Pen-name of Michael Moran. Born in the Liberties of Dublin. When he was two years old he was blinded by illness. In order to make money he - became a street singer. To assist in the collection of his wages", Zozimus was accompanied through the streets of Dublin by a companion called Stonypockets, so called because the weight of the money building up in his right-hand coat pocket caused him to lean over in that direction, thus requiring that a handful of stones be placed in his left-hand pocket in order to help him maintain his balance. He became known as Zozimus from his recitation of St Mary of Egypt, a tale by Dr Coyle, Bishop of Raphoe, in which Mary is found, after fifty years of penance in the desert, by Bishop Zozimus. Many of Moran's ballads, such as 'St Patrick Was a Gentleman' and'The Finding of Moses', survive to this day. Zozimus died on 3 April 1846 and is buried not far from Daniel O'Connell's gravesite in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, where a monument was unveiled on 6 April 1988.

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