselling A Short History of Ireland and books on all aspects of Irish life and culture, including A Short History of Ulster, The Island of Saints and Scholars and Irish Names for Children.
