James C. McAuliffe uilleann

James C. McAuliffe

performer; commercial recordings exist

b. Athlacca, Co. Limerick, Ireland circa 1860
d. Manhattan, New York City Dec. 3, 1910

James C. McAuliffe circa 1900? From An Píobaire vol. 4 no. 11 July 2001 p. 1

James C. McAuliffe was the first Irish piper to make commercial recordings in the United States. These were pipe solos on cylinder records, sixteen for Edison and three for Columbia, 1899-1903. "The artist recorded again for Edison on March 16 and 18, 1909, possibly to remake some earlier titles." Most if not all still exist, and the University of California Santa Barbara Library Cylinder Audio Archive has five of them available to listen to on the Internet.

McAuliffe was born in Athlacca, County Limerick. Various sources give a birth year range from 1859 to 1866. He was the son of John McAuliffe and Joanne McCarthy. The family owned a forge in Ireland and also trained horses. Years later James C. McAuliffe's great grandson John McAuliffe spoke with Patrick Lynch, a local historian in Athlacca who believed that "James C. learned the pipes from Pappy Tracey, an itinerant teacher of the pipes who gave lessons in exchange for a meal and a place to sleep."

Family members emigrated to the United States, perhaps in the 1870s. They settled in Hoosick Falls, New York, an industrial and transportation center northeast of Albany, NY, and not far from the state border with Vermont. Many McAuliffes worked as loggers or in lumber mills. An obituary for James C. McAuliffe says "He will be remembered as the drum major of the Mower and Reaper band twenty years ago or less...." This is a reference to the Walter A. Wood Mowing & Reaping Company, an enormous farm machinery manufacturer then located in Hoosick Falls. McAuliffe's death in 1910 puts his drum major activity about 1890.

McAuliffe married Ellen Shea of Hoosick Falls, probably around 1878. They had three children, William, James and Margaret.

Earliest known newspaper mention of McAuliffe as a piper is from 1897, playing for dancers at a lawn party in White Plains, New York, a northern suburb of New York City. There is some suggestion that before this, in the 1890s, he was associated with Thomas F. Kerrigan, the most successful of the Irish pipers in that era. Kerrigan owned a saloon in Manhattan, Kerrigan's Pleasant Hour, in which the waiters were also entertainers, and pipes were often heard. Great-grandson John McAuliffe recalls talking to a man in the 1960s who claimed to have heard James C. perform at the Pleasant Hour. Con McAuliffe (see below) claimed that he "for a long time was the partner of Kerrigan, the famous piper...."

Around 1897 McAuliffe seems to have distanced himself from life in Hoosick Falls. He left his wife and children there and and relocated to New York City, then to Scranton, Pennsylvania, about 1900-06, and back to New York City for his last two or three years.

There are few newspaper references to James C. McAuliffe as a performer. One might expect more references for a professional musician. At the same time, that is, 1900-10, there are several references to piper Con or Cornelius McAuliffe at engagements in the northeast United States. Many of Con's engagements, especially 1900-06, are in northeast Pennsylvania, in the coal mining region around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. He played for dancers at social events, on excursions and picnics, and at restaurants.

Jas or James C. McAuliffe was listed in the Scranton, PA, city directories 1900-05, the first time as "Irish piper," the other times as "musician." The 1906 directory lists him as in partnership with John McNiff as proprietors of a saloon.

One person or two? First, references which suggest they were two people.

Here, a brief article from 1902 about Con. McAuliffe in a Hazleton, PA, newspaper. Hazleton is in Pennsylvania coal country, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Scranton:

Hazleton had two notable visitors in Con. Carbon, the well known comedian and singer, of Wilkes-Barre, and Con. McAuliffe, an Irish piper, from New York City. ... Mr. McAuliffe, especially, is a great character. He plays the genuine Irish pipes, and plays them well. He has been a bag-piper for forty-five years, and for a long time was the partner of Kerrigan, the famous piper, who is known wherever Irishmen abide. McAuliffe is not a wandering gypsy-piper. He is a resident of New York and is almost constantly employed in and about the metropolis, where he is a great favorite, his music being refined and melodious. During the winter his earnings as a piper reach $60 and $70 a month, but in summer, when he is always in great demand at Hibernian outings, his receipts average $200 a month. [$60 in 1902 is equivalent to about $1,660 in 2015; $200 to about $5550]

The article may contain a lot of show business puffery. Con's claim of piping for forty-five years would make him ten or fifteen years older than any other implied birthdate for Con or James C. Perhaps Con was telling the reporter his age. I have done considerable research on Kerrigan, found no mention of McAuliffe. If this is James C., he is claiming to be a resident of New York City at the time he was living in Scranton and listed in the Scranton directory.

