Marie Narelle (28 January 1870 – 26 January 1941), born Catherine Mary Ryan, was an Australian singer, billed as "the Australian Queen of Irish Song".

Early life

Catherine Mary Ryan, called "Molly", was born at Combaning station, near Temora, New South Wales, the daughter of John Joseph Ryan and Catherine Mary Comans Ryan. Her father was a goldminer and a rancher. She attended a convent school in Wagga Wagga, with further vocal training later in life, in Sydney.

Career

Left to support three young children as a single parent, Molly Callaghan started teaching music to remote students in Candelo, riding her horse between lessons. She soon had a music studio in Sydney, and began performing under the stage name "Marie Narelle", and billed as "the Australian Queen of Irish Song." As Marie Narelle, she gave concerts of Irish and Scottish ballads, arias, and other popular works. She was invited to Ireland to perform in 1902, and took the opportunity to study Gaelic. She performed at a benefit concert in London's

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in 1902, sharing the bill with Clara Butt and

Ada Crossley Ada Jemima Crossley (3 March 1871 – 17 October 1929) was an Australian contralto notable as the first RCA Victor Red Seal, Red Seal recording artist engaged in the US by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1903. Born at Tarraville, Gippslan ...

. During the 1904–1905 season, she sang in New York, was part of the Irish delegation at the

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

, and made recordings for Edison. She toured New Zealand in 1906, toured the United States in 1917, and was heard on Australian stages again in 1909 and in 1925–1926. She gave a concert at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

with both of her daughters in 1921, a fundraiser for the Woman's Hospital Alumnae Sick Benefit Fund. Narelle was based in New York City after 1910, and in England after her second husband's death in 1934.

Personal life

Catherine Mary Ryan married Matthew Aloysius Callaghan in 1891, in Sydney. They had three children together, Reginald, Kathleen, and Rita, before they separated in 1894. The Callaghans divorced in 1909. She married again, to engineer Harry Allan Currie, in New York City in 1911. She was widowed when Currie died in 1934, and she died in 1941, in Chipping Norton,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England, aged 70 years. Narelle's younger cousin

Eva Mylott Eva Theresa Mylott (27 February 1875 – 20 March 1920) was an Australian contralto opera singer. Early life Eva Mylott was born in Tuross Head, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents, Patrick Mylott (1838-1899), an importer of wine and spiri ...

was also known as a singer in Australia and abroad. They sometimes toured and performed together. Mylott is remembered today as the grandmother of actor Mel Gibson.

References

External links

An 1899 image of Marie Narelle
from the

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

.
A photograph of Marie Narelle
in the collection of the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

.
A recording of Marie Narelle singing "Silver Threads Among the Gold" (1905)
at the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive.
A recording of Marie Narelle singing "Doon ye Banks and Braes" (1913)
at the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Narelle, Marie 1870 births 1941 deaths 20th-century Australian women singers Australian people of Irish descent Musicians from New South Wales 19th-century Australian women singers