Irish theatrical song

The eighteenth-century playhouse stage was a crucial site for the dissemination of Irish song, and this was especially so in the case of the theatrical works of Irish actor, dramatist, and songwriter John O’Keeffe (1747–1833), in which Irish song was a notable feature. This chapter considers the emergence of ballad opera, particularly in relation to its use of traditional song, and the use of Irish theatrical song as entr’acte entertainment and musical number on Dublin and London stages. In its closing section, the chapter turns to O’Keeffe’s first main-piece comic opera The Castle of Andalusia (1782) as a case study to evaluate how he not only disseminated Irish song via the playhouse stage but also demonstrated an empowered Irish cultural identity by challenging musical hierarchies and presenting a degree of musical equality between different kinds of cultural tradition within English comic opera.