"Boolavogue" is probably one of the most well-known songs of Irish history. It sounds as if it sprang from the bloodied fields within hours of the battles and just appeared without human intervention. But, as we all know, such things seldom happen; in fact, when we experience a song like that we give a sort of back-handed compliment to the writer, who has shown an ability to enter the hearts of the participants and performers.

The song in question only surfaces a century after the conflict of 1798 and it was written by a Dublin man of Carlow ancestry with strong Wexford links forged by family and maintained through a love of the county. The man in question is Patrick Joseph McCall, better known as P.J.

His fascinating story has been revealed in this 150th anniversary of his birth by a man steeped in music and history, Liam Gaul. The book,Glory O! Glory O!, is a treasure trove of not only biography and history; it also contains lyrics and music notation for numerous songs and tunes written and collected by McCall. A quick scan reveals his responsibility for so many songs that are sung in pubs, concert halls and festivals and taken to be traditional. A random sample includes "Sailing in the Low Lands Low," "Oh That the Wars were All Over" and "Follow Me Up to Carlow," as well as scores of lesser known but equally cherished tunes and songs like "The Wexford Fishing Song."

McCall was not forgotten, especially in county Wexford, where he inspired a number of Eigses in recent decades, but he was sort of mislaid.

Gaul has brought the man to life again, but not just as a collector and writer of music and songs, poetry and historical articles. The book will delight Dublin readers with its evocation of the city in the late 1800s as we see McCall become involved along with his father John in the commercial and literary life of the inner city. They were intimately involved in the fantastically named Sick & Indigent Innkeepers Society. Both were editors of almanacs that were household titles into the last century such as Old Moores.

We learn from this book that, in politics, P.J. McCall took on and defeated James Connolly in local elections in the early 1900s.

Returning to the musical side we learn more of the traditions of the Mummers of Bargy and Irish mummers in general.

Beautifully produced, lovingly written, including lots of notation as well as lyrics and carefully annotated this is a scholarly tome that will appeal to everyone, especially musicians wishing to broaden their repertoire.