Ann "Ma" McNulty (1887–1970), was a Melodeon-playing vaudevillian. She was widowed in 1928 in the wake of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and determined to support herself and her two minor children. She took to the stage with these children, who were Eileen McNulty (1915–1989), a singer and dancer, and Peter McNulty (1917–1960), a singer, dancer, violinist, pianist and, eventually, a composer of music and lyrics. Known as ''"The McNulty Family's Irish Showboat Revue"'', the trio first appeared on stage around 1932-1933 and through Ma's astute show business acumen they almost immediately achieved a success that lasted for decades along the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

entertainment circuit. The trio eventually appeared regularly on radio and at such venues as the Rockefeller Center's

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

, the Yorkville Casino, New York City's Leitrim House and at Rockaway Beach, Queens. For 16 consecutive years the trio of "Ma" McNulty, Eileen McNulty and Peter McNulty sold out the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

's 2,109-seat Howard Gillman Opera House. In their nearly two decades of music recording for labels like

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, Standard and Copley from 1938-1956, the McNulty family's ''"Showboat Revue"'' released 155 sides on 78-rpm shellac & vinyl. In 1953, they appeared through the then-new entertainment venue of television on

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

's wildly popular Texaco Star Theater. "Ma" McNulty did not appear on stage during her children's earlier duo performances. In 1926, after one theater's "professor" was unable to keep proper time for her children, "Ma" began, herself, keeping time for them from backstage on an old melodeon accordion. By 1928, she had been encouraged to perform on stage with her children. Though by the late 1930s, radio and motion pictures had already there and throughout the nation eclipsed as popular entertainment vaudeville, which had begun in the 1880s, the McNulty family managed to keep the art of Irish "vaudevillian" or variety theater alive on the U.S. East Coast well into the 1950s. The McNulty family had a powerful influence on the development of the Music of Newfoundland and Labrador in its modern era.Osborne, Eveylyn (2013) The most (imagined) Irish place in the world?: the interaction between Irish and Newfoundland musicians, electronic mass media, and the construction of musical senses of place (doctoral dissertation) Memorial University of Newfoundland, Abstract retrieved from http://research.library.mun.ca/6216/ Another testament to the popularity of the McNulty Family was the impressive number of recordings they made for Decca, Standard, and Copley: 155 sides on 78-rpm releases.The Irish Echo, ''All aboard the McNulty Family's Irish Showboat'', accessed 19 August 2015.
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Partial discography

*''Likeable Loveable Leitrim Lad'', composed entirely and performed in part by Peter McNulty *''When I Mowed Pat Murphy's Meadow''
/ref> *''A Mother's Love is a Blessing'' *''Boys from the County Cork'' *''Mother Malone'' *''Along the Rocky Road to Dublin'' *''When Rafferty Brought the Rumba to the Town of Aughnacloy''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnulty, Ann Vaudeville performers American accordionists Women accordionists 1887 births 1970 deaths 20th-century accordionists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women musicians

Partial discography

See also

References