Martin, who was affectionately known as "The Miller's daughter", a song he made his own, started in show business in his early 1930s.

His father, Martin, was a foreman-fitter and turner on the Permanent way, that is the tracks section, of the old Dublin United Tramways.

"[2]His CIE supervisor recognised a genuine talent and gave him a couple of months leave of absence, and pretty soon Martin was a star of variety at the Royal and the Capitol where the "Miller's Daughter" legend was born in 1942.

[citation needed] It was when he was playing in Belfast with Harry Bailey that he met Thelma Ramsey, who would become his wife.

"[3] A regular in the Clontarf Castle Cabaret from 1964, he continued to perform six nights a week even when his health started to fail him in the early 1980s.

In 1979, he received the Variety Artists' Trust Society award for his contribution to Irish show business.