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Unlocking 'Life of Riley': A Dive into a Popular Phrase • Join us as we delve into the origins and meaning behind the widely used phrase 'Life of Riley'. Dis...
- Origin
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- Lyrics
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- Variations
There's not enough evidence to be 100% certain of the origin of the phrase 'the life of Riley' but it is probable that it derives from the life of a real person - Willy Reilly of Sligo, Ireland. The phrase came into common usage around the time of WWI. The first printed citation of 'the life of Riley' (with the easy/carefree meaning of the phrase) ...
The quotation marks that the writer added around the phrase are often an indication that the phrase in question isn't familiar to the readership, which is an indication of it being quite recently coined. The phrase was much used in the military, especially in WWI. The first known citation in that context is in a letter from a Sergeant Leonard A. Mo...
So, while the idea of a notional Irishman living the high life was current in late 19th century Ireland and America, the phrase 'the life of Riley' isn't found until the early 20th century.
The lyric of the ballad is preceded by a reminiscence of the Irish nationalist politician Sir Charles Duffy:
If we believe Duffy's account that Willy Reilly was a living, breathing 1820s Irishman, then we have our man.
Here's the ballad, as printed in 1899, which recounts the story of Willy Reilly running away with his hieress lover only to be caught and tried for abduction, eventually finding freedom and riches in his lover's arms - truly the life of Reilly:
This is clearly a romanticised ballad and there are several variants of it, so we need to proceed with caution. In favour of it being a true account of real events, there was a wealthy Protestant Ffolliott family living in Sligo at the end of the 18th century and also a Luke Fox, who was a magistrate in the area at that time. There are also histori...
Nevertheless, the thrust of the tale is consistant amongst the versions of it, that is, Reilly wooing/abducting Ms Ffolliott and later being united with her and her wealth and contentedly raising a family together. Some variation of the retelling of a romantic folk tale is to be expected (in Ireland more than in most places) and, all things conside...
Future Living Series The purpose of this Series is to look ahead into your Future but to also look back to your earlier life — what you have done, who you ha...
Apr 9, 2021 · To live the life of Riley (or Reilly) is to have a carefree and luxurious existence. But the Riley to which the phrase refers is a bit of mystery. We don’t know who he was or if it even refers to a specific person. There is one candidate who stands out from the rest, but his connection to the phrase is tenuous.
Life of Reilly/Riley. Living the life of Reilly, means living an easy, affluent life. The evidence points to an expression of Irish-American origin dating from the late 19th century. There does not appear to have been a real person named Reilly or Riley (the spelling varies) who lived a life of affluence and luxury.
Dec 22, 1999 · William and Mary Morris’ Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins says: There are several theories of the origin of this popular catch phrase which means, of course, to live luxuriously without working. One authority says it comes from a song of the 1880s, “Is that Mr Reilly?” popularized by Pat Rooney, founder of the great American ...
After the American comedy film, The Life of Riley became an American television series in the 1950s. The phrase was still common in the 2000s, appearing in the A-Bones Life’s album. There are many other films with the same title. The Life of Reilly is also a film adaptation of the play, Save it for the Stage: The Life of Reilly.
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Where did the phrase 'is that Mr Reilly' come from?
