In July , the statue was relocated to Suffolk Street, in front of the Tourist Information Office, to make way for Luas track-laying work at the old location.
The song tells the fictional tale of a fishwife who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin and died young, of a fever. In the late 20th century, a legend grew up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century.
She is typically represented as a hawker by day and a part-time prostitute by night. There is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman in the 17th century or any other time. The name " Molly " originated as a familiar version of the names Mary and Margaret. Many such "Molly" Malones were born in Dublin over the centuries, but no evidence connects any of them to the events in the song.
The song is not recorded earlier than , when it was published in Boston , Massachusetts. The London edition states that it was reprinted by permission of Kohler and Son of Edinburgh, implying that the first edition was in Scotland, but no copies of it have been found.
She calls the story of the historical Molly "nonsense". The song is in a familiar tragicomic mode that was then popular and was probably influenced by earlier songs with a similar theme, such as Percy Montross's " Oh My Darling, Clementine ", which was written in about Union, Etc in A copy of Apollo's Medley , dating from around , published in Doncaster and rediscovered in , contains a song referring to "Sweet Molly Malone" on page 78 that ends with the line "Och!
