On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:14:55 +0000 (UTC), Dennis Ahern <ahern@world.std.com> wrote: > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Dennis Ahern | Ireland Newspaper Abstracts > Acton, Massachusetts | http://www.IrelandOldNews.com > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Can I just check something out with you (or anyone else who's familiar with Irish newspapers)? I'm making one last attempt to write up a truly accurate well-sourced account of my 3xg grandfather before circumstances may force me to give up. I want to send it to DNB, New Grove and various institutions to correct a wealth of misinformation. Frederick Nicholls Crouch was English but enjoyed some minor celebrity as a "lecturer on Irish minstrelsy" - that's his primary description on his lithographed portrait of ca1840 in the British Museum. This career seems to have been based on the huge international popularity of the song Kathleen Mavourneen. It was first published by 1837 in England but its success seems to have taken off when it was published by a major London firm a few years later. He seems to have followed it up with other "Irish" songs to cash in on its success. His memoirs (from a music magazine 1887 Boston, Mass) claim briefly that he lectured in England, Ireland Scotland and Wales (early 1840s? - events have been much rearranged, possibly by whoever interviewed him, so it's hard to be sure.) I suspect that he probably never actually visited Ireland in his life but it's hard to prove a negative. He was sufficiently well known at that time for any visit to Ireland to lecture on Irish music to have been publicised or commented on in the local press - I don't know what they'd have made of him locally. I've never found any reference to it. Do you recall ever coming across any reference to him at all in Irish newspapers? Thanks for any help. -- Phil C.