Chauncey Olcott laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery
REPRINTED FROM 5-13-2010
“My Wild Irish Rose” is among the songs written and popularized by
Chauncey Olcott. Jack McCarrick plays the popular tune at Olcott’s
gravesite in the Hickory Knolls plot of Woodlawn Cemetery on May 9.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR ARCH 22-28, 2019 61
Although I shouldn’t be surprised,
it always amazes me
how the superstars of earlier
generations are so soon forgotten
even when they’ve left behind
such important legacies.
Who can forget such lilting
tunes as “My Wild Irish Rose,”
“Sure They Call it Ireland,” or
“When Irish Eyes are Smiling,”
to name just a few immortal
songs written or popularized
by Chauncey Olcott? His
fame was such in his day that
when his funeral Mass was celebrated
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
here in New York, Mayor
Jimmy Walker, Governor Al
Smith and George M. Cohan
were among the pallbearers.
His name was familiar the
world over. Few know it today.
Born Chancellor John Olcott
in Buffalo, his grandmother emigrated
from Ireland to Canada
when she was eight years old.
The family then settled on the
east end of West Genesee Street
next door to the Clifford Lumber
sawmill on the Erie Canal
in Lockport, New York. That’s
where he’d spend his summers
with his grandmother while in
school and he never forgot his
roots. He returned to perform
in Lockport on numerous occasions
as his fame grew.
The young man from Buffalo
found fame as Chauncey
Olcott, or was it fame that
found him? His career began
in earnest at age 19 when he appeared
in Chicago in 1879 with
Emerson and Hooley’s Minstrel
Company. The following year
he was back in Buffalo with
Haverly’s Mastadons who went
on to perform in London at the
Drury Lane Theatre. Then it
was off to San Francisco in October
of 1881 and soon he was
taking the leading roles in operas
and plays. He was an immediate
success due to his
strong lilting tenor voice.
Chauncey made his debut in
New York City fi ve years later
at the Union Square Theatre.
He performed as Pablo in “Papita”
and starred in “The Mikado,”
“The Old Homestead”
and “Pinafore.” He would, of
course, later also perform on
Broadway. He then returned to
London to perform and study
voice. His real fame, however,
came from both composing and
collaborating on songs that
soon resonated throughout
the world, especially among
the Irish. Among these were
“My Wild Irish Rose” and his
wife, Margaret O’Donovan Olcott,
once told the story of how
it came to be written. It was
on an 1898 visit to Glengaris in
County Cork that a youngster
gave her a pretty fl ower. When
she asked what the fl ower was
called, he said “Sure it’s a wild
Irish rose.” She put the rose in
her album and when Chauncey
asked her for a suggestion for
a song title, she opened the album
and pointed to the pressed
fl ower and said “there’s the title
for your new song.” Many
other Irish ballads would follow
including “When Irish
Eyes are Smiling” and “A Little
Bit of Heaven.” And the songs
kept coming and his fame kept
growing making him a very
rich man.
Chauncey Olcott passed
away at his Monte Carlo home
on March 18, 1932 leaving his
wife and two adopted children.
His remains were transported
by ship, the “Conte Ciancamaro,”
to New York and he was
interred here in the Bronx at
Woodlawn Cemetery in the
Hickory Knoll plot off Chestnut
and Spruce avenues.
BRONX SCENE