The Beat Cop: Chicago's Chief O'Neill and the Creation of Irish Music

by Michael O'Malley

The remarkable story of how modern Irish music was shaped and spread through the brash efforts of a Chicago police chief. Irish music as we know it today was invented not just in the cobbled lanes of Dublin or the green fields of County Kerry, but also in the burgeoning metropolis of early-twentieth-century Chicago. The genre’s history combines a long folk tradition with the curatorial quirks of a single Francis O’Neill, a larger-than-life Chicago police chief and an Irish immigrant with a fervent interest in his home country’s music. Michael O’Malley’s The Beat Cop tells the story of this singular figure, from his birth in Ireland in 1865 to his rough-and-tumble early life in the United States. By 1901, O’Neill had worked his way up to become Chicago’s chief of police, where he developed new methods of tracking criminals and recording their identities. At the same time, he also obsessively tracked and recorded the music he heard from local Irish immigrants, enforcing a strict view of what he felt was and wasn’t authentic. Chief O’Neill’s police work and his musical work were flip sides of the same coin, and O’Malley delves deep into how this brash immigrant harnessed his connections and policing skills to become the foremost shaper of how Americans see, and hear, the music of Ireland.

Genres: Music

344 pages, Hardcover

Published May 18, 2022

About the author

Michael O’Malley is associate professor of history at George Mason University.

Reviews

[Frank Hoppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It meandered a bit but had a lot of fascinating stuff in it. I loved the mini history of the "Hibernikon" panorama shows! A lot of my "crankie" friends would love to know about it, if they're not aware of this history. I also love the very (too) short bit on the effect that the dawn of the recording era had on both American and Irish cultures. Especially the initial impact of Michael Coleman and James Morrison's recordings! If you're into Celtic music, especially as a player, this has a lot to offer.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went into the book hoping for a mix of Chicago history, an examination of what it meant to be Irish in America, and why "saving" Irish music was so important. I got all three of those desires in at least some measure, though the narrative occasionally swerved to a completely different era or topic. fortunately the author was able to steer it back to the history of O'Neill's work, but it was slightly jarring at times.