‘Molly Malone’ written as a Scottish joke on the Irish says experts

‘Molly Malone’ was a simple minded Irish girl says historian

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Statue of Molly Malone, at the bottom of Grafton Street, Dublin

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Dublin's most famous lady ‘Molly Malone’ was invented to ridicule the Irish says a leading historian.

'Molly Malone,' the popular folk song about a beautiful fishmonger, was written in Edinburgh in 1883 by James Yorkston and may have been written  for comic purposes says Professor Daithi O hOgain, from University College Dublin.

"In the concert halls during the Victorian era, various races were ridiculed to a certain extent. 'Molly Malone' may have been composed in Scotland to mock Irish people and their songs," he said, according to the Irish Independent.

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"I believe it was a comic song. It was not a tragic story, which was the theme in many Irish ballads."

In ‘'Scealta Atha Cliath,' a new TG4 series airing in Ireland, historical author Eoin Bairead agrees that the name Molly Malone was a moniker for a simple Irish girl in the 19th Century.

The song has become the unofficial anthem  of Dublin people and is sung at every major football game Dublin play and often also at Irish soccer and rugby matches.

The Dubliner's play 'Molly Malone':

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