Meet the Amazing Molly Malone

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Since tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day I found this interesting story online. There is a popular Irish song titled “Cockles and Mussels” and also called “Molly Malone”. It is the unofficial anthem of Dublin, Ireland as well as the sports supporters in the city and has become well-known throughout the world. What is it all about? Well the story is about a time in Dublin when street vendors would get their produce very early in the morning and then spend the day selling their wares in the streets. Supposedly a woman named Molly filled her cart by the quayside full of cockles and mussels and then went about the streets crying, “Cockles and mussels” hoping people would buy the fresh shellfish from her. Poor Molly was not only a fishmonger but also a working girl who died very young of one of the Cholera outbreaks that used to regularly go through the streets of Dublin. Why the people of Dublin particularly adopted Molly Malone I don’t know but there seems to be no evidence that she really existed. Somehow it was thought that there was a historical Molly who lived in the 17th century and was one of the few female street-hawkers of that time. A bronze statue was created of her by sculptor Jeanne Rynhart of Glegarrif. When the statue was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin on June 13th the day was declared to be Molly Malone Day. If you travel to Dublin you can find Molly Malone on Grafton Street still trying to sell cockles and mussels. Has anyone heard about Molly Malone? Do you know this song?