Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer

In the last decades of his life, Palmer was confined to a wheelchair and depended upon the care of his two sisters, who were running Hillcourt, a private girls' boarding school in Glenageary, near their home in Sandycove (south Dublin).

Initially, however, he was successful, his earliest stage work being Finn Varra Maa (a transliteration from the Gaelic meaning "good Finbar"), subtitled The Irish Santa Claus.

[3] Sruth na Maoile ("The Sea of Moyle") was first performed in July 1923 and restaged by the O'Mara Opera Company in the cultural by-programme of the Tailteann Games in August 1924.

Unfortunately, despite extensive searching, so far the score of "The Wooing of Emer" has failed to surface, though it is referenced in Staf Gebruers' own inventories and mentioned as being of three hours duration.

In addition, there is a copy of "The King's Song" also composed by Staf Gebruers with lyrics by Crofton and described as from Act 1 of "The Black Hag", but whether or not this has any connection with Palmer so far is unknown.

There are some isolated examples of orchestral music performed by the orchestra of Radio Éireann, but the surviving references[6] may not give a full picture of his output.

They were never published in his lifetime, although some were performed and broadcast in Ireland after Joyce's death in 1941 by baritone Tomás Ó Súilleabháin and pianist Rhoda Coghill.

Russel (1993) speculated that Palmer purposefully hid these songs, because an association with Joyce was difficult in Ireland for many years and he didn't want to risk his fragile situation in the medical care of his sisters who depended on good reputation.