Marguerite GALLORINIJune 28th – July 29th, 2012

Music for Memory of War

Ireland's musical legacy on her troubled past

CONTENTS

Introduction

I) Main periods of Irish history

– The three leading songs in Ireland– Context until the 20th century– Events of the 20th century in music

II) Contemporary music

– Contemporary artists passing on the tradition– Perception of music and history in Ireland– In America: bands ''too much'' Republican– In Northern Ireland: the marching bands

Conclusion

Bibliography

Websites

UNTIL NOWADAYS, THE MUSIC OF THE HARPISTS OF THE 9th century Gaelic clans is known as the oldest one in Ireland. The Celtic harp, national symbol, is everywhere in the country: as royal seal, on the doors of pubs, in the airline company Ryanair, on the entrance wall of the Prime minister's building, as icon of the famous Irish beer Guinness1...

Until the 5th century, whereas France, England and the rest of Western and Southern Europe were part of the Roman Empire, Ireland stayed apart, as it was considered too cold and damp a country for the Mediterranean colonizer. This is why Romans never really influenced its inhabitants; however in the 900s, Vikings established a strong presence on the island and influenced greatly its cultural life and language.

Ireland was also colonized by Normans (also Northerners, ''Norman'' meaning ''man from the North''), and then by England, the latter launching a long series of social troubles in the country till today.

The glory of the Irish language had lasted until the 16th century; however after that, English replaced it gradually, and today Irish is spoken only by a minority, at least as a first language. Irish music though was a mean of resistance against the oppressor, a mean of keeping a part of national identity. Back in the time of Henri I, the Welsh-Norman cleric Giraldus Cambrensis granted that Irish people seemed to him “to be incomparably more skilled in these [musical instruments] than any other people that [he has] seen” (1982:103).

Therefore Irish music stands amongst one of the well preserved cultural traits of the country: today still, numerous traditional music festivals take place in Ireland and elsewhere, and music is greatly present in all the country's pubs where the conviviality is mainly due to this heart-warming music.

We find today a great number of songs about the spirit of rebellion against the English colonizer, about the Independence war, the Troubles, the civil war, and other ancient revolts. But between what archives tell us and what reality teaches us, there is sometimes a wide gap. The aim of this trip was therefore to observe where stands traditional rebel music in the everyday life nowadays. Is Irish music abandoned to the profit of other ''cooler'' kinds of music? Is it still an important piece of the country's cultural patrimony? Has it achieved its goal of conveyor of the collective memory of passed struggles?

My subject focuses on the influence of the memory of recent wars on the contemporary Irish music. Therefore it will be mainly based on important wars and tensions of the 20 th century till today. This is in Ireland a topic of intense discussions and controversies, so I have not had too much trouble talking about it with others.

1 Fun fact: the Celtic harp of Guinness is represented in the other way from the one of the royal seal, so as to avoid any copying penalty.

Celtic harp in Dublin castle

I) Main periods of Irish history

The three leading songs in IrelandA Soldier's Song

Its original Gaelic name being Amhrán na bhFiann, this is the national hymn of the Republic of Ireland. In English, it is known under the name of A Soldier's Song. It was written by Peadar Kearney in 1907, and became the national hymn in 1926. It is still sang in Gaelic today, and is composed of the chorus of the original song, which is much more longer.

The hymn, as well as Ireland's Call (which we will see later), is played at matches between the 5 provinces of Ireland (so Northern Ireland included), and when Ireland's team plays in Dublin. But during international matches, only the Ireland's Call is sang.

Gaelic English

Sinne Fianna FáilA tá fé gheall ag Éirinn,buion dár sluaThar toinn do ráinig chugainn,Fé mhóid bheith saorSean tír ár sinsir feastaNí fhagfar fé'n tiorán ná fé'n tráilAnocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil,Le gean ar Ghaeil chun báis nó saoilLe guna screach fé lámhach na bpiléarSeo libh canaídh Amhrán na bhFiann.

Destiny soldiers are we,Whose lives are pledged to Ireland;Some have comefrom a land beyond the wave,Sworn to be free;No more our ancient sire landShall shelter the despot or the slave.Tonight we man the gap of dangerIn Erin's cause, come woe or weal'Mid cannons' roar and rifles peal,We'll chant a soldier's song.

Ireland's Call

This is an Irish song used as hymn during international matches of Ireland's rugby team at XV. The song was written by Phil Coulter in 1995 on the demand of the Irish Rugby Football Union: the Irish rugby team being composed of players from both sides of the Irish border, this song was designed in order to help crossing sectarian and national divisions. Therefore it delivers an idea of unity of all Ireland, between its 4 provinces2 (Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Connacht): the Irish are all equal, all citizens of the same country, wherever they come from.

Ireland's Call

Come the day and come the hourCome the power and the gloryWe have come to answerOur Country's callFrom the four proud provinces of Ireland

2 Fun fact: the word “county” in Gaelic is “cúige”, meaning also “fifth”. Therefore it is supposed that in a former period, there was not only 4, but 5 provinces in Ireland.

ChorusIreland, Ireland,Together standing tallShoulder to shoulderWe'll answer Ireland's call

From the mighty Glens of AntrimFrom the rugged hills of GalwayFrom the walls of LimerickTo Dublin town From the four proud provinces of Ireland(Chorus)

Hearts of steelAnd heads unbowingVowing never to be brokenWe will fight, untilWe can fight no moreFrom the four proud provinces of Ireland(Chorus)

We can see in these two patriotic songs that struggle is ever present. This song conveys the idea of never surrender again to tyranny and slavery – obvious reference to

English colonialism, but maybe also to other older invasions, as the Vikings'. Equality between men is a leading concept of the Irish hymn: “Some have come/ from a land beyond the wave/ Sworn to be free”: the Celtic people is a melting pot of several horizons, and this is where it gets its power from: as long as all of them stay equals, and no one tries to subordinate one's comrades as the English did, then the country will stay free and united.

Moreover, the national hymn is still sang in Gaelic: this stands for a certain willingness to keep a Celtic identity. Unfortunately, Gaelic in itself is a language seldom spoken today – only in a few regions known as Gaeltachtaí on the West coast mainly.

The Fields of Athenry

This prisoners' song is another unofficial hymn, sang at the beginning of football matches for instance. It was written by Pete St John, a folk musician from Dublin.

This beautiful and sad song talks about a man from Athenry (a city in County Galway) sent to Botany Bay for having stolen corn from Trevelyan to give to his children. Here the reference is made to Sir Charles Trevelyan, English colonial administrator charged to contain the famine. But his lack of action and his low opinion of the Irish had worsened even further the situation caused by the famine.

The man of the song tells then to his wife that it is okay, and that she has to raise their children with dignity. The song ends on the woman watching the prisoners' boat leaving for Botany Bay.

Botany Bay was a colony in Australia used to isolate prisoners from the rest of the English population. Therefore there are today strong ties between these two countries. The song Back Home in Derry by the Irish artist Christie Moore also makes reference to this colony.

Context until the 20 th century:

1169: Arrival of the Norman barons in Ireland1798: Rebellion of the United Irishmen1800: The Act of Union brings Ireland and the kingdom of Great Britain together1845-1852: The Great FamineApril 8th, 1886: Introduction of the Home Rule bill

Arrival of the Norman barons in Ireland

At first, the English king Henri II did not want to control Ireland, but his barons installed there so that they do not become autonomous.

But then he established his lordship in Ireland, and in 1199, this lordship was annexed to the kingdom of England. This initiated the long history of tensions between Irish Catholics and Anglo-Irish Protestants.

Rebellion of the United Irishmen

The Society of the United Irishmen was a political Liberal organization, which developed into a revolutionary Republican society, allied to the contemporary French Revolution and inspired from the 1776 American Revolution. Moreover France supported the Irish rebellion; whereas Daniel O'Connell, famous Irish politician called the “Emancipator” and in favour of a peaceful nationalism, was against it. But the operations planned in Dublin in June, which were to be the heart of the revolt, failed, and the rebellion lacked of good organization: it was then repressed in blood. During a second attempt with French troops in September, also repressed by British troops, Theobald Wolfe Tone was recognized and sentenced to death by the English.

Theobald Wolfe Tone was an influential character, and is considered today as the founding father of Irish republicanism. On September 1791, he had published an “Advanced argument in the name of the Catholics of Ireland”, which promoted unity between Catholics, Protestants and Presbyterians.

The poem “Who Fears to Speak of 98?” has been put into music several times; The Wolfe Tones for instance put it in their album Child of Destiny. Another song, General Munroe, is about a battle of the same rebellion: the battle of Ballynahinch, in County Down.

The Act of Union brings Ireland and the kingdom of Great Britain together

This act was designed to avoid a new Irish revolt, and soothe any fear of a Catholic emancipation by giving the parliamentary majority to Protestants. Therefore the Irish Parliament was included in the English one, but this union was unsuccessful as it polarized the Irish society even further.

