John McCormack and Patsy Tuohy at the St Louis World Fair
Ronan Nolan
Revisiting tenor John McCormack's walkout at the 1904 World Fair.
John McCormack's publicised walkout at the St Louis World Fair of 1904 over the performance of piper Patsy Touhey has all the appearances of a cultural clash between emerging nationalism and stage-Irish America. But things are not necessarily as they seem.
St Louis 1904 was a spectacle of technical advance and all-round entertainment, representing 62 nations and 43 states. Built on 1,200 acres in the heart of the city, the official hotel, The Inside Inn, had 2,257 rooms. One restaurant seated 4,800. It may also be remembered as the birthplace of the icecream cone and for the film 'Meet Me in St Louis'.
According to a newspaper account of the time, ‘a syndicate of Jewish speculators’ first pitched for an Irish Village incorporating a Donnybrook Fair, a huge beer garden and camels. Irish-America responded and the bid by wealthy entrepreneur Thomas F. Hanley and the Irish Exhibit Company was accepted.
Work got under way on the Irish Village with many Irish historic buildings, most of them life-sized reproductions, constructed of metal and plaster. Included were the Dublin Parliament House (now the Bank of Ireland), Blarney Castle, and the ruins of Muckross Abbey. There was a 1,800 capacity theatre and a bandstand where the Ireland's Own Brass and Reed Band played daily. The main restaurant, in the House of Parliament...
