| Biography | Joseph O'Mara (16 July 1864 5 August 1927) was an Irish opera singer of the Victorian era.
Born at Limerick, Ireland, O'Mara was the second youngest of thirteen children, born to James O'Mara, the owner of a bacon factory. His mother died when O'Mara was a teenager. He was educated at a Jesuit school, the Crescent College. As a boy, he sang as a chorister in St John's Cathedral, Limerick. At eighteen he sailed for a year aboard an ocean liner traveling between Dundee and Calcutta before returning to his father's business, "totally cured" of the desire to live a life at sea. He also sang in the choir of St. Michael's Church in Limerick. O'Mara's family was prominent in Limerick, producing a number of mayors of the city, including his nephew Stephen O'Mara (18861959), who was mayor from 1921-1923. |