Statue of Daniel O'Connell, in O'Connell Street, Dublin

The Great Famine

The Great Famine arrived with the blight striking Irish lands and destroying all the potato crops, basic nutrition of modest Irish families. The Irish population which was of 8 million people fell to 5 million in a short time. Already beforehand, Irish families were fleeing to the New World from religious and political persecution, but the Great Famine increased this phenomenon. However the welcoming in America was a cold one, as the population there did not like that at all. It was frequent to see “No Dogs, No Irish” signs in front of shops and pubs (likewise for the Jews and the Blacks: History always repeats itself in the end...).

The ones who left the country truly saw it as a forced exile, as Irish people love their country deeply. They never wanted to leave: they yearned to stay with their families in their own country. A large array of songs written by exiled Irishmen talk about this phenomenon, in which the longing for home is a constant theme – for instance the song Spancill Hill, written by Michael Considine in the mid-19th century, which was played recently (and renamed Fairmount Hill) by The Dropkick Murphys.

Presentation of the Ho me Rule bill

It was a draft aiming to give a certain autonomy to Ireland, under English rule. It was presented at first by the liberal First minister William E. Gladstone, but it was rejected three times in a row, every refusal irritating more and more the Nationalists, themselves less and less in harmony: all this finally led to the 1916 Easter Rising.

Events of the 20 th century in music :

For a long time in Ireland, Catholics and Protestants have lived together with difficulty. The Norman barons of the 12th century had attracted the interest of the king of England for this island. From then on, the Catholic Church of Ireland, existing since the 5th century after Saint Patrick, was replaced little by little by the Protestant Church which became the State Church. Parliamentary and social injustice followed, even though Catholics were still a majority in their country.

With the partition of Ireland in two, Catholics staying in Northern Ireland (to the United-Kingdom) became the minority; discrimination worsened, with a lot of pogroms against them occurring, pushing them to flee their homes and seek refugee in the South. Then in the 1960s started the Civic Rights marches, wishing for an equality between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland; Nationalists, Republicans and the army clashed more than ever.

1916: Easter Rising1919-21: Independence War21 novembre 1920: Dublin's Bloody Sunday1922-1923: Civil War between Royalists and Republicans1949: The Irish Free State becomes the Republic of Ireland1960's-1970's: Civic Rights demonstrations in Northern Ireland – start of the Troubles12 - 14 août 1969: Battle of the Bogside in Derry30 janvier 1972: Derry's Bloody Sunday21 juillet 1972: Bloody Friday in Belfast10 avril 1998: The Good Friday Agreement

Easter Rising

The actions of this rebellion were contained only in Dublin; nevertheless it is an important date for the entire country, as the pro-Independence were divided internally and this was part of the trigger of the rising: “The Nationalist/Sinn Féin opposition was deep and bitter. As the remnant of the UIL3, the Nationalists were bitterly anti-Republican. Joe Devlin, their unofficial leader, believed in the British empire and wanted to join the British army when the First World War began. […] The Nationalists had been against the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence.”4 This was also the case of another Nationalist politician, John Redmond, who thought that fighting in France beside England would play in favour of the independence process.

All these tensions added to the refusal of the Home Rule led to the Easter Rising of April 24th, 1916, where the ICA (Irish Citizen Army), the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood), and a young generation of Irish Volunteers5, desperate to win independence by diplomatic ways and ready to do everything to make it happen (even at the cost of a German alliance), paraded in O'Connell Street, Dublin, and occupied several strategic places like the Central Post Office. They resisted then to the British army, the Dublin Metropolitan police and the Irish Royal police6. Pádraig Pearse, one of the leaders of the expedition, proclaimed the Irish Republic and became president of its government.

But 5 days of massacre later the insurgents had to surrender. 13 rebels, some of which the main leaders of the rebellion -Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett- were shot at the famous Kilmainham Jail (or Kilmainham Gaol), known for its political prisoners and insalubrious living conditions7.

James Connolly, whose leg had been shattered during the Central Post Office battle, was receiving medical attention in Dublin castle, where a wing was occupied by the Red Cross. He was therefore being healed only to be shot afterwards like the others, even if he was already dying: they all had to be executed as an example. To go further in absurdity, he has been brought in ambulance to the prison, and was not even shot at the same place as the others because he was too weak to walk to the other side of the courtyard.

Just before getting off the ambulance, he said calmly to his wife: “And wasn't it a full life, Lillie, and isn't this a good end?”

The British repression of this rebellion was so bloody in the eyes of the international community that it played in favour of the Irish Independence five years later.

3 The United Irishmen League, nationalist political party founded in 1898.4 May McCann, in The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast, Thesis in Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985.5 Organization founded in 1913 to assure the vote for the Home Rule bill. It was disolved at the end of the First World War. The more extreme people coming from it formed the IRA.6 Created by Great Britain in 1822. 7 When I visited this prison, I learned that there was, for instance, up on the corridor walls, windows without glass because at that time they thought that the air coming in “cleaned” the atmosphere and minimized risks of disease amongst the prisoners... But the composition of these walls in limestone kept all the coldness and humidity, and so increased diseases and infections. This prison kept a lot of politician prisoners, but also poor families and children caught stealing food. Today, this building is not in service anymore and only sets up guided tours.

Mural in Belfast for the Easter Rising

Spot where James Connolly was killed

→ Song on the Easter Rising :

The Foggy Dew is a popular Irish song about this episode, which was played in different versions like many other traditional songs. It is part of the Irish folklore, but would have had an English origin and would have been published around 1815. This original version was a ballad talking about a young man in love. That the melody of a single song was used for several ones afterwards was a common phenomenon in popular tunes.

In 1919 therefore, another song called The Foggy Dew (sometimes known as Down the Glen) was written by a clergy man in County Down, in the memory of the Irish soldiers fallen during the Easter Rising:

Last stanza:As back through the glen I rode again and my heart with grief was soreFor I parted then with valiant men whom I never shall see moreBut to and fro in my dreams I go and I kneel and pray for you,For slavery fled, O glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew.

This song, talking about the abolition of slavery, clearly takes the Republican side. This last version of The Foggy Dew was the most played by several Irish and English artists and bands: The Dubliners, The Chieftains with the singer Sinéad O'Connor, Shane MacGowan (singer of the English band The Pogues, popular in the 1980s), and The Wolfe Tones. The artists Alan Stivell and Gilles Servat, from Brittany in France, also interpreted it, as well as the New-York Celtic rock band The Black 47 (which we will talk about later), in their song Livin' in America played on the tune of The Foggy Dew.

What's more, the version by Sinéad O'Connor featuring The Chieftains is sometimes used as the stage arrival of The Dropkick Murphys at their concerts.

This last version was written shortly after the event; however rebel songs were often, if not always, written a long time after the rebellion in itself: for instance “the songs of the 1798 Rebellion and of Emmet's 1803 Rising were written, for the most part, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th

century in commemoration of earlier events.”8

Independence War

At the end of the First World War, all the world's colonies wanted their autonomy, after having taken part in the war. Moreover, in Ireland the Home Rule bill was still not enforced, and the massacre of the Easter Rising was recent. That is why the members of the Sinn Féin, pro-Independence political party having won the majority of the Irish votes during the parliamentary elections, proclaimed the independence of the Irish Republic. The Independence War broke out, from January 1919 to July 1921, opposing the IRA (Irish Republican Army) to the British forces (that is to say the the Irish Royal police and other paramilitary groups like the Black and Tans9 -former fighters recruited by Great Britain in 1920- and the Auxiliaries).

In the end a cease-fire was agreed, giving birth to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6th, 1921, which gave the autonomy to the main part of the country (called the Irish Free State) except 6 counties in the North, which stayed to the British crown.

8 May McCann, in The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast, Thesis in Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985, p.94 (Introduction: “The Northern Irish people live in the past”).

9 Hence the other name of this war: the ''Tan War''.

Anglo-Irish Treaty signatures

Dublin's Bloody Sunday

During the Independence War, this disastrous day made 30 victims. The IRB had for mission to execute British agents, some of them sent in Ireland to infiltrate Nationalist organizations. In all, 14 individuals were killed and 6 hurt, of whom 2 Auxiliaries: this caused an important problem in British secret services in Ireland.

The same day, a Gaelic football game was taking place in Croke Park, Dublin. The Auxiliaries invaded the stadium soon before the game and started shooting at the crowd, whereas these actions were not officially authorized. 14 persons were also killed, of whom two children of 10 and 11 years, and 65 other people were hurt. This massacre was one of the reasons of the people's rising against the British crown. British authorities offered their regrets about this day, without taking any responsibility of it. Two officers of the IRA having helped to the mission against British authorities, however, were arrested, tortured and killed.

Civil War between Royalists and Republicans

Unfortunately the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty did not end violence, as religious and political tensions continued more fiercely in the young Northern Ireland; whereas the rest of the country, newly independent, plunged into civil war. The pro-Independence clashed internally between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty, after the latters' victory at the 1922 elections. For them, it was the first step towards a full independence; for the others, it was on the contrary the end of any hope of acquiring a full Irish Republic.

The IRA parted into a new IRA anti-Treaty on the one hand, led by Éamon De Valera and Rory O'Connor, and the pro-Treaty INA on the other hand (the Irish National Army).

The Irish Free State becomes the Republic of Ireland

Even if Ireland was autonomous, it was still part of the Commonwealth and therefore was still under the British crown's rule. So in 1937 a new Irish Constitution was adopted, replacing the Irish Free State one and which called the country “Ireland”, “Éire” in Irish. But the Act of the Republic of Ireland was adopted only in 1949 by England, finally declaring the State as a Republic.

Éamon De Valera, who had contributed in introducing the new Constitution, was president of Ireland from 1959 to 1973.

The Troubles

The Troubles, called in Irish Na Trioblóidí, is a dark and unstable period -politically as well as socially- of Northern Ireland's history, which spilled over at various times into England, the Irish Republic and the rest of Europe.

The duration of the Troubles is generally dated from the end of the 1960s, where the first Civic Rights demonstrations took place, and is considered to have ended with Belfast's Good Friday Agreement of 1998. However sporadic violence subsisted until today – like the 2010 incident where two members of the Ulster Volunteer Force shot down a man in full daylight.

The main issues at stake in the Troubles were the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the relationship between its Protestant Unionist and Catholic Nationalist communities. Therefore the worst of this time occurred in Ulster, where the constant discrimination against Catholics was, from a Nationalist point of view, a proof that the imposed Northern Ireland was a corrupted state.

The Troubles had both political and military -or paramilitary- dimensions, like the Bloody Sundays events or recurrent incidents in Derry/Londonderry.

There was, at that time, a strong censorship (and self-censorship) of Republican songs: even to whistle the tune of a rebel song could have resulted in imprisonment for two years10. Joan, from the Irish Traditional Music Archives of Dublin, told me that Loyalist songs could not be sang or played in Southern Ireland neither, so it went both ways and not only in the North.

What is interesting is that the actors could say and sing things that in the everyday life were banned, as it was on the account that they were acting, and not behaving in their own proper name. Though once in interview, they had to pay attention to what they said again.

Some musicians also organized political concerts, but without any controversial song in it: it was the gathering action in itself which was the most important, and this could not be forbidden.

Patricia, presently living in a village next to Dublin and with whom I stayed for some days, experienced this period. She comes originally from Scotland, but she married an Irish man and has lived in Ireland since then. She gave me valuable information and stories during my stay in Ireland.

She told me that it was most of all the North of Ireland that suffered from the Troubles – and everyone else told me the same. In the North, Catholics and Protestants understood each other better though, because they were all in the same situation; whereas the Southern part of the country watched all this without really meddling, by afar. The IRA certainly recruited in the South as well, and some plans might have been set up there, but the worst of the Civil War was nevertheless occurring in the North.

About the numerous pogroms, Patricia told me that her husband, when he was a child, had lived in Northern Ireland. But one day, British soldiers broke into his house and set it on fire, all this because his father was an activist – for this reason they got back at all the family. Following this, they had to flee in the South, in Dublin.

Belfast developed well since then, however some thirty years ago, there were soldiers patrolling everywhere, there was a curfew, and those who took the chance to go out at night never knew if they could come home alive. Martin Dowling11 has experienced this tense period in Belfast, when he had come in 1982 accompanied by the poet Michael Donaghy and the flautist Noël Lenaghan; a period where “the sentence of the night/ [was] punctuated through and through by rounds of drink, of bullets, of applause”12; period where there was a “spot of the dead” in pubs, as it was placed so that the man sitting there could see who might come into the bar and shoot him; period where one had to knew where to walk in the city and which streets to avoid absolutely.

10 May McCann, in The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast, Thesis in Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985, p.42 (Introduction: “The Northern Irish people live in the past”).11 He is a fiddle player, historian and sociologist, and is a lecturer in Traditional Irish Music in Queen’s University of Belfast. He previously worked as the Traditional Arts Officer in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. 12 Martin Dowling, in Folk and Traditional Music and the Conflict in Northern Ireland: A Troubles Archive Essay, 2010, p.13 - passage taken originally from Ciaran Carson's poem Night Out.

In Belfast

→ Songs on the Troubles:

The Town I Love So Well, by Phil Coulter

Here the singer talks about his joyful and simple childhood in Derry, where he was born; but in the last two stanzas, when he comes back again, he sings his grief when he sees the desperate situation of the city and other Northern Ireland cities during the Troubles. This song was also interpreted by The Dubliners.

Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, by Colum Sands

This is a song dealing with general tensions between Catholics and Protestants, and all the absurd bans on songs, words or conversational topics. The particularity here is that the singer plays with censorship with humour, through such lyrics as “Whatever you say, say nothing/ When you talk about you know what/ For if you know who should hear you, you know what you'll get! […] So for You Know Who's sake, don't let anyone hear you singing this song” and so on. That was a rich and subtle idea to deal with such a sensitive topic in this way.

There were roses, by Tommy Sands

This song recounts how Allan Bell (his name changed in the lyrics by Isaac Scott), a Protestant friend of Sands, was murdered in Newry by Republican paramilitaries. Afterwards, Loyalist paramilitaries looked in Ryan Road13 for a Catholic to kill to “even up the score”; ironically, the man they picked was Sean O'Malley (his name changed by Sean McDonald), both a close friend of the Protestant victim and of Sands.

Once more, we can see this troubled past still hanging up in the atmosphere of the present in a painful memory. These various wars and conflicts are recent, and are still a source of grief and therefore of inspiration for Irish artists, looking for a way to tell their pain to the world so that we never forget what happened.

In his essay, Martin Dowling talks about this song as well as this tradition of “collective mourning” page 7:

“The song also draws on a much older Irish tradition, an caoineadh, the lament or keen. In the simple chorus, which begins “There were roses, roses, there were roses”, the melody rises and comes to rest on the first syllable of “roses”, and here is heard a small melisma of emotion, a vocal shudder of pain, that resonates with the “ochóne is ochóne ó” of more ancient Gaelic amhrain caointe. The chorus serves an ancient social function, allowing the singer's audience to perform a public act of mourning in vocal unison.”

The rose is the most often used symbol in the Western world. It stands for various things, such as the soul, life, the heart and love: in this it is a good element to include in a song which aim is to sing the peace. It is also the symbol of rebirth -which is why the rose is laid upon graves- so even if these songs are mostly sad, it might be a subtle reference to the rebirth of Ireland and its people, the “sunshine after the rain”.

13 The Sands family lived in this street.

Mural in Derry representing the Civic Rights demonstrations

in Northern Ireland

The rose is also associated with Christianity since the Middle-Ages, and became the symbol of the Virgin Mary, therefore it suits all the better the Irish victims – the Irish being mainly Catholic.

The rose is the symbolic flower of England too: the series of “Wars of the Roses” in the 15 th century had opposed the houses Lancaster (whose symbol was the red rose) and York (whose symbol was the white rose); then Henri VII married Elizabeth of York, hence the emblem of the Tudor rose: red with a white heart, uniting the two families. This war between the two English houses could be put in parallel of the war opposing the two Christian families in Ireland: Catholic and Protestant.

Arising From the Troubles, title which speaks for itself, is the new 2011 album of Tommy Sands and his children.

Civic Rights demonstrations

At the end of the 1960s, many repressive measures were taken against Catholics, and their community was well under-represented in the Government. From then on started the Civic Rights demonstrations, with a symbolism and a speech borrowed from the same demonstrations launched by Martin Luther King in the United-States.

This was truly an international movement, in which songs “played a significant role in the production and transmission of Republican ideology- including Republican history”14. Therefore the Irish folk music was renewed, but not only there:

“The folk revival which occurred in Ireland in the late 50's and 60's was not […] a national […] phenomenon; it was part of a wider youthful and protest-oriented movement which was occurring in Britain and the United States of America. […] Rebel songs functioned as “folk songs”15.

Following the surge of violence throughout Northern Ireland during these marches (peaceful marches, but regularly attacked by Loyalists), internment without trial was implemented on August 9 th, 1971, which worsened already unfair conditions.

→ Songs on the Civic Rights demonstrations:

Here are songs I got from my visit at the Museum of Free Derry, on a CD jacket exhibitioned (see on the right hand). These are old titles out of which I could not always get a lot of information:

The Long March, Burntollet Ambush, We Shall Overcome, Friends of Civil Rights, Civil Rights Anthem, Fifth of October, We Shall Not Be Moved!, Bogside Volunteers, Free Belfast, Boys of Belfast Town, Rights of Man.

We Shall Overcome

It is famous because it came at first from the American Civic Rights marches, for Afro-Americans. It has been sang by Pete Seeger (a folk artist from New-York), Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen and some others in the 1960s16. This song, inspired from a Christian gospel, has been played during the same kind of demonstrations in Ireland for Catholics. This title has even been used as a slogan and retrospective autobiography's name by the Association for the Civic Rights in Northern Ireland.

14 May McCann, in The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast, Thesis in Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985, p.42 (Introduction: “The Northern Irish people live in the past”).

15 May McCann, in The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast, Thesis in Philosophy, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985, p.275 (Introduction: “The Northern Irish people live in the past”).16 For the record, Joan Baez sang it recently in 2010 at the White House, in front of the American president Barack Obama.

