Touhey's big break came in 1893, when he represented Ireland at the World's Columbia Exposition in Chicago. His superb mastery of Irish music was noted by all, leading to further engagements, including a stint at the national exposition in St. Louis in 1903. Touhey befriended many of the Boston Irish musicians, including Michael and William Hanafin, Dan Sullivan, Owen Frain and Sean Nolan, and was present for the premier concert of the Boston Irish Pipers Club in 1911 at Welles Memorial Hall. He was also a supporter of the Gaelic League, founded by Douglas Hyde in1893 to resurrect Irish language and culture, and played at many of their events. Touhey was one of the first Irish musicians to record his music.
Cylinder records only.
NY The following year Touhey formed a vaudeville act with Charles Henry Burke, and later they added Touhey's wife, dancer Mary Gillen, to the show. They performed in New York and across the country for almost 20 years, borrowing the Hibernicon format of witty sketches, physical comedy and Irish music and dancing perfected by Jerry Cohan in the 1870s and 1880s, with whom Touhey toured for a time. His obituary in the Irish World praises his music, but moreso the man himself. An extraordinarily gifted musician, Patrick Touhey was not given to boastfulness or self-exploitation, but on the contrary, was genial and generous, the soul of kindliness and modesty.