Thomas Moore (born May 28, 1779, Dublin, Ire.—died Feb. 25, 1852, Wiltshire, Eng.) was an Irish poet, satirist, composer, and political propagandist. He was a close friend of Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

“The Last Rose of Summer” by Thomas Moore; from a 1914 recording, soprano solo performed by Marie Rappold.

The son of a Roman Catholic wine merchant, Moore graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1799 and then studied law in London. His major poetic work, Irish Melodies (1807–34), earned him an income of £500 annually for a quarter of a century. It contained such titles as “The Last Rose of Summer” and “Oft in the Stilly Night.” The Melodies, a group of 130 poems set to the music of Moore and of Sir John Stevenson and performed for London’s aristocracy, aroused sympathy and support for the Irish nationalists, among whom Moore was a popular hero.