Éirinn go Brách – Part One, Rebels and Martyrs

There were too many Irish songs for just one post, so Part Two will be up next week. (Don't miss Paul Robeson at the bottom of this post.)

If this tune sounds familiar, it's because Bob Dylan used it virtually note-for-note in "With God on Our Side."

"Roddy McCorley" is an often-recorded Irish revolutionary song, about a young rebel hanged by the British for his participation in the 1798 rebellion's Battle of Antrim, written and published in the early twentieth century by Ethna Carberry of Antrim. There was an earlier song of the same name, author unknown, written only a few years after the execution. It includes many more facts about McCorley's life, including the likelihood that he was betrayed to the British by friends or neighbors. I'd never heard the older version until I began putting together this post:

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was inspired by the French Revolution, and many of the United Irishmen cut their hair short as a sign of identification with the French. The rebellion was quickly crushed by the British army, assisted by Irish informants, despite the landing of a French expeditionary force. This song is the tragic story of one such "Croppy Boy," who was betrayed by his own cousin: