George Desmond "Hoddy" Hodnett (25 February 1918 – 23 September 1990) was an Irish musician, songwriter and long-time jazz and popular music critic for the Irish Times.
He studied law at Trinity College, Dublin but preferred the music and theatres of the city to a legal career.
He played jazz piano, trumpet and zither (he was probably the only zither-player in Ireland at the time).
He became part of the bohemian milieu that congregated around the Catacombs in Fitzwilliam Place, which included Brendan Behan and Gainor Crist (the original Ginger Man).
Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners knew of the song and sang it at the Gate Theatre in 1966, where it was an immediate hit.