Born September 21, 1903, near Ballymote in south Sligo Co. His father played the flute and his mother, the concertina. He emigrated to New York City after a stint as a volunteer in the IRA. He shacked up with James Morrison on the upper west side in 1925 and almost immediately started being featured in 'Morrison's Orchestra', and he soon began leading his own groups. He was recording by 1931 and 1932 his band got to travel back to Ireland as part of a Boston Cardinal's visit, billed as the 'Pride of Erin Eucharistic Congress Orchestra'. In 1942 he took over a bar on W60th St renaming it Killoran's Tavern. He died in 1965.
Here are all the tunes I could find evidence of his recording, I'm sure there are more -- I was more interested in hunting down his solo recordings than the Pride of Erin Orchestra ones; also note, I've added (in parentheses) some alternate names for many of the tunes.
reels ~
Jolly Tinker/
Pretty Girls of Mayo;
Farrell O’Gara/
Silver Spire;
Bloom of Youth/
Heather Breeze;
Aye, Surely/
Steeplechase;
Sligo Maid/
Molloy’s Favourite;
Roaring Mary/
Maids of Castlebar;
Maid of Mt Kisco/
Hunter’s Purse;
Humours of Lissadell/
Sweeney’s Dream;
Old Dudeen/
On the Road to Lurgan (Hut in the Bog)/
Emlagation Reel (Sweeney’s Dream);
McGovern’s Favourite/
Tom Ward’s Downfall;
Mullingar Races/
Boys on the Hilltop;
Down the Broom/
Gatehouse Maid;
Morning Dew/
Liffey Banks;
Paddy on the Turnpike (Bunch of Keys)/
Collier’s;
Ballina Lass/
Sligo Maid;
Drowsey Maggie/
Toss the Feathers;
Dwyer’s Favourite/
Star of Munster;
My Love is Fair and Handsome/
First Month of Spring
Last Night’s Fun/
Martyn Wynne’s;
Enchanted Lady/
Holy Land;
Kitty In The Lane.
jigs ~
Scotchman over the Border/
Tenpenny Bit;
Luckpenny/
Coach Road to Sligo;
Gold Ring/
Haste to the Wedding;
Humours of Ballinifad (Doherty’s Fancy)/
McPaddin’s Favourite (Bridal Jig);
Pride of Rockchapel/
Sarsfield’s;
Geese in the Bog.
hornpipes ~
Harvest Home/
Derry Hornpipe;
Maguire’s Fiddle/
O’Donnell’s.
polkas ~
Memories of Ballymote (Church Street)/
Gurteen Cross (St Mary’s);
Return of Spring/
Buffalo Girls.
barndances ~
McDermott’s (Glenbeigh)/
Memories of Sligo (Belle of the Ball);
James Gannon’s/
If There Wasn’t Any Women in the World;
Batt Henry’s Favourite/
James Gannon’s.