John S. Harney
performer
b. Galway, Ireland circa 1845
d. Malden, Massachusetts Nov. 24, 1902
caption: Irish Bag Piper and Fidler John S. Harney - Patrick Quill
"Fair of Gaelic School a Big Success." Boston [MA] Sunday Globe Aug. 18, 1901 p. 5 column 3
Newspaperarchive.com
John S. Harney was active, mostly in the lower reaches of show business, from about 1885 to 1902. His musical activities were largely confined to the Boston area.
He immigrated from Galway, probably to Boston, perhaps around 1850. Earliest reference to him is in the 1880 US Census, an unemployed laborer living in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Chelsea is just northeast of central Boston. Earliest musical reference is from October 1886, touring as Irish piper with Harrigan's Hibernians. This was a hibernicon, a small-time Irish-themed panorama show. He apparently was the successor to pipers John Egan and Pat Touhey, who had toured with Harrigan's Hibernians in the 1885-86 season.
For the rest of his career he made numerous appearances at dime museums, and had a lasting relationship with the Nickelodeon Museum, Boston. Dime museums were a form of urban popular entertainment from about 1820 to 1910. P. T. Barnum's American Museum in New York City, 1841-65, was the best known. These museums had exhibits of curiosities and natural wonders: sometimes wax figures, as a wax museum; freak shows; lectures and theatre programs. The admission cost was low and the presentation generally held to be "educational" and morally correct, hence the use of the word "museum." In some locations theatrical performances were outlawed on Saturday and Sunday, and advertising these activities as educational and "uplifting" got around the law.
Often Harney would perform with a dancer. Also on the bill, or on exhibit in the museum, would be remarkable things. At the Wonderland, Boston, April 1896, Harney played at a replica Donnybrook Fair. Other attractions included "Melcomb, the Human Pin Cushion ... Pamahasika's Bird Circus. The Alligator Queen. The Albino Princess. And Many Other Features." In March 1901 he could be found in the Nickelodeon Museum "curio hall" along with "[Signor] Ferrari and his rat congress, eight [lady] high kickers, Mme Lincoln, palmist...."
In the 1890s, perhaps because of the popularity of the Irish Villages at the Chicago World's fair in 1893, "Irish Villages" and "Irish Fairs" were run as temporary exhibits in many cities. Harney took part in several of these events in Boston. For example, at the Nickelodeon Museum, March, 1896, 'Genuine Irish Village and Donnybrook Fair; the "Only John Harney, Champion Irish Piper of the World." ...'
Harney also did the usual Irish piper engagements; picnics, excursions, Irish-American social events and concerts. He ran newspaper classified ads in 1895-96, "John Harney, celebrated Irish piper, can be engaged for picnics or for the season. Address 13 Wyeth st. Malden, Mass."
In the last few years of his life he appeared as the piper in full-dress theatrical plays: "An Irishman's Love," "True Irish Hearts," "The Ivy Leaf." These were touring productions, but it is unclear if he toured with the companies. More likely he was hired only for the performances in Boston.
Francis O'Neill described Harney as "an amateur piper," clearly not the case. Perhaps he was misinformed. Or perhaps this is a comment on his lack of top-notch piping skills. O'Neill says that Boston piper William Hanafin "came into possession of Harney's set of Taylor's Union Pipes," perhaps after Harney's death in 1902. A newspaper account of a dance in 1896 says Harney was playing pipes "presented to Mr Harney at the Donnybrook fair in 1886." Perhaps this was a different set, or perhaps a bit of show-business exaggeration for the paper.
Harney's repertoire was typical of the era. In August, 1894, members of Division 2 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians went on an excursion by barge. 'Professor John Harney of Malden, the celebrated Irish piper, was on deck and obligingly rendered the sweet old Irish airs, "The Blackbird," "Boney Crossing the Alps," "The Little Stack o' Barley," "The Connachtman's Rambles," and hosts of others.'
John S. Harney was married to Mary A. about 1866. They had 12 children, of whom 9 were living at the time of his death in 1902. He died at his home in Malden, Mass., and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden. The death records say cause of death was "Ch.[chronic?] Bronchitis;" his obituary says heart disease.
Selected References
"A-Sailing Went." Boston [MA] Post Aug. 6, 1894 p. 3 column 3
Newspaperarchive.com
"The Dime Museum" Lewis, Robert M., ed. From Traveling Show to Vaudeville; theatrical spectacle in America, 1830-1910 Johns Hopkins University Press 2003 pp. 22-65
"Dime Museums " Cullen, Frank Vaudeville Old & New: an encyclopedia of variety performers in America Routledge NY 2007 p. 312
"Everett. The second annual ball of division 10, A. O. H." Boston [MA] Daily Globe April 7, 1896 p. 4 column 7
Newspaperarchive.com
Granshaw Michelle The Hibernicon and Visions of Returning Home: Popular Entertainment in Irish America from the Civil War to World War I Ph. D. dissertation University of Washington 2012 373 p.
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/20658
"Harrigan's Hibernians." Odgensburg [NY] Journal Oct. 27, 1886 p. 4 announcement column 5 ad column 6
http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn85054113/1886-10-27/ed-1/seq-4/
"Plays and Players. Nickelodeon." Boston [MA] Sunday Globe March 24, 1901 p. 24 column 3
Newspaperarchive.com
O'Neill, Francis Irish Minstrels and Musicians Chicago 1913 pp. 328-9
"Prominent Irish Piper." [obituary] Boston [MA] Globe Nov. 24, 1902 p. 8 column 7
Newspaperarchive.com
"Wonderland 11 Tremont Row." [advertisement] Boston [MA] Sunday Post April 12, 1896 p. 10 column 1
Newspaperarchive.com
Nick Whitmer
July 2018