The person in question is of course that of John McCormack, an acclaimed Irish tenor of his time. Born in Athlone, Ireland he went on to become one of Ireland's most talented singers. He married Lily Foley in 1906 and they had two children, Cyril and Gwen.

Fundraising activities on his behalf enabled McCormack to travel to Italy in 1905 to receive voice training by Vincenzo Sabatini, father of the novelist Rafael Sabatini. Sabatini found McCormack's voice naturally tuned and concentrated on perfecting his breath control, an element that would become part of the basis of his renown as a vocalist.

McCormack made hundreds of recordings over his lifetime, who is celebrated for his performances of operatic and popular song repertoires. He recorded and toured across the world with over 600 recordings across opera, Irish folk, religious music and songs from Russia, Germany, Italy and France.

His success made him a millionaire, he eventually settled in America where his friends included the likes of Errol Flynn and John Barrymore. 

In 2014, the Central Bank released a new 10 Euro coin to celebrate the life of John McCormack. The collector's edition coin was launched at a ceremony in Dublin and representatives from McCormack's home town of Athlone were present at the occasion. The coin was being launched as part of the European Silver Programme, which sees European Mints issue a commemorative coin on a number of various themes, McCormack was the chosen nominee for Ireland.

Produced by Róisín Lorigan and presented by John O'Donovan.

First Broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 - 16 September 1977.

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.