The only engagements I have found where James C. and Con are in conflict, one might say double-booked, are in New York City, January-June 1910. James C. is advertised as playing at receptions at Fitzgerald's Hall every Thursday and Sunday night. Con is advertised as playing for the Kerry Gaelic Dancing Class every Sunday evening, 8-11 p.m. Such advertising is not infallible or always 100% accurate, but neither is it easily explained away.

The family is under the impression that James C. died of tuberculosis. The Cornelius McAuliffe death certificate, see below, says he died of heart disease.

Second, references which suggest they were the same person:

US Census and other government records indicate that James C., sometimes known as Cornelius, had two families, that is, wives and children: Ellen and their three children remained in Hoosick Falls or upstate New York, and Sara Whalen McAuliffe and their three children lived with him in Scranton and in New York City until his death.

The 1900 US Census has Ellen McAuliffe, widowed and formerly married 21 years (the 1910 Census has her as married, not widowed), with three children living with her at Hoosick Falls. The 1900 Census records James McAuliffe, musician, living in Manhattan with wife Sarah, married "0/12 years," which I take to mean less than a month.

James C. and Sarah had at least one, probably two children when they lived in Scranton. A Birth Certificate exists for a female child born to them Jan. 24, 1904.

The 1910 US Census records Cornelius McAuliffe, musician, living in Manhattan with wife Sarah, married 11 years. There are three children, Sarah Jr., Brinne [Irene] and James. In this census Irene and James are listed as being born in New York but in the 1930 and 1940 censuses as born in Pennsylvania. If Pennsylvania, then Irene's age and place of birth match up with the Scranton birth certificate. In 1910 the family lived at 2053 Second Avenue. The information was given to the census taker April 15, 1910.

According to his death certificate, Cornelius McAuliffe of 2053 2d Av, musician, died at home December 3, 1910, age 44 Yrs. The cause of death was Endocarditis, a form of heart disease. The place and date of burial was St. Mary Cemetery Hoosic Falls NY, Dec. 6, 1910.

In Hoosick Falls Cornelius becomes James G. or C. McAuliffe, age 49, residence New York, buried Dec. 5. This according to a burial record book of St. Mary's Cemetery kept at the Parish Office of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, Hoosick Falls.

References to Ellen and Sarah after 1910 identify them as widows. John McAuliffe says his great-grandmother Ellen died in Hoosick Falls in 1928. Last reference I have found for Sarah is the 1940 US Census, which has her living in The Bronx, New York, with her married son James and daughter Irene.

Mention of music engagements for both James C. and Con stop in 1910. The last known gig for James C., besides playing at Fitzgerald's Hall, was in New York City, playing for a dance of the Carrickerry (Limerick) Ladies Club, February 12, 1910. Con and "Prof. McAuliffe," who could be either James C. or Con, had engagements in New York City in August. Con's last known engagement was every Sunday evening starting November 6, 1910, for the Limerick Ladies Dancing Class.

John McAuliffe recalls that his family in Hoosick Falls was ambivalent about James C. McAuliffe. On one hand they were proud of his talent and enjoyed his entertaining personality. On the other they resented him for leaving for New York City to play pipes; gone for months at a time, deserting his family.

Francis O'Neill, the great Irish music collector, did not mention McAuliffe in any of his publications. Gossip persists into the twenty-first century that O'Neill considered McAuliffe a "philanderer" and not worthy of mention. O'Neill knew of James C. McAuliffe and had this to say in a private letter, December 1911. The topic was recordings of pipers:

Patsy Touhey

McAuliffe's piping style is not what most would consider the "American" style of piping. No staccato triplets here. Mostly legato, and more use of trills and of regulators than one would hear from, for examples, American style pipers Pat Touhey or Barney Delaney. The rhythm is insecure; not piping at the highest level. McAuliffe seems more at ease with slower music, as with "The Minstrel Boy." The recording quality ranks among the best cylinder recordings I have heard. This may be because of the skill of the Edison engineers, or because of the care with which the recordings were "touched up" in the transfer to a digital format, maybe both.

