John "Jack" Judge (3 December 1872 – 25 July 1938) was a

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

songwriter and music-hall entertainer best remembered for writing the song "

It's a Long Way to Tipperary "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed. It ...

". Judge originally wrote and sang the song in 1912, but the far more widely known John McCormack acquired greater name recognition with the song.

Life

Judge was born in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, England on 3 December 1872. Judge's parents were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, from

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

. He was originally a

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, m ...

, and took to the stage after winning a talent contest.''The Tipperary Star'', 7 January 1989 At the time his famous song was written, he was performing at "The Grand Theatre", Stalybridge,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. He allegedly wrote the song for a five

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

bet on 30 January 1912 and performed it the next night at "The Grand". However, many people, including the Judge family, dispute this and say the song was written in his home town of Oldbury. In 1918 he published Jerusalem through B, Feldman and Co. The legal rights to "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" was purchased by a British music publishing company, Feldman, for £5. Harry Williams (died 1924), a neighbour of Judge, was co-attributed as composer. Later in his life when he became very unwell, the company gave him a weekly pension of £1. John McCormack recorded the song in 1914, which gave it worldwide popularity. Judge had recorded "The Place Where I Was Born" in 1915, when he was aged 42 and already a big star. Written before the outbreak of war, this is one of his few serious songs, and is a sensitive comment about the working man's compassion for others during hard times. In the same year he recorded "Paddy Maloney's Aeroplane" and " Michael O'Leary, V.C.", both about Irishmen helping the war effort. As well as songs for the stage, he wrote a number of football songs in support of his beloved West Bromwich Albion F.C. He continued recording through the 1920s. A bronze statue of Judge has been erected Lord Pendry Square in Stalybridge. The recently opened public library in his home town of Oldbury bears his name.

References

External links

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Oldbury and West Bromwich
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Jack People from Oldbury, West Midlands British songwriters British people of Irish descent 1872 births 1938 deaths