“The new Church” – Celebrated in song (1956)

On the 29th July 1956 the New Church opened in East Wall . It was a cause of great celebration in the community , and the  events of that “Grand and Glorious day” are recalled in this song, written by ‘a parishioner’ .

The ‘parishioner’ was Joe O’Grady : 

Michael “Joe” O’Grady (1891 to 1960) was a prolific songwriter whose work captured all aspect of local life , the characters and events he saw around him .The original family home was at  Northcourt Avenue (demolished to make way for the corporation houses) , and he later lived in number 80 Church Road. He was at one time employed by the Nugents , the famous horse breeders , where he worked alongside Fluther Good ( later made famous by Sean O’Casey as a character in “The Plough and the Stars”). He also worked for many years  on the docks, standing every day at the Read alongside his brother Jimmy, hoping to be called out for a day’s labour. The building of the Church was a source of great pride in the community , with parishioners contributing to the cost. Many of the songs written by Joe from this time (copies of which were sold in the Wharf Tavern and also door-to-door for 6d) contained the note – ‘For a good cause’ as the money was donated to the Church building fund.

“…their names will be wrote for a one pound note”

We would like to thank David Whittaker and Margaret Tyrrell for donating original copies of song-sheets, and to the family of Joe O’Grady for their permission to reproduce Joe’s work. 

For further information or to share memorabilia , photos documents etc please contact  eastwallhistory@gmail.com