Johnny Moynihan & Ronnie Drew - The Night Before Larry Was Stretched (O'Donoghue's Opera, 1965)

O'Donoghue's Opera was an unreleased 1965 Irish film, with the premise set around the traditional Dublin street song "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched" - which tells the story of a man's execution. The song is written in the Newgate cant, which was a colloquial slang of 18th-century Dublin. Versions of the song have been recorded by people such as famous folk song collector Frank Harte for the album "Dublin Street Songs" (1967), The Wolfe Tones for their album "Irish to the Core" (1976), and English New Wave singer-songwriter Elvis Costello in 1996. The song also shares it's name with a slip jig popular at sessions. The song ties the film together, and is sung fantastically by Johnny Moynihan, who would go on to form Sweeny's Men in 1966 alongside Andy Irvine, later of Planxty. Moynihan is credited, along with Irvine (and Irvine's later Plaxnty bandmate Dónal Lunny), with introducing the bouzouki into Irish folk music. Moynihan himself briefly joined Planxty for "Cold Blow and the Rainy Night" (1973), and subsequently replaced Irvine in De Dannan in 1976 (Irvine only being in the band for a very short time) and can be heard on their second album in 1977. The influence of Sweeny's Men and their constituent members (later featuring Terry Woods, later of The Pogues) is very significant in Irish folk music. The film prominently features The Dubliners (at this point without Luke Kelly, but with new members John Sheahan and Bob Lynch), with various songs being sung by them in various scenes in the film, including songs from their first album such as "I'll Tell Me Ma", and a drunken rendition of "Jar of Porter". The Dubliners' leader Ronnie Drew plays the role of the titular Larry - an unpleasant man who's career as a wanted robber is ended when he is caught and put to death. Drew's distinctive voice is put to good use, singing a fantastic version of "The Parting Glass" amongst other songs. The film was shot in 1965 (a year after The Dubliners first album), but was left uncompleted after production ran into financial difficulties. In 1996 filmmaker Sé Merry Doyle oversaw its restoration, and it was first shown at the Dublin Film Festival in the late 1990s.

Added 20 Apr 2026