thisisarebelsong-blog

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August 1, 1981: Irish National Liberation Army member Kevin Lynch dies after 71 days on hunger strike. This song, "Roll of Honour," was written by Gerry O'Glacain and is probably the most famous song about the hunger strikers, along with the Wolfe Tones' "Joe McDonnell." The O'Glacain number has become a contentious issue in Scottish sports in recent years, as various attempts have been made to prevent fans of the Glasgow Celtic team from singing it at matches. This live version, by the Irish Brigade, features some notable audience participation.

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It's the season for bonfires up North, and so here's Brendan Behan singing "Bonfire On the Border" (song starts 0:37). This probably won't be sung by the Loyal Orders this summer.

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The Wolfe Tones, "Joe McDonnell." McDonnell, an IRA Volunteer from Lenadoon in West Belfast, died on this day in 1981 after 61 days on hunger strike in the Maze prison. He was the fifth man of 10 to die on hunger strike, and narrowly missed being elected TD for Sligo-Leitrim in a runoff election.

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"The Fields of Garvaghy Road" by the Irish Brigade. Timely!

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"The Ballad of Alan Ryan," by the Players Brigade. The rare dissident rebel song; Ryan was the leader of the Real Irish Republican Army (sometimes called the New Irish Republican Army; the group itself just uses the name Irish Republican Army). He was assassinated in Dublin in 2012 during an ongoing feud with criminal gangs. His death led to an internal split in the RIRA which led to internecine violence that still may not be resolved.

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Elections in the Six Counties today, in the RoI tomorrow, thus this appropriately folk record-themed Cumann na nGaedhael election poster from 1932. "Songs for the Fire Eaters" would be a good name for a Gun Club album.

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There are a lot of rebel songs about South Armagh, one of the main centers of IRA operations during the Troubles. This particular song, occasionally known as "Crossmaglen," commemorates an ambush led by Michael McVerry. McVerry was killed on Nov. 15, 1973 during an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks at Keady. He was 23 years old.

This version of the song, under the title "McVerry's Men," is by Joe "Banjo" Burke, who was born in Kilkenny and, like McVerry himself, was a construction worker. Burke lived in New York, Chicago, and many other places before succumbing to Parkinson's disease.

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What counts as a rebel song?  Surely "Sean South", about a dead IRA martyr is a rebel song, but what about "The Fields Of Athenry"?  The Fields of Athenry was written by Pete St. John in the 1970s. It tells the story of a young man stealing corn during the Famine.  If not a rebel song, it is at the very least republican in its sympathies.  Its also the only Irish ballad my Jewish wife knew when we met.  Now, we sing it as a lullaby to our son.   What do you think? What are the parameters of the rebel song?  Is taking Trevelyan's corn enough or does the protagonist have to be armed while doing it?

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Here's something funny/sad for Friday ... pro-British sectarian supremacists in the Orange Order spent a lot of futile time last year trying to route one of their marches through a Nationalist neighborhood in Belfast. What better soundtrack to their protest than Labi Siffre's "Something Inside So Strong"?

That would be the same "Something Inside So Strong" written as an anti-apartheid anthem. That would be the same apartheid-era South Africa that was a major source of arms for pro-British death squads in the Six Counties during the 1980s. That would also be the same anti-apartheid movement that received direct aid from the IRA, and later returned the favor.

Here's a version of "Something Inside So Strong" by Bik McFarlane - Provisional IRA Volunteer, PIRA Officer Commanding in the Maze Prison during the 1981 hunger strike, organizer of the "Great Escape" from the Maze two years later, and singer of rebel songs. It seems a bit more appropriate coming from him than from the Orangemen.

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"Óró, sé do bheatha abhaile," sung here in a scene from the 2006 Ken Loach film "The Wind that Shakes the Barley," about the War of Independence.

Like most folk songs, its origins are hard to determine with any certainty, and this song has been used in a wide range of contexts: versions of "Oro" have been associated with the Jacobite cause, as well as with marriage customs.

Patrick Pearse wrote new verses, which were sung by Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising and the War of Independence. It's been recorded by, among others, the Clancy Brothers, the Wolfe Tones, the Dubliners, and Sinead O'Connor. "Óró, sé do bheatha abhaile," means in English, roughly, "Hurrah! You're welcome home."

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Last year, after winning their first Munster hurling title in 17 years, Limerick celebrated by singing "Sean South" in the locker room. Much more on this song to come.

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Another song about Joe McCann, Official IRA Volunteer. This song was written and performed by the Men of No Property, from Belfast. The singer on this song, who used the name "McIlvogue" on the group's albums, was Brian Moore, perhaps best known as "Cormac," the satirical cartoonist for An Phoblacht/Republican News, the house organ of the Provisional movement. A lifelong socialist, Moore was also a playwright. He died in 2011.

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"Joe McCann," sung by Christy Moore. McCann (11-2-47 - 4-15-72) was a member of the Irish Republican Army from the early 1960s who sided with the Marxist-oriented Official faction after the 1969 split.

The image above was a photograph taken at his most famous moment: on August 9, 1971, following the introduction of internment without trial in the Six Counties, McCann and other OIRA members fortified the Inglis Bakery in the Markets area of Belfast and successfully held it against 600 British soldiers looking to arrest republican suspects.

McCann was shot and killed in the Markets, while unarmed, by British soldiers and members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The shell casings near his body indicated he was shot at least 10 times at point blank range. In 2013, the Historical Enquiries Team that had been established as part of the peace process concluded that his killing was unjustified.

This song is one of many that was written about McCann after his death, some of which can be found on the website his family maintains in his memory.

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Let's get this started with a classic -- the Wolfe Tones doing Dominic Behan's "The Patriot Game" set to images of masked men and Bobby Sands. As every good listener knows, Patriot Game tells the story of the Brookeborough raid from the perspective of the young volunteer Fergal O'Hanlon.