Fifth of October

This song refers to a Civic Rights march which took place in Derry on October 5 th, 1968, and where demonstrators were attacked by the police armed with sticks, water guns and tear gas. The song ends on a defying note, calling Derry men to resist, and “When the struggle's done and we've overcome, we can hold our head with pride.”

We Shall Not Be Moved

Here is another famous tune, also American in the first place and probably leading back to the slavery time, used again by 1930s activists. It became a common protest theme, like We Shall Overcome. It was also sang by Pete Seeger.

Like many folk songs, the lyrics have been modified through time in order to adapt to the various circumstances; this was all the more possible that this tune has a plain structure, the verses being repeated a lot without changing often.

Boys of Belfast Town

This is a song which has been interpreted by the Irish-Canadian band The Irish Rovers, in their album Down by the Lagan Side in 2000. The name of this band comes from the famous traditional Irish song The Irish Rover, talking about a magnificent ship sailing from Cork to New-York.

The Boys of Belfast Town, also called The Boys of Belfast, is a merry Republican song talking about the boys of Belfast who are brave Irishmen, of “high renown”, and proud to be true Irish. Later in the song, they boast of being able to fight both with sword and pen – so to fight the British crown through armed conflict as well as through the arts, with songs or other lampoons.

The Battle of the Bogside

In 1969, the ''Free Derry'' -neighbourhood outside of the city walls composed of the Bogside and the Creggan- proclaimed itself as an autonomous Nationalist enclave as long as their requests were not granted.

On August 12th, the Apprentice Boys paraded near the city walls to celebrate the Protestant victory on Derry in 1689: this was seen as highly provocative by Catholics. Loyalists and RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) opposed the Bogside inhabitants, but the RUC was badly prepared so they called upon the Auxiliaries, which worried greatly the Bogsiders since the events of the 1920s.

The confrontation lasted 2 days until the arrival of the British army. The Bogsiders were almost happy about this, as the British troops were still more neutral than the RUC or the Auxiliaries.

This severe clash, including missiles and tear gas, is considered to be the first main one having increased the violence's intensity of the Troubles; indeed, this launched a series of other risings throughout Northern Ireland, making 5 victims, of whom a 9-year-old boy in Belfast.

Slogan painted for the first time in January 1969 by John Casey. Then, this wall was part of another

building, now destroyed.

Derry's Bloody Sunday

I went to visit the Museum of Free Derry, located in the Bogside. It tells the story of Irish Independence and of Derry's Bloody Sunday. Today still in this neighbourhood of the Free Derry Corner -where the Bloody Sunday started- it is impossible to ignore the tragedy, with the powerful and beautifully painted murals here and there on the houses.

→ In 1971, all demonstrations were banned. Many people had been killed during the frequent clashes between the population and the police; numerous officers were also swept by the provisional IRA (having parted from the official IRA the precedent year). The same year, the two branches of the IRA established Derry as a “no-go” area for the British army and the Royal Constabulary, through the use of barricades. Clashes between young Nationalists and the British army spread rapidly.

On January 30th, 1972, a peaceful march was organized against internment without trial. The demonstration was permitted in the Nationalist part of the city, but people had initially planned on marching to the Guildhall, outside of the army barricades designed to reroute the march to Free Derry Corner. A group of youngsters parted from the crowd and pushed the barricades. That is when a water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets were used to disperse the rioters, hurting two civilians. But so far such confrontations were rather common.

However, what worsened the situation would have been some report of an IRA sniper operating in the area: the British Parachute Regiment was then given permission to enter the Bogside. A young man, Jacky Duddy, was shot in the back while escaping the advancing troops with the rest of the crowd. Violence increased and finally the order was given to mobilize the troops in an arrest operation.

But in spite of the cease-fire order, more than a hundred bullets were fired at the crowd, hurting 14 people. 14 individuals were killed, many of them while trying to aid the fallen, or already hurt – all of them unarmed civilians fleeing the shooting.

→ Songs on Derry's Bloody Sunday:

Sunday Bloody Sunday, by U2

The song is part of their album War, their first one really politically involved and very well received. This particular song became their “hymn”, and is interpreted by the band at every concert of theirs.

On tonic harmonies, the song recounts the drama: the “broken bottles under children's feet” and “bodies strewn across the dead end street”, the “mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart”... The song conveys a message of hope though, telling that such a massacre should not happen ever again, and that we must not give in to hatred (“but I won't heed the battle call”).

Running Up Hill, by Declan McLaughlin

I got this reference at the Museum of Free Derry too. Declan McLaughlin is an artist all the more touched by this event that he lives and work in the Bogside area of Derry.

The author, obviously saddened by this murder (word that he employs himself in the song) tells the scars it left on the city and its inhabitants.

Mural in the Bogside, with the faces of the 14 victims of the Bloody Sunday

In the second stanza, a verse perfectly captures the whole idea of the impression I had of this city: “It's hard to build a future when your hunted by the past”. Indeed this haunting memory keeps Derry from moving forward. While in the city, I felt something really heavy everywhere, especially in the Bogside. The idea of the murals there was fundamentally good, but brings back this painful memory to the inhabitants constantly, even if they want to take a simple walk in the sun... It is actually really sad that such a horrible episode can mark a place like this and change everything – then again, I am only speaking of what I saw over a few days only.

The singer also makes a reference to We Shall Overcome, which is called in the song We Will Overcome, a slight modification in the title as it is often seen in popular songs like this one:

As the bodies hit the pavement The world seen all you done,As the bodies hit the pavementSomeone was singing We Will Overcome

Minds Locked Shut, by Christy Moore

The song starts quietly on plain, non worrying lyrics: “It happened on a Sunday afternoon/ On a lovely bright crisp winters afternoon/ On a perfect day for walking.” Then the second stanza, without notice, starts talking about “gunshots, stones and bullets”, and all the “chaos” and “panic” following – but still with a contrasting lovely music in the background. A particularity of this song is also that it lists the name of the 14 victims.

Bloody Sunday, sang by Eileen Webster

The song, which was also interpreted by The Men of No Property, gives a calm and sad mood while retelling the development of the day, describing the peaceful demonstrators, the arrival of the “paratroop regiment […] in their armoured cars”, the blood-stained banners, and then the ridiculous trials following the tragedy.

The song ends on a bitter reproach, which alas makes us feel that a lot of people still cannot move on: “On England's proud history a crime added yet/ How can we forgive them, how can we forget?''

Fortunately, the results of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry established in 1998 by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been finally published on June 15th, 2010, showing that the army had fired first, and that the demonstrators were unarmed and all innocent, one of whom already hurt. The Prime Minister David Cameron apologized in the name of the British government.

Belfast's Bloody Friday

This day consisted in a series of bombing attacks by the IRA in response to Derry's massacre in January, and following unsuccessful negotiations between the provisional IRA and the British government.

In more than an hour on this day, starting from 2pm, 22 bombs exploded in Belfast, killing 9 civilians. The IRA declared that the British forces had been warned each time of the next explosion so as to clear out the zone; but the thing is that because there were also false alarms, and because the bombs were mainly concentrated in the city centre, when people evacuated somewhere else they became trapped in another risk zone. In 2002 on the BBC, the IRA apologized to the civilians who had been hurt, and to the families of the victims.

The Motorman operation followed this attack: this was a heavy military operation which aim was to take back control of “no-go” areas like Free Derry, which also existed in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Since then, Free Derry ceased to exist even though the wall on which was written “You are now entering Free Derry” has been kept in commemoration of this period.

→ Song about Ireland's situation in the 1970s:

Only Our Rivers Run Free

This song does not talk about Belfast's tragedy particularly, but was written by Michael McConnell in 1973, just a year after. So it gives a good impression of Nationalists' state of mind at that time.

It has been interpreted a lot, notably by The Wolfe Tones and Christy Moore. It deals with Northern Ireland's situation at the end of the Troubles. It is a lament on Ireland's fate, and according to the song Ireland will never be free -only her rivers- because there is no one to defend her. It blames in fact this general attitude we see in Ireland today which wants to be neutral and accommodating, rather than unbowing like before.

Oh where are you now when we need youWhat burns where the flame used to beAre you gone like the snows of last winterAnd will only our rivers run free?

The Good Friday agreement

This agreement was signed on April 10th, 1998, between the British Prime Minister, the Irish Prime Minister, the Nationalists (like Sinn Féin) and the Unionists. Therefore it brings together several political parties of all Ireland.

Its general aim is to define: – the status and system of government of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom; – the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic

of Ireland and the United Kingdom;– Human Rights;– the respect of all communities and ethnic groups' traditions– the decommissioning of weapons of all paramilitary groups;– the release of imprisoned paramilitaries;– the implementation of British security measures throughout Northern Ireland.

It was agreed by voters from both sides of the Irish border, on the same day (May 23 th). With this vote, the Republic of Ireland gave up to all claim to the counties in Northern Ireland.

→ Song about Belfast's situation a few years before the Good Friday agreement:

Belfast:

Elton John, famous English artist, wrote a song plainly called Belfast in 1995, in his album Made in England. In this song he describes the atmosphere after the war and the religious tensions in the city; nevertheless he loves this city because he never saw braver than her.

