Sweet Molly Malone

What to see in Dublin. Cockles and Mussels. Famous Irish songs. In Dublin's Fair City.

Molly Malone is not just the 'anthem' of Dublin and the city's sports supporters. It has become famous throughout the world.

It tells of a Dublin long gone, when street vendors plied their trade from a barrow having collected their produce from the early morning markets.

In Molly's case (had she lived) she would have selected her cockles and mussels from the bounty landed at the city's quayside each morning, placed them in baskets on her barrow, and set off on her rounds. She would probably have followed certain routes on certain days, and her customers would have listened out for the calls that announced her arrival in their locality.

There is no evidence to suggest that Molly was a real person. Countless people, including academics and genealogists, have tried to find proof of her existence. None has been found.

Her bronze statue, on the junction of Nassau Stret, Suffolk Street and the pedestrianised shopping mecca of Grafton Street, was erected in 1987 and is a popular meeting place for both locals and tourists.

Sweet Molly Malone - Lyrics

In Dublin's fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first laid my eyes on
Sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying "Cockles and Mussels,
Alive, alive - oh".

Chorus:
Alive, alive - oh. Alive, alive - oh.
Crying Cockles and Mussels. Alive, alive - oh.

She was a fishmonger.
And sure t'was no wonder.
For so was her Father
And Mother before.
And they all wheeled their barrows
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying "Cockles and Mussels,
Alive, alive - oh".

Chorus

She died of a fever
And no-one could save her.
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying "Cockles and Mussels,
Alive, alive - oh".

Chorus

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