Eddie Joyce

performer

b. Boston, Massachusetts probably circa 1867
d. Bridgeport, Connecticut Jan. 31, 1897

From Francis O'Neill Irish Minstrels and Musicians Chicago 1913 p. 264

Much can be found out about Edward "Eddie" Joyce's professional career by looking at newspaper references. Francis O'Neill's writings are almost the only sources for information about his personal life.

O'Neill considered him one of the best of pipers, "in many respects the most remarkable performer on the Union Pipes which America has produced." For much of his career he was active in vaudeville and in stage plays.

Joyce was born in Boston, perhaps in 1861, as O'Neill says, or more likely about 1867, according to an obituary. His family was from Galway and his father and other relatives were pipers. O'Neill describes him as "precocious" and "undersized and boyish-looking." O'Neill says also that Joyce was taught by his father, but his musical education was "completed" by study with William Taylor of Philadelphia, one of the finest pipers and pipemakers of his era. O'Neill implies that Joyce spent time in Philadelphia but no other evidence has been seen to support this.

Earliest found mention of him as a performer is in New York City in 1881 in a vaudeville act with a dancer named Murphy. A few entertainment advertisements from the next four years refer to him as "Master Eddie Joyce." "Master" is a form of address for a boy, usually under the age of twelve, here no doubt a show-business exaggeration.

In 1882-83 he was part of "The Tripartate Team of original Irish Character, Dancers and Union Pipers. ... Tom Granger, Rich Coleman and Master Eddie Joyce." For a time, at least, they performed a skit, "The Raffle for an Eight Day Stove."

At intervals in his career he played in vaudeville acts in combination with one or two other performers, one of them always a dancer. But starting in 1885 many of his engagements were with touring stage plays, of which "The Ivy Leaf" was the most successful and longest-lived. "The Ivy Leaf," an Irish-themed melodrama, was first performed in Detroit in August 1885, Joyce in the cast as Teddy the Piper. It is unclear how much acting, if any, he was obliged to do, but he played for the dancers in the performance, and, as was the custom of the time, performed his "specialty," solo piping, during an intermission or interval between two acts.

In advertisements Joyce was described as "the finest Irish piper in this country," which of itself was not an unusual claim. But some reviews of the play indicated his capacity to impress: "Master Eddie Joyce gets all the music there is in a bag-pipe out of it...."

"The Ivy Leaf" Company toured throughout the United States, most of the time in the northeast and north central parts of the country. The company was in Chicago when Joyce became unwell and was hospitalized. Local piper Barney Delaney was hired to take his place. Best evidence indicates this happened in early December 1885. Delaney was a success, and supplanted Joyce in the company, at least for the remainder of the season, through April 1886. O'Neill writes of this in his books Irish Folk Music and Irish Minstrels and Musicians.

O'Neill says Joyce was nineteen years old at the time. "Unfortified by discretion or determination, the train of evils which follow the footsteps of fame soon undermined a constitution never robust...." Joyce stayed in Chicago "many months" "as an honored guest in the homes of his admirers." He was certainly in Chicago as late as January 30th, when he played at a meeting of the Irish National League Club.

O'Neill had a chance to observe his habits and take his measure. Joyce practiced with gloves on, which impeded his finger movement. Once removed, for performance, "he would play like a 'house on fire.' " "For an Irish piper his repertory was not comprehensive, being limited to a dozen or so of each variety of Irish airs or tunes, but all of those he could play exceptionally well on the chanter unaccompanied by the concords of the regulators, which he seldom used."

Dan McCarthy and Kittie Coleman, his wife, were members of "The Ivy Leaf" company at this time. They were highly regarded as dancers. McCarthy and Coleman left "The Ivy Leaf" company and McCarthy wrote and starred in his first play, "True Irish Hearts," which was a success in the 1886-87 season. Joyce was the piper for this company 1886-89. W. H. Power, manager of "The Ivy Leaf," threatened legal action to restrain production of this "pirated version in cheap theaters," but "True Irish Hearts" had a measure of success and was produced, on and off, for many years.

In the early 1890s Joyce was back with "The Ivy Leaf" company, which had a western tour in 1892, including an appearance in San Francisco.

If newspaper references are any indication, he stopped touring around 1893, and almost all of his known engagements were afterwards in the Boston area; playing at social club meetings, a church lawn party, a barbecue. O'Neill asserts that he returned to his home town in "shattered health." His last known appearance was at a Gaelic League entertainment in Boston, May 30, 1896.

Joyce died suddenly in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he had "for some time eked out an existence by playing in the saloons along Water street." Bridgeport is about 140 miles (225 km) southwest of Boston, not far from New York City. He died of "heart disease," about 32 years old. "He had been in poor health for some time." Thomas Tobin, proprietor of the hotel in which he died, paid for funeral expenses. Burial was probably in St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport. "In life the poor old piper always dreaded that he would die among strangers and be buried in Potter's field, and often expressed the wish that he could be interred in consecrated ground."

An obituary in the New York Dramatic Mirror, a show business trade paper, says he "died suddenly in Bridgeport, Conn., on Jan 31" 1897, "twenty-nine years old."

Eddie Joyce owned a fine Taylor set of pipes, and O'Neill says that it was sold to Chicago piper William J. McCormick "in 1897 to defray the funeral expenses." Perhaps hotel keeper Tobin was not as generous as one might think. As of this writing the whereabouts of the set is known; owned and played by a piper in Ireland.

Selected References

"Buried Among Strangers. Piper Joyce Laid to Rest in Consecrated Ground." Bridgeport [CT] Evening Farmer Feb. 3, 1897 p. 1 column 5
Microfilm from the Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

"Deaths Over Sunday." Bridgeport [CT] Evening Farmer Feb. 1, 1897 p. 4 column 4
Microfilm from the Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

"The Ivy Leaf" St. Louis [MO] Daily Globe-Democrat Sep. 29, 1885 p. 10 column 3
19th Century US Newspapers

'Leavitt & Pastor's Combination occupied the stage of the London Theatre this week...." New York Clipper Feb. 10, 1883 p. 762 column 1
New York NY Clipper 1882-1884 - 0326.pdf

"Local Lines." [Gaelic League entertainment] Boston [MA] Daily Globe May 30, 1896 p. 8 column 5
ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Obituary. New York Dramatic Mirror Feb. 13, 1897 p. 9 column 2; p. 17 column 4
New York NY Dramatic Mirror 1896 Dec-Non 1897 Grayscale - 0321.pdf
New York NY Dramatic Mirror 1896 Dec-Non 1897 Grayscale - 0329.pdf

Odell, George C. D. Annals of the New York Stage Columbia Univ. Press 1938 vol. XI p. 530

O'Neill, Francis Irish Minstrels and Musicians Chicago 1913 p. 263

O'Neill, Francis Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby Chicago 1910 p. 31

"Various Meetings." [Irish National League] Chicago IL Daily Inter Ocean Jan. 31, 1886 p. 8 column 4
19th Century US Newspapers

"Theatrical Gossip." [W. H. Power attempts to stop True Irish Hearts] Chicago IL Daily Inter Ocean Sep. 4, 1887 p. 13 column 3
19th Century US Newspapers

Nick Whitmer
July 2018