Lines from the chorus of When Irish Eyes are Smiling are a motif in And the Women Watch and Wait, occurring at several points through the novel. The song is a romanticised tribute to Ireland and was written by Chauncey Olcott, and George Graff Jr, with the music composed by Ernest R. Ball. Olcott was an American actor, singer and songwriter with Irish ancestry, Graff an American songwriter and Ball, also American, a singer and songwriter.

First published in 1912, was written for the Broadway play produced by Olcott, The Isle o’ Dreams, set in Ireland in 1799. It quickly became very popular around the Anglosphere. Phonograph and gramophone recordings were available in Australia by 1915, the sheet music earlier than that. It seems to have been a staple at many of the Irish concerts held in local halls around Australia for many years.

The popular Irish tenor, John McCormack, recorded it in the middle of the 1916.

This is a more modern version by Emmet Cahill.

And finally, the lyrics…

There’s a tear in your eye
And I’m wondering why,
For it never should be there at all;
With such pow’r in your smile,
Sure a stone you’d beguile,
So there’s never a tear-drop should fall;
When your sweet lilting laughter’s
Like some fairy song,
And your eyes twinkle bright as can be;
You should laugh all the while
And all other times, smile,
And now smile a smile for me.

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, ’tis like a morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

For your smile is a part
Of the love in your heart,
And it makes even sunshine more bright;
Like the linnet’s sweet song,
Crooning all the day long,
Comes your laughter so tender and light;
For the spring-time of life
Is the sweetest of all,
There is ne’er a real care or regret;
And while spring-time is ours
Throughout all of youth’s hours,
Let us smile each chance we get.

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, ’tis like a morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.