From humble beginnings in Athlone, John McCormack was to become the greatest lyric tenor of his day and one of the finest exponents ever of the famous German lieder form. As with all true artists, John McCormack had a unique talent. He had no real predecessor and even today he has no real successor. Quite simply, there was, and is only one John McCormack.

In 1906 in Savona, McCormack made a rather uncertain debut (under the stage name of Giovanni Foli) in the title role of Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz. He then went on to become the youngest ever tenor to sing a major role at Covent Garden, when he played the role of Turidd in Cavalleria Rusticana.

He sang as leading tenor in Covent Garden in fifteen operas over a seven year period. He also toured in Italy, Australia and New York but on the concert platform John experienced his greatest satisfaction. Between 1914 and 1918 he gave about 400 concert performances in the United States, always playing to capacity crowds. John MacCormack had a glamorous career by any standards. He was in modern terms a super-star. His name was enough to attract 5,000 for a concert in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York or to fill the Carnegie Hall several times in any given season. In 1929 he made his only full length Hollywood film "Song O’My Heart". For this film, which entailed in all about two months work, John was paid $500,000. It has been estimated that his income from recordings was £160,000 a year at the height of his career. In all, from his earliest recordings on wax cylinders, to his single sided records and then his many standard "78s’, John recorded over 600 "recorded sides" - a rare achievement indeed.

His performance at the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932 was supported by a choir of five hundred voices, before an audience of one million people. His rendition of Cesar Franck’s Panis Angelicus was relayed into the streets of Dublin by loud-speaker, broadcast on radio and captured on film for the Pathe News.

Today, the name of John MacCormack still commands respect and admiration from music lovers world-wide. Visit Athlone Castle for the John Count McCormack Story.

Goldsmith Country
"Every absurdity has a champion to defend it"

Goldsmith Country gets its name from one of Irelands world renowned 18th century poets, Oliver Goldsmith. Goldsmith’s writings include "The Deserted Village, "She Stoops to Conquer" and "The Vicar of Wakefield". He was reared at Lissoy Parsonage, 5 kms from the village of Glasson. It was his native Lissoy (Sweet Auburn) he recalled when writing "The Deserted Village" regarded by some as the best pastoral poem in the English language. Why not drop in to the Three Jolly Pigeons pub, in the heart of Goldsmith Country, a favourite watering hole with local anglers, poets, writers, musicians and playwrights for many generations. The International Goldsmith Summer School is held annually over the first weekend in June. - Contact (0902) 32374
.Oliver Goldsmith Information