Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
O'Reilly, Matt
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Matt O'Reilly, ca. 1870-[after 1945], came to Alberta from Brutus, Michigan, USA in 1909. He homesteaded near Sunnynook. In the 1920s he moved into town and ran a secondhand store. He was very musical and a prolific writer of ballads, predominantly with western themes, including "The Calgary Stampede", "Happy Days at Sunnynook", "Carry Me Back to Old Calgary", and "Strawberry Time in the Rockies". He had a catalogue of his songs, which he distributed by mail, ca. 1940s. The O'Reillys had four children, Louis, Albert, Mary and Barney, born from 1909 to 1914.