Aistear an Amhráin – Monto
“Take her up to Monto Langeroo, to you!”
The Dubliner’s bawdy ballad keeps alive the memory of a part of Dublin that was once the most
notorious red-light district in Europe.
The full force of Luke Kelly’s unique voice is what we all think of when it comes to the song Monto, but the story behind the origins of the song is the stuff of folklore.
Featuring original Dubliner John Sheahan, renowned folk singer Barry Gleeson, singer/songwriter Damien Dempsey, musician and folklorist Aoife Granville, historian Ciara Breathnach and the fascinating insights of Monto’s very own Terry Fagan, we delve into the truths and untruths of a fantastic story.
Far from being the turn of the century ballad the Dubliner’s thought it was when they were given it in the early 1960s, Monto was in fact a satire written only a few years earlier. George Hodnett or Hoddy as he was known was a resident pianist in many of the theatres around Dublin.
When the Dubliner’s were looking for songs for a revue they were hosting in the Gate Theatre in 1966 Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew sought the assistance of Hoddy. He offered them a song he said he had found in a skip.
John Sheahan readily admits that he knew nothing of the Monto, which was still a part of the Dublin landscape in the 1920s. Though the area has largely been forgotten which very little physical evidence remaining, Terry Fagan of Monto Walking Tours has made it his life’s work to keep the stories of the area alive. The song takes its title from Montgomery St, which was located in the heart of Dublin’s red-light district of the Victorian age. Monto was in full operation from 1860-1925.
In the 19th century Dublin was very much a garrison town and the authorities were happy enough for the service Monto provided to the British squaddies, who had a lot of free time. Unusually for the times this was an area run by women. The madams of Monto, Becky Cooper, Annie Mac, Meg Arnott, May Oblong, ruled over an area of one square mile which it is said had up to 1600 women working there at one stage.
As one of Ireland’s most renowned ballad singers Barry Gleeson, Monto has long been one of his
favourites, and he takes us through the many references to the people and places of 19th and early 20th century Dublin in the verses – the Furry Glen was a place in the phoenix Park where couples went courting; Buckshot Forster was a much-despised English politician; James Carey was the infamous informer on the Invincibles.
A gentleman called Frank Duff and an organisation he founded in 1921 called the Legion of Mary
made it their mission to save the women of the Monto and on March 12th 1925, the Monto was
raided. 100 people were arrested including one politician.
In just a few decades the area had all been whitewashed out of history by the young Free State. But when you listen to the live recording on the Dubliner’s album Finnegan Wakes from the Gate Theatre in 1966, you can hear the nervous laughter from people in the audience. People didn’t talk of the Monto but here it was for posterity in song.