I am inclined to believe James C. and Con were the same person. A charming, entertaining, restless and secretive man.

Selected References

https://archive.org/details/Mrs.MccloudsReelByJamesC.Mcauliffe1899

"The Minstrel Boy" Edison 8487, 1903
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder2973

"Ball of the Carrickerry Ladies' Club a Great Success." [James C's last known gig] NY Irish American Advocate Feb.19, 1910 p. 4 column 5
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1911 - 0078

Carolan, Nicholas "Seanchas Jobs for the boys" [with discography] An Píobaire vol. 4 no. 13 Dec. 2001 pp. 20-23
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1013&mediaId=25999

"Fitzgerald's Hall ... Receptions every Thursday and Sunday nights" [double booking. ad ran at least from Jan. 29 to July 23, 1910] NY Irish American Advocate Jan. 29, 1910 p. 6 column 6
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1911 - 0054

"Genuine Irish Piper Here." [partner of Kerrigan, money earned in winter and summer] Hazleton PA Plain Speaker Feb. 10, 1902 p. 4 column 3
Newspapers.com

Gill, Emmett "Ceol The Steamboat Hornpipe - Thomas Garoghan" [Garoghan was the first Irish piper to be recorded commercially, London, autumn 1898] An Píobaire vol. 18 no. 4 Nov. 2022 pp. 20-22

"Hoosick Falls, New York" Wikipedia entry accessed August 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosick_Falls,_New_York

"The Kerry Gaelic Dancing" [double booking. ad ran at least from Jan. 8 to May 28, 1910] NY Irish American Advocate Jan. 8, 1910 p. 4 column 6
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1911 - 0025

"Lawn Party" White Plains, NY Eastern State Journal July 10, 1897 p. 3 column 4
White Plains NY Eastern State Journal 1894-1897 - 0628.pdf

"Limerick Ladies Dancing Class." [Con's last known gig] NY Irish American Advocate Nov. 5, 1910 p. 4 announcement column 1 ad column 6
New York NY Irish American Advocate 1911 - 0378

McAuliffe, Cornelius "State of New York. No. of Certificate 35776 Certificate and Record of Death" Dec. 3, 1910
Paper copy from Municipal Archives, New York City

McAuliffe, John [great-grandson of James C. McAuliffe] telephone conversations 2018

McAuliffe, John and Robert C. Murphy "Seanchas James C. McAuliffe" [obituary, Pappy Tracey, Kerrigan's saloon] An Píobaire vol. 4 no. 11 July 2001 pp. 1, 18-19
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1013&mediaId=25997

O'Neill, Francis letter to William Halpin, Dec. 28, 1911. In "Twilight" An Píobaire vol. 1 no. 16-17 Aibrean 1974 pp. 105-06
https://pipers.ie/source/media/?galleryId=1010&mediaId=25889

"Pioneering Recording Artist James C. McAuliffe" [photos, obituary] Tinfoil.com accessed August 2018
http://www.tinfoil.com/mcauliffe.htm

"Report of Birth to Bureau of Health #32407 Name of Father, James C McAuliff Name of Mother, Sarah Whalen Sex of Child, female Date of Birth, Jan 24 1904" Scranton [Pennsylvania] Birth Certificates Nov. 24, 1903 to June 1905 Microfilm Reel 14
From Albright Memorial Library [Scranton Public Library]

"sean an piobaire" post to topic "RE: 19th Century Piper" on Chiff & Fipple Web forum Feb. 14, 2010 [gossip]
http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74200&p=953463

Spottswood, Richard K. Ethnic Music on Records: a discography of ethnic recordings produced in the United States, 1892 to 1942 University of Illinois Press 1990 Vol. 5 p. 2804

University of California Santa Barbara Library Cylinder Audio Archive [McAuliffe recordings] accessed August 2018.
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?nq=1&query_type=author&query=McAuliffe,+James+C

Nick Whitmer
August 2018, correction Nov. 2022