Daniel ("Dal") McNulty (20 June 1920 – 21 October 1996) was an Irish composer distinguished for his contributions to inspirational church music.

Life

McNulty was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and was blinded by an accident at age 4. He attended St. Mary's School for the Blind, studied at the

Royal Irish Academy of Music Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roy ...

and received a BMus (Bachelor of Music degree) from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1944. He was organist and choirmaster at St. John's Augustinian Church, Dublin, from 1939, where he founded a boys choir, the Austin Singers. From 1967, he took on an additional appointment as organist of the newly opened Church of the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan. By external examination he also became a Fellow of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

, London (1942). His organ recitals were with regularity broadcast on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

and

Vatican Radio Vatican Radio (; ) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, DRM, medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. ...

. It is also for his compositions of sacred choral music, synthesizing elements of Irish folk song, for which McNulty was knighted to the Order of St. Gregory by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1984. He died in Dublin.

Music

McNulty's compositions divide into three periods. These are an early period of sacred choral works; a middle period, consisting almost exclusively of orchestral and instrumental works; and a third period again of sacred choral works. His most renowned works are five masses, the first of which (1968) introduced his late period of composition and his return to exclusive composition of sacred choral music. These masses are still being sung in some

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

churches in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

as part of the Sunday

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

.''The Encyclopedia of Ireland'', ed. by B. Lalor (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2005), p. 681. McNulty's secular or middle period compositions include ''Divertimento'' (for orchestra), three sinfoniettas (no. 1: ''The Four Provinces'', 1957; no. 2, ''The Shamrock'', 1958; no. 3, 1965), two piano concertinos (both 1964), ''Captain Thompson's Exploits'' (piano and orchestra), arrangements of Irish traditional music, solo piano pieces and songs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNulty, Daniel 1920 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Irish classical composers Alumni of University College Dublin Irish blind musicians Irish classical composers of church music Irish choral conductors Irish male classical composers 20th-century Irish conductors (music) 20th-century Irish male musicians