Allan James Foley (7 August 1837 – 10 October 1899), distinguished 19th century Irish bass opera singer, was born at Cahir, Tipperary. In accordance with the prevailing preference for Italian artists, he changed the spelling (but not the pronunciation) of his name and was always known as 'Signor Foli.' He was trained as a carpenter, but abandoned this after it was discovered that he had an excellent singing voice. Moving to Naples, he studied under Bisaccia, making his debut as Elmiro in Rossini's ‘Otello’ at Catania, Sicily, in December 1862. His strong bass voice won much praise, and performances followed in Milan, Turin, and Paris. In 1865 he was engaged by Her Majesty's Theatre, London, where he performed as Saint-Bris in Meyerbeer's ‘Les huguenots’, and the second priest in Mozart's ‘Die Zauberflote’. This was the beginning of a successful career in London, singing at Her Majesty's, Drury Lane, and at Covent Garden (1865–87), where he was regularly presented as ‘Signor Foli’ when he was singing ballads, and ‘A. J. Foli’ when singing opera. His repertoire was extensive, more than sixty operas, and he sang the role of Daland in the English premiere of Wagner's ‘Der fliegende Holländer’ (1870) which, according to established London custom, was actually performed in Italian as ‘L'olandese dannato’. He sang the title role in a successful Russian tour of Rossini's ‘Mosé’, and also performed in the first English performances of Berlioz's ‘L'enfance du Christ’ (1880), and Gonoud's ‘Redemption’ (1882). He retired in 1887, and died at his home at Southport, Lancashire, England, on 20 October 1899.