MOLLY MALONE

MOLLY MALONE

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Molly Malone” (also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City“) is a popular song set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become its unofficial anthem. A statue representing Molly Malone was unveiled on Grafton Street by then Lord Mayor of DublinBen Briscoe, during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations, when 13 June was declared to be Molly Malone Day. In July 2014, the statue was relocated to Suffolk Street, in front of the Tourist Information Office, to make way for Luas track-laying work at the old location. The song tells the fictional tale of a fishwife who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin and died young, of a fever. In the late 20th century, a legend grew up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and part-time prostitute by night.[1] In contrast, she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street hawkers of her day. There is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman in the 17th century or any other time. The name “Molly” originated as a familiar version of the names Mary and Margaret. Many such “Molly” Malones were born in Dublin over the centuries, but no evidence connects any of them to the events in the song Nevertheless, the Dublin Millennium Commission in 1988 endorsed claims made for a Mary Malone who died on 13 June 1699, and proclaimed 13 June to be “Molly Malone Day”

Actor: Maria Doyle Kennedy
Written by: Michaela Mcmahon
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