He says that he tries to “see through Irish eyes”: he tries to understand, to take the place of the victims

– himself being English. It is one of these songs which tries to take a moral out of these dark times.The “smoking black roses” of the third stanza, besides the symbolic we already talked about, represent

vengeance and death (with the black colour), but most of all this was a famous code word for Ireland, when English laws prohibited direct references to Ireland. A most famous political song written in the 16th

century is “Róisín Dubh”, meaning in Irish “black rose”, which translation is credited to Pádraig Pearse, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising. In this last song, Ireland is represented by a young girl.

The fourth stanza is introduced by “Who's to say on whom heaven smiles”: indeed, religious differences should not be the cause of such violence, because we are all equal human beings in the end.

Last stanza:No bloody boots or crucifixCan ever hope to split this emerald island

Third stanza:And so say your lovers from under the flowersEvery foot of this world needs an inch of Belfast

These two first verses mean that such a strong country as Ireland will never be parted by soldiers or religious misunderstandings only; and the two last ones mean that when we think of all the people who have lost parents and friends in this drama, and when we remember the massacres and oppressions which man was capable of in Belfast, we must never forget how all this happened so as to never repeat these errors in the future.

An Irish ballad recounting briefly the three main steps in Irish history:

Four Green Fields

This song was written in 1967 by the famous Irish folk artist Tommy Makem (dead in 2007). He made many tours with The Clancy Brothers, with whom he knew a great success – notably in the United-States in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the first stanza, an old lady explains that she used to have four dear lands, but strangers came and stole it, and her children died defending it.

In the second stanza, she says that long ago there was war and looting, and her children died of famine, and blood flowed over her four green fields.

Finally, the old lady says that she regained her fields now, but one of them is still at the hands of the stranger. But her sons have had sons as brave as their fathers, and she shall see her four green fields flourish again.

The “proud old woman” is clearly a personification17 of Ireland, which sees through the ages her children -so its inhabitants- fall under English rule. Her four precious lands are the four provinces of Ireland.

The first stanza retells the arrival of the first English and how they stole the Irish lands; then, the persecution and hardship known by the Irish, especially during the painful episode of Great Famine; and finally, one province remains at the British hands: Ulster.

But one day, Ireland will hopefully be reunited again: it is the last message of the song.

As to conclude this first part, here is what Martin Dowling says in his essay Folk & Traditional Music, and the Conflict in Northern Ireland, A Troubles Archive Essay, p. 9:

“Some songs are softened, others heard only in small settings, many are abandoned. These are old and resilient habits. […] Only time will tell how many of the songs invented in response to the Troubles will survive in the tradition, and what shape they will take in the hands of future singers.”

17 Personification was not only a poetic inspiration, but also a mean of avoiding censorship imposed on Irish songs in the times of the Troubles.

II) Contemporary music

Contemporary artists passing on the tradition:

In a music shop in Dublin, I collected the names of some bands and singers on a big display stand for traditional contemporary musicians:

✗ The Dubliners18 is a famous Irish folk band, founded in 1962. While going to the Archives in Dublin, I passed by a bar called Paddy O'Donoghue's; and when I was in the Archives five minutes later I read that it was in this very pub that the members of this group met for the first time19. Back then, every musician and folk singer went there – but today it became quite touristy. Inside, a wall is consecrated to them with the portrait of every member. This band has quite a few artist friends, such as Bono from U2, or the singer Sinéad O'Connor.

They do a lot of traditional songs, but do not always follow their original version -by adding or erasing

some verses and words- of which are rebel songs such as The Foggy Dew, that they interpreted in the 1960s. At that time it was a big issue, which led the national channel RTÉ to ban them from 1967 to 1971.

This year 2012, the band celebrated its 50th anniversary; and a Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to them by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

✗ The Chieftains is another folk band, having played with various Irish and international artists, like for instance Sinéad O'Connor, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, The Corrs, Art Garfunkel, Ziggy Marley, and Madonna. They are known for having reintroduced Irish music, by playing both in small groups in pubs, as well as with orchestras for film music. They were also the first band to play in the Capitol in Washington, and the first western band to play on the Great Wall of China.

We see their influence even in the advertising field: when I was at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, it was possible to watch some TV advertisings for Guinness from the 1950s up to today, and in one of them The Chieftains were promoting the famous black beer!

On July 2nd, I also saw a TV programme on RTÉ One (national TV channel) about their new album, Voice of Ages, out in 2012 for their 50th anniversary – like The Dubliners. The show was a succession of extracts from the album's recording in studio with the various contributor artists, intersected with explanations from the group leader Paddy Moloney20. Not less than 7 folk groups and jazz bands have taken part in the album, as well as the famous Irish singers Imelda May and Lisa Hannigan; and finally the Scottish singer Paolo Nutini.

18 Dubliners is also the name of the 1914 book by the Irish writer James Joyce. If The Dubliners named themselves so, it is because during their first steps, one of the members was reading this book.19 Eric Winter, in Dubliners Song Book, 1974.20 Fun fact: this musician lives near the Wicklow Mountains of Dublin, so not so far from Patricia's where I was staying at - she is the one who told me!

O'Donoghue's pub

✗ The Planxty was a popular Irish band created in 1971, Christy Moore being one of its founding members. They separated in 1975 and 1983, and reunited one last time in 2003 to make a final concert in 2005. Their musical repertoire is influenced by the talented -and blind- classical harpist Turlough O'Carolan (who lived in the 17th/18th century). Their name was also inspired by this musician, as “Planxty” was often used in his songs.

✗ Christy Moore is an Irish folk singer playing in solo now. He put some poems from Bobby Sands in music, like the famous Back Home in Derry. The tune of this song is the one of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, from the Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot. Christie Moore recorded this song on his album Ride On, 1984, considered as one of his best. In it he also sings other songs about various political struggles in the world or their consequences.

He is famous in Ireland and still gives concerts today. He was at the Galway Arts Festival when I was there, but I did not have the chance to see him.

Bobby Sands was a provisional IRA member and British MP. He died after a 66-day hunger strike, in the prison of Maze in Northern Ireland. He is seen as a hero of the Republican cause and of the defense of political prisoners' rights. But in the eyes of some others, he is considered as an IRA terrorist.

✗ Clannad is a family band, as its members are brothers, sisters and uncles (which is also the case of other bands like The Clancy Brothers or The Fureys). They started in 1970 in County Donegal, Northern Ireland.

They became more known when they wrote the theme song of Harry's Game in October 1982, a British series dealing with the Troubles. This song remains today the only one entirely sang in Irish to be in the English charts' top 5. This song was used again in films and American advertisings, which launched their international career. After 10 years of separation, the members (minus one sister gone in solo) reunited in 2007. They made a tour in the United-Kingdom in March 2008, and in 2012 they are planning on making a new album, and on making a tour in Northern America and Canada.

Also, at the Guinness Storehouse, Clannad too made an advertising for the beer!

✗ Another band playing mostly Republican songs is The Wolfe Tones (getting its name from Theobald Wolfe Tone). This band was founded in Dublin's suburb in 1963, 2 out of the 4 members being brothers: Brian and Derek Warfield. The band mostly toured in Ireland, and then in London, in the United-States and in Canada after gaining more popularity. Today the band is only composed of 3 members, as Derek Warfield left it in 2001.

✗ Derek Warfield played in solo for a few years, and now with another nice folk band that he founded, called Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones. They interpreted the Irish song Óró, Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile, which originally made reference to a Jacobite rising of the 18 th century (the title meaning “Welcome home”).

It was used again in the 20th century as a rebel song, its lyrics being rewritten by the Nationalist Pádraig Pearse. It was sang a lot at that time, especially by the Irish Volunteers, and during the Independence War.

Stele in Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, representing Turlough O'Carolan

This song was also known by other names, like Dord na bhFiann (Soldiers' Call) or An Dord Féinne. The lyrics written by Pearse make reference to Gráinne O'Malley, a tribal leader and pirate queen, known for resisting (and later surrendering) to Elizabeth I. She remains, in the collective memory, an Irish hero of independence.

✗ Tommy Sands and his brother Colum Sands are from Northern Ireland in County Down, born from musician parents who have raised their children in the love of Irish music and culture. The Sands house was known in Ireland by both Catholics and Protestants as a haven for enjoying music all together.

Tommy Sands is known internationally (he played in Carnegie Hall in New York, and in the Olympic Stadium of Moscow for instance), and is a close friend to the American singer Pete Seeger. Today he organizes tours with his son Fionan and his daughter Moya.

✗ Declan McLaughlin is an artist from Northern Ireland. By exchanging e-mails with him, he also told me a little about the horrible knee-capping practice, which I did not know of before – which consists in “punishing” someone by shooting in the knee joint. It was a practice often used in Northern Ireland as well as in Italy, especially by the paramilitaries, but also by provisional IRA members. Today, it is still done in Gaza.

He played with two bands for a few years: The Screaming Bin Lids and The Whole Tribe Sings, punk folk bands singing about life in Northern Ireland; and he also made tours in the United-States.

