It's a Long Way to Tipperary
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed.
Sheet music cover
Sculpture in Tipperary Town, Ireland, commemorating the song
The song was so popular that its title is referenced in English in this German propaganda poster for distribution in occupied France.
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts.
The Eagle Tavern in 1830
The Oxford Music Hall, c. 1875
The interior of Wilton's Music Hall (here, being set for a wedding). The line of tables give some idea of how early music halls were used as supper clubs.
Interior of the Canterbury Hall, opened 1852 in Lambeth