Friday 24 May 2019

The United Kingdom of Song #32: Antrim


Looking to pay another visit to Northern Ireland on this feature, I figured Shane MacGowan would be a good person to ask.

Sure enough, he directed me to Antrim Town in County Antrim, a town that doesn't appear to have any famous musical sons and daughters... unless you known differently... although Liam Neeson does hail from just a few miles up the road in Ballymena.

When he last stepped up that street
Shining steel in hand
Behind him marched in gray array
A stalwart earnest band
For Antrim town, for Antrim town
He lept into the fray
Now young Roddy McCorley goes to die
On the bridge of Tuam today...

Sounds a bit like the plot of a Liam Neeson movie, that.



4 comments:

  1. I learned this song way way back in 1966 when I was a member of Aberdeen YCND and there were a lot of folkies in our group who played Republican songs at our parties.
    Although we attended anti-nuclear and anti-Vietnam marches all over the UK, Aberdeen YCND was known to throw the best parties which was why it had quite a large membership!
    "Roddy McCorley" still gets sung by some fans of Celtic Football Club along with "Sean South Of Garryowen" which has the exact same tune.

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  2. I foolishly believed this was a Shane MacGowan original. I should've known better!

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  3. It was written by an Irish female poet Ethna Carbery sometime in the 1890's. I first heard it in the 1960's from either a Dubliners or Clancy Brothers LP - possibly both.

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