He is an involved singer in the city of Derry where he works, and for Palestine's cause like a lot of Irish artists. Indeed, Palestine's situation is quite similar to the one in Ireland before (this comparison is by the way an object of many sociological researches), which is one out of many reasons why there are associations in support for this country, like the “Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign”; and for instance on the external wall of the Museum of Free Derry is a painting in support of Palestine.

✗ Gary Óg is a folk musician from Glasgow, a city which by a time had a strong Irish community. He was part of the Glasgow rebel band Éire Óg (Young Ireland), of the kind of The Wolfe Tones, and famous in the 1990s.

Today he plays in solo and mostly Irish rebel songs, like Go On Home British Soldiers, song wishing for a free Ireland and which lyrics also make reference to the 14 victims of Derry's Bloody Sunday. He also sings The Fields of Athenry, Irish Soldier Laddie, and Willie and Danny, the latter making reference to two Republican victims taken in ambush by the British army in Derry, in 1984.

✗ Terry ''Cruncher'' O'Neill is an Irish folk artist singing many rebel songs. He is popular in Northern Ireland, especially Derry and Donegal where Republicanism is still strong. He also plays at the annual commemoration week-end of IRA volunteers in Derry21. For instance he interpreted the Republican song James Connolly (like The Wolfe Tones did, minus the last stanza), song dealing with the shooting of the 13 rebels at Kilmainham Jail.

21 This year it was on June 23th/24th, and it was the 25th anniversary of the death of two members of the IRA: Edward McSheffrey and Paddy Deery.

A poster of Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones that I

found in a street in Dublin

Painting outside the Museum of Free Derry

There was many a sad heart, in Dublin that morning,When they murdered James Connolly, the Irish rebel

The spirit they tried hard to quell,But above all the dim came the cry 'no surrender',Was the voice of James Connolly, the Irish rebel.

✗ Sinéad O'Connor is an Irish singer who became popular with her own version of one of Prince's songs in 1990. She also wrote songs for films, and in 2012 she produced another album: How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?. She worked with various artists in her career, like U2, The Chieftains, or Damien Dempsey (an Irish musician from the North of Dublin).

In 2002 she made a compilation of traditional Irish songs: its Gaelic title, Sean-Nós Nua, is a genre of traditional music consisting in a non-accompanied song, having for subject laments, poetry, political events or sometimes comical subjects – especially for drinking songs.

In this album, there is again the famous Óró, Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile.

We observe therefore that still a lot of musicians having risen during the Troubles stay pro-Resistance and are quite active in the folk musical field. They have an important role to play in the exportation of Irish music throughout the world, as well as in the perpetuation of tradition in Ireland, with a hint of modernism to it so as to adapt itself to the society. Fortunately, young artists are ready to take up the torch and sing the pride of their country to the world.

Perception of music and history in Ireland:The systematic politicization of music

According to Gerry Smith22, Ireland has been a musical country since always. And for Zimmerman, in Songs of Irish Rebellion: “to use songs for protest, to voice enduring grievances or propagate temporary slogans, praise leaders, lament the fate of ordinary people unwillingly caught in big upheavals or celebrate those who chose to be martyrs, and to inspire revolt or promote some parliamentary action, was not a practice unique to Ireland; but in a country with a history of enduring tensions and recurrent violence and with a taste for eloquence and music, it was a common occurrence, could reach great intensity, take relatively original forms, and seem at times so pervasive that almost any song might suddenly shade into the political.”

Joan23, from the Irish Traditional Music Archives of Dublin, talked to me about this phenomenon of song politicization: sometimes traditional musicians of nowadays sing political songs without really knowing it – because almost every traditional song contains a political element, but not always clearly.

Example: The Little Drummer

Sang by Christy Moore with The Planxty in 1974, this song talks about a drummer in the army falling in love with an rich girl, who rejects him; desperate, he tells her he will kill himself, so in the end she accepts in spite of their differences in the eyes of the society. But in this song, for instance, the only army at that time was the British army; also the aristocratic is certainly from a British rich family whose father owns a large estate somewhere in County Tipperary – as Bansha, a city in this County, is mentioned.

22 Gerry Smith, Chapitre I: ''Listening to the Future: Music & irish Studies'', in Music in Irish Cultural History, Irish Academic Press, Dublin.23 She is herself a traditional singer and received a Life Achievement Award at the Tommy Makem Festival in Armagh, Northern Ireland

Other example: Down By The Liffey24 Side

I read in my folk songs compilation book a song written by Peadar Kearney, the author of A Soldier's Song (there is even a reference to it).

The tune is the same as in Down by the Tanyard Side, and The Slaney Side, songs by Herbert Hughes – composer, music critic and Irish folk songs collector from Belfast. Another song written on the same tune is The Piper of Crossbarry, celebrating the deeds of the West Cork 3rd Brigade in 1921, when they escaped to the surrounding of 1200 British soldiers during the Crossbarry ambush.

Down By The Liffey Side was also played by The Dubliners and The Wolfe Tones.

It contains a lot of political elements, as the Mary of the song is singing what will become the national hymn, and there is also the mention of the Sinn Féin. But what is the most interesting is that in my folk song book, the last stanza was missing, which I found in another version – I do not know though which one came first, even if I would personally assume the second version is the original, especially since this last stanza is the most clearly Republican and so could be a reason for erasing it from the folk songs book, so as to be “neutral”. Here is this last stanza:

And we'll have little children, and rear them neat and clean To shout up the Republic and to sing about Sinn Féin,They'll do what their old fellas did, who England's power divide,Send them off with guns against the free state huns,Down by the Liffey side.

Tensions remaining

Looking the impact of Irish history on its inhabitants' lives, I had watched with Patricia a TV show on RTÉ One (Saturday Night with Miriam, of June 30th, 2012), where Miriam O'Callaghan was receiving the former IRA leader -now deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland- Martin McGuinness, also number 2 of the Sinn Féin. Recently the visit of Elizabeth II at the end of June 2012 made quite a fuss, because the Queen and McGuinness shook hands – a big step, when we know that up to today the Sinn Féin had always boycotted the Queen's visits.

In this show, he was saying that even if a lot of people think that the peace process is over, it is on the contrary still going on and very fragile. There are still steps to take between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as between Ireland and England. This handshake was, for McGuinness, one of these steps towards peace, and a way to shake hands with all of Northern Ireland's Unionists.

The peace process is long, as it is the case with all peace processes; we must not forget that the Troubles do not have even a century of existence. Most of Ireland's inhabitants today are still people who actually lived the Troubles, and still remember the pain of losing parents or friends.

As regards this, Miriam O'Callaghan went straight to the point by asking McGuinness if he felt some remorse about what he had done, if all those victims were worth it. Indeed, another sensitive point in Ireland is the IRA status: a lot of people, like Miriam, do not only blame England but also the IRA and their bombardments affecting civilians, like the one on Belfast's Bloody Friday. Many families have suffered because of both sides in the end, and today the IRA is considered by many as a terrorist organization.

I talked with Patricia about all this, and she told me there were not the same tensions as before between North and South, however it is still a great conversational subject. Tensions may be less strong than before, nevertheless this common past is still fresh in people's minds: this is not something that can go away in only a few decades.

24 Le Liffey est le fleuve qui passe à travers le centre de Dublin.

About this period tearing families apart, during my stay I was reading The Railway Station Man, by Jennifer Johnston25 (which really was a coincidence, as I did not know what the book was about when I took it with me!). This calm love story between an Irish widow and a former British war hero happens on a background of struggle of youngsters joining in the IRA without really knowing what to expect afterwards. I found this book to be a lovely homage and witness of this time, even though I did not experience it.

Patricia also told me that some families still did not speak to each other today because of what has happened between their relatives during the Troubles (especially between the executed and executors' sides). Ireland is a small country where it is not that much caricatural to say that everyone knows everyone. Therefore we can easily spot the marks left by the Troubles on families and their descendants.

For instance, in an article out in the Derry Journal about the commemoration week-end this year, I saw that amongst the people present at the event there were brothers and children of one of the two fallen IRA volunteers. What's more, in Derry there are numerous commemorations of this kind, like the Bloody Sunday commemoration or the Eastern Rising one.

Traditional music's status nowadays

As regards the perception which young generations have today of Irish folk music, Ronan, 26 years old, explained to me that traditional bands were not that popular. Like everywhere else, they are a bit overshadowed by more mainstream groups: traditional musicians will not be in the top radio 10 for instance. It is nice for pubs' mood, but according to him it does not go any further. In this we can truly say that Clannad made it, with their Harry's Game hit (but of course, 40 years before, it was not the same socio-historical conditions).

It seems that the peacemaking process is one of the reasons for this lack of interest in traditional music, and even more to rebel folk music: maybe young people nowadays less feel this need of “Irish identity” -if such a concept exists- because there is not the “common English enemy” anymore. The present generations did not live the atrocities of the Troubles like their parents and grand-parents did. Of course, there is a certain collective memory succession and every family passes a certain ideology to their children, but even though it seems that, generally, this is less polarized than before: now what is yearned for is that young people learn how to make peace with their fellows, and live in harmony with everyone. People do not want this extremism which led to losses from both sides anymore.

