Charlotte Poulet, A Life-Giving Song: How Molly Malone Came to Life. A Myth-Making Process in Dublin. - Cockles And Mussels has had a peculiar fate. This song figures on recordings of the - best of Irish music,. At first sight, nothing sets it apart from the many other songs in the repertoire of traditional Irish music. Nonetheless, it has become Dublin's unofficial anthem; and a statue to Molly Malone has been erected in the city. More than the major character in the song, Molly Malone has become a heroine representing, for everyone, her native city. The making of a myth is described through the history of this song in Dublin and through an ethnological study of singing in Ireland.