Samuel Lover

The recorded working language is Irish and English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Dublin, London and United States. Works named in the authority record are Handy Andy. Work by Samuel Lover is recorded in the collections of Nationalmuseum, National Gallery of Ireland and Yale Center for British Art.

Lover was born at No. 60 Grafton Street, Dublin and went to school at Samuel Whyte's at No. 79, which now houses Bewley's Café. By 1830 he was Secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy and living at No. 9 D'Olier Street. In 1835 he moved to London and began composing music for a series of comic stage works. For some, like the operetta Il Paddy Whack in Italia (1841), he contributed libretto and music, for others just a few songs. Before committing himself to a literary career, he enjoyed considerable success as a miniature painter. Lover produced many Irish songs, of which several, such as The Angel's Whisper, Molly Bawn, and The Four-leaved Shamrock, gained popularity. He also wrote novels, of which Rory O'Moore (in its first form a ballad) and Handy Andy are best known, and short Irish sketches, which with his songs he combined into a popular entertainment called Irish Nights or Irish Evenings, with which he toured North America in 1846–1848. He joined Charles Dickens in founding Bentley's Magazine. "When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen." – Samuel Lover Lover's daughter Fanny was mother to Victor Herbert, a composer remembered for many musicals and operettas premièred on Broadway. As a child he lived with the Lovers in a musical environment after the divorce of his mother.

In the 2013 computer game "BioShock Infinite", the Lover piece "Saddle The Pony" (from Rory O'More), is heard in Battleship Bay, where Elizabeth is seen dancing to it. It is performed by an accordion player, a violinist and a pianist.

• performed by Sydney Children's Choir; arranged by Jessica Wells • "The Angels Whisper", from "Storm and Calm" by Hawp and available on YouTube. Original melody and arrangement by Andy Webster.