This is why some bands or parts of songs -as we saw with Down By The Liffey Side- are sort of “censored” sometimes; even American Republican bands, which we will talk about later.

I talked about this with Martin Dowling, who told me that it was an important aspect of music in Ireland: because of the neutrality goal, there is a sort of reject of traditional music to the profit of Irish songs looking more like American country music – these two being quite similar at some points, even in their instruments (like the banjo for instance); which actually is not so surprising considering the many previous migrations of Irish in America.

So outside of the music in pubs (drinking music...!), without lyrics, we do not hear a lot of traditional songs: indeed, most of the time these songs are sad and/or political, which is not good for business. When they go out, people buy more drinks if there is a happy music in the background instead of a sad or too calm music. Moreover, there is something in Ireland which never happens in France: when someone starts to sing in a pub, everyone has to stop talking as a sign of respect. So of course, this kind of “mood breaker” is not good for drinking consumption.

25 She also wrote The Old Jest, novel on background of Irish Independence War, which was adapted for the cinema in 1988.

There are also certain bands with a negative connotation: between listening to The Chieftains, which is a rather “nice” band, and listening to the Republican Wolfe Tones, there is a difference. The latter being quite pro-IRA, and the IRA not having a good press nowadays, The Wolfe Tones therefore are considered as extremist (which may be a reason why Derek Warfield separated from them). So Ronan told me that if he said he liked The Wolfe Tones for instance, he would be taken as almost pro-terrorist.

After what Ronan said to me, it may be true that traditional bands are not what is the most listened to by youngsters; however after what I have seen myself, it seems to me that in Ireland folk music is still much more present than folk music in France for instance. Just by walking in the streets, we hear music everywhere, see here or there a trio playing traditional airs, or a musician playing the uilleann pipe, the guitar, the banjo or the concertina. In Miltown Malbay, I also saw people in the street singing Republican songs.

I had thought maybe that in Dublin, it was something made up for tourists; but when I started travelling a little in Ireland after that, I saw that it was the same everywhere else, something really inherent to the country.

Between hatred and mutual understanding

Joan also told me that before, patriotism was a much more popular feeling in Ireland than today, it was not just about a blind hatred of the English or the Unionist. The populations understood each other better too, because they were all in the “same basket”: there were losses from both sides and everyone saw that the war was pointless, so they stood more shoulder to shoulder. Whereas today, the paradox is that the people who have not known the darkest part of the Troubles are the ones maintaining this hatred – not exactly the same thing as resistance. It is often when we do not know personally something, or not well enough, that we have the tendency to be more extreme in our judgement, to lump everything together, as our opinion is based on misinformation.

However when someone loses parents and friends, it is something that cannot be understood rationally, at least not fully. Of course it is the way of war, but when it happens to ourselves, that is when we realize that nothing should justify the death of innocent individuals.

According to Joan, we can also see these changes in rebel songs: in the songs before 1798, the lyrics were much more patriotic and understanding, but now it is only about the English enemy and how much we must hate them.

As far as I am concerned, I have to admit I do not know where to stand. England has indeed invaded Ireland, this cannot be denied, and it is its fault if the country is now divided. For this I understand the point of view of Republicans wishing a united country as beforehand. England has colonized it for so long, and now Northern Ireland could be associated with a sort of peaceful colonization – but it is the burden of Ireland to pay its consequences: this is really something as revolting as what is being done in Palestine. England should have given up to Northern Ireland in the first place, instead of negotiating this piece of land.

Improvised band of a dozen musicians in a pub during the Willie Clancy festival

On the other hand, I also get that people do not want any war or tension anymore, and prefer to move on. So many families have been torn apart, and in the end, what would be the point today of keeping on fighting, now that it is more settled as before? Maybe it is better to deal with these questions on a diplomatic level -it is always the better solution- rather than by force. For the strong Republicans, this attitude compares to submission, and there again I get this point of view.

Because the problem is: Ireland has much less diplomatic power than the United-Kingdom, so diplomatic ways usually do not work in favour of the weakest in these cases...

What a shame that such a beautiful country had not had the chance to develop itself more freely.

In America: the bands “too much” Republican

Irish music expanded a lot in the United-States, following the massive emigrations coming from Ireland in the 19th century (because of famine or persecution as we saw), as well as in the United-Kingdom. Since the 1970s there is a “folk revival”, and Irish music became a specialized field which developed into a renown and popular academic domain (Gerry Smith, in Music in Irish Cultural History, Irish Academic Press, Dublin), especially in America where is concentrated a strong Irish community – like in Boston, where in 1900 more than half of the population is Irish, including the Kennedys. Thanks to this, Irish music is gaining an international success.

It is actually a big phenomenon, which I also talked about with Martin Dowling (it is he who informed me of the band The Flogging Molly, which we will talk about later): a lot of American bands do Irish songs, following the original version of modifying it a little, and it is often Republican songs in the same stamp as The Wolfe Tones. The difference is that in the United-States it is popular, and in Ireland it is less welcomed now. What had already surprised me is that in France, when I had talked about The Dropkick Murphys to an Irish friend, he did not know them; and even in Ireland, the only people who knew this band were Australian. I thought it was weird, since this band is a punk-folk Irish one; but now I understand that it might be a slight censorship so as to respect the neutrality goal.

However these bands are really popular in America, and I found it interesting to see how, in all forced migration stories, the young generations evolve. Generally the pattern is that the first generations of migrants, who actually do the moving, stay relatively in their community because of the new and hostile environment (for instance the “No Dogs, No Irish” signs we talked about). Then the second generation learn the language and try to forget their own culture, in an effort to socialize and fit in the society. And finally, the following generations -so the ones of today in America- try to tie new links with their original culture, the one of their ancestors: there is an emergence of ethnicity (Fredrik Barth in Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, 1969).

In America, we gladly claim to be proud to be Irish and support the IRA; when we have been separated by a whole ocean from the Troubles, it is hard to be truly aware of what we are supporting. A lot of Irish-American, more Irish than the Irish themselves at times, are only guided by a glorious and idealized image of Ireland and its fight for freedom – the same idea that had most of the time the young Irishmen when they wanted to join in the IRA or in whatever army.

Though who could blame them for wanting a reunited Ireland and for wanting to renew ties with their origins?

Mural in Belfast for the Palestinian cause

The Dropkick Murphys

This punk-rock Celtic band, that I discovered by my brother, was founded in 1996 in Quincy near South Boston. In all their songs the uilleann pipe, accordion, mandolin and flute are present. I also heard recently that every year at St Patrick they play for a whole week in Boston: proof that they are appreciated in their continent, especially in their birth city.

Here are two popular songs they played:

Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya:

It is also known under the name of Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye or Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye. They played it in their album The Meanest of Times in 2007. The tune of the song was also long ago taken for the War of Secession song When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.

It goes back to the 19th century when the Irish troops were sent in reinforcement of the British army in India. The song talks about a woman in County Kildare finding her mutilated husband back from war. This way of showing the horrors of war was often used in anti-war songs and poems so as to dissuade the youngsters to join in the army, to show that war does not give anything good: because recruitment campaigns always gave a glorified idea of war without talking about the dead, the torture and the loneliness, but only by talking of bravery, patriotism, and all those lovely concepts.

This anti-war song and its rather grotesque but nonetheless horrifying images was therefore a good mean of dissuasion to fight for the English army. What's more, the Irish mutilated survivors were not even taken in charge by the British government and were abandoned to their sad fate, as the song says it: “Ye'll have to be put with a bowl out to beg”. The same phenomenon happened in France with our “Harkis”, after the Algerian War.

When I visited the Museum of Galway, I saw two posters of the First World War calling young men to join. They both used representations of harp and uilleann pipe so as to speak of the “call to arms”, as if it were a natural instinct:

The Green Fields of France:

It is also an anti-war song, written by Eric Bogle, a Scottish-Australian singer. The song was primarily called No Man's Land, but is also commonly known as William McBride. The Dropkick Murphys took it in their 2005 album The Warrior's Code.

In the song the author is visiting a World War I graveyard of the Western Front, and sits beside the grave of an Irish or Scottish 19-year-old soldier of the name of William McBride; he then starts asking what was the point of this war, what did that poor soldier gain in all this and so on.

In the lyrics, the author makes a reference to the military tunes The Last Post (played by a bugle during the funerals of the soldiers from the ex-British empire and its allies) and The Flowers of the Forest (ancient Scottish tune about the death of James IV and his nobles during the battle of Flodden Field, 1513, in Northern England). The latter is by the way known in all the Commonwealth as The Lament, played on Remembrance Day (November 11th), in commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the WWI.

We can also make a parallel between The Green Fields of France and John MacCrae's poem In Flanders Fields, written during the battle of Flandres in May 1915. In the poem, the author asks to those still alive to defend their cause, so as not to have died in vain; on the contrary, in Bogle's song the worthless dimension of war is underlined, showing that a war will not stop the others and that therefore the dead have died for nothing.

In both the poem and the song, besides the similarity of the title, we can also point at the presence of “poppies”, which is the flower found on British graves. They are still worn by British and Canadians at every commemorative ceremony.

The Black 47

They formed in 1989 in New-York26, their name being inspired from the year 1847, the worst one of the Great Irish Famine. They were the first band to be called as “Irish-American”.

They became successful because of their politically involved songs dealing with social topics, attracting both left-wing people by their socialist lyrics, and more conservative people by their American everyday-life subjects.

Fire of Freedom:

This 1993 song deals with the Troubles, on a reggae background. The singer talks about a woman who has been betrayed by her State and her Church, but who will not stop fighting for freedom. As always, it looks like a personification of Ireland.

There is also 2 verses written in Irish and repeated 3 times, which is none other than the chorus of the song we already talked about: Oró 'se do bheatha 'bhaile.

I made the following table to rapidly represent the two main aspects of the song: the first one talking about the disastrous and unfair state of things, the other one expressing the hope and struggle for freedom through generations. Ending the song on this positive note is an aspect shared with many other popular songs, as for instance in Four Green Fields that we saw earlier, the end of which is about the hope of seeing Ireland reunited one day.

Out in the streets all I hear is violenceBut the authorities react with silence One law for you, for me it's another

“Power to the people” sang Johnny Lennon20 years later we're back at the beginning

I want you to know, I'll love you foreverOur dreams will continue in the eyes of our children

Oró 'se do bheatha 'bhaile (Ah, welcome home)anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh (Now that summer is coming)

26 Fun fact: this band got known with their song Home of the Brave, heard by the manager of the British band The Pogues.

The Flogging Molly

They got together for the first time in 1997 in Los Angeles. On the musical level, they sound more like The Dropkick Murphys than The Black 47. The founder of the band, Dave King27, was born in Dublin, then left briefly for London before finally leaving for Los Angeles.

They recorded their 2007 album Float in Wexford, County Wexford.

Drunken Lullabies:

When we see its title we could think it is only a drinking song; but like most of these kind of tunes, it is politically influenced and clearly makes reference to the Troubles, and the vain Catholic/Protestant squabbles. This song might nevertheless extend to all wars.

The author mentions “Roisin” and looks at her eyes of a blood-red colour: here is a reference to “Róisín Dubh”, the popular political Irish song translated by Pádraig Pearse we already talked about.

Drunken Lullabies has a Republican touch, yearning to see Ireland reunited – but it is also an anti-war song as it preaches peaceful means.

What's Left of the Flag:

This song deals with the Irish flag -clearly- which is green/white/orange. The green represents the Catholics, or the republicanism of the 1790 United Irishmen Society; the orange stands for the Protestants, or the followers of William of Orange; the white is for peace between both populations and traditions in Ireland.

And by mornin' we'll be freeWipe that golden tear from your mother dearAnd raise what's left of the flag for me

From the East out to the Western shoreWhere many men and many more will fallBut no angel flies with me tonightTill freedom reigns on all.

This song deals with the Irish-British conflict as the previous one, with freedom, and with Ireland's reunification. When the person of the song says to raise what is left of the flag, it can be understood as to defend what is left of Ireland, or maybe to pursue the quest for the reunification of Ireland with Northern Ireland – which is hers; and then only “freedom [will reign] on all”, once the colonizer has fled completely the country.

27 Fun fact: Dave King writes his songs on a typewriter from 1916, just because it dates from the Easter Rising!

In Northern Ireland: the marching bandsThese marching bands are a rising -though not new- phenomenon in Northern Ireland, which are

Protestants groups composed of flutes and percussions. According to the Belfast Telegraph, “in the early 21st century […] Blood and Thunder marching bands are the most energetic and fastest growing traditional cultural movement on this island”. They parade in streets all summer, and these organized marches culminate with the 12th of July, also called “the Glorious Twelfth”, marking the 1960 victory of Protestants (king William of Orange) over Catholics (king James II) at the Battle of the Boyne.

Their music is often perceived as highly provocative for Nationalist traditions, and these parades have often been the source of sectarian tensions. The only times these bands are referred to is negatively, in relation with riots and civil disturbances, which does not improve their popularity amongst Catholics.

The author of the book Blood and Thunder, Darach MacDonald, says that he himself had a low opinion of these bands, which he saw only as “makey-up outfits, attached to Orange lodges, and dragged together at the start of the season to play loud music to provoke their peaceful Catholic neighbours”.28

But he discovered it was “an awful lot more complex”, as it is a whole tradition part of young Protestants' culture: “A large part of their very identity comes from musical parading.”

In this they look more than they think to the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), which is also an organization promoting old Gaelic games, music, language and dance. So indeed they both have the same goal of perpetuating the tradition in each of their respective sides.

The author has spent a whole season with the Castlederg Young Loyalists Flute Band in order to see things from the inside, and better understand this phenomenon. This is how his opinion changed on these marching bands:

''I shared the media perception that they were thuggish throwbacks, pounding out dour dirges with more decibels than deference for peace and goodwill. I thought their annual parades were coat-trailing shows of Protestant supremacy, solely designed to annoy peaceable neighbours. But I knew nothing then and since I began research for my new book, Blood and Thunder: Inside an Ulster Protestant Band, it is remarkable how much I learned in just a year of attending practices and parades with an open mind. I learned for instance that Blood and Thunder bands:

– Brought popular youth culture to traditional flute bands in the 1970s;– Play a range of airs that encompasses shared traditional Irish music to hymns, movie themes and

popular tunes; – Provide year-round involvement in cultural and music pursuits for thousands of young band

members; – Compete through a parade season that lasts for 9 months from, and then go indoors for a packed

programme of winter concerts; – Teach and value discipline and orderly parading, as well as musical ability.”

With sociological investigations like this one delivering a better understanding of cultural differences to the public, maybe tensions between Catholics and Protestants will ease one day so as to favour a better cohabitation. There is a long way to go, but eventually we will get there.

28 On culturenorthernireland.org, in an interview with Garbhan Dawney in October 2010.

A Unionist neighbourhood in Belfast

Folk music as a mean of heritage transmission is a method used since always. In Ireland, it still constitutes a living legacy and is based on the oral transmission of the country's collective memory, as in the times of the first Gaelic harpists. The country's three main songs, used at football or rugby matches, certify that people want to keep their traditions and memory in our modern world.

Irish music is certainly not only a collection of cliché drinking songs: the dimension focused on struggles against the colonizer is very present and constantly renewed, constituting day after day a source of inspiration for artists willing to pass on the tradition. For the people of a country with such a recent independence, it is capital not to forget their ancestors' struggles and resistance which happened both through the arms and the arts.

Another consequence of previous persecutions is the present result of the Irish diaspora – of the 20 th

century in particular: now various Irish communities exist throughout the world, composed of the third and fourth generations of immigrants yearning to feel again their “Irish identity”. Therefore the perpetuation of Irish songs' tradition is even assured outside of the mother island.

The young generations in Ireland, however, who did not know the worst of the Irish-British conflict, do not find any real interest in their ancestors' music, and do not find the same push so as to feel their “identity” like the exiled. But not to make generalities, still a good part of Ireland stays attached to its roots – as events like the traditional Willie Clancy festival testify of.

Ireland kept scars from her past. Today still, old tensions remain between Catholics and Protestants, and Nationalists and Unionists. Recent histories between families are far from forgotten, and cultural misunderstandings often impeach a general harmony.

Despite all that, Ireland is moving towards a calmer future. Without forgetting her martyrs dead for her liberation, she tries to make peace with her old fears and draw lessons from all this violence. This willingness of easing tensions can have negative effects on tradition though, like when it leads to a slight “censorship” of certain songs or parts of songs.

Fortunately Irish artists do not stop, and always renew rebel songs or write new ones. Whatever the aim targeted -call for a reunification of the country or dissuade from war, or just bring to life old songs again- they keep the same main property: perpetuate the memory of a passed and common struggle in the most lively way possible, and sing it to the world so that no one forgets.

Bibliography:Folksongs & Ballads Popular in Ireland, volume 3, edited par John Loesberg, ed. Ossian (Cork), 1980.

The Past in the Present: A Study of Some Aspects of the Politics of Music in Belfast,Thesis in Philosophy by May McCann, Queen's University of Belfast, July 1985

Songs of Irish Rebellion, Political Street Ballads and Rebel Songs, 1780 – 1900, by Georges-Denis Zimmerman, Dublin, 1967

Songs of Resistance, published by the Jackie Griffith Cumann of Sinn Féin, Dublin, first time in June 1975

Songs of struggle and protest, by J. McDonnell (Ed.)1979.

Dubliners Song Book, by Eric Winter, 1974

Folk and Traditional Music and the Conflict in Northern Ireland, A Troubles Archive Essay, by Martin Dowling, 2010

Blood & Thunder: Inside an Ulster Protestant Band, by Darach MacDonald, The Mercier Press Ltd, 1st June 2010

Websites:http://www.tommysands.com/

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/

http://soundcloud.com/

http://folkmusic.about.com/

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/

http://celtic-lyrics.com/

http://www.rollingstone.com/

http://www.musiconline.xpg.com.br/

http://www.columsands.com/

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.kinglaoghaire.com/

http://www.derryjournal.com/