Thomas Davis is perhaps the most prominent Irish Republican poet in the history of the country. He was protestant and spoke at length about the need to remove sectarian from Irish society so all could be regarded as Irish. He died tragically young buy left a powerful legacy, especially in both song and poetry. Here’s one about unifying the people of Ireland, something still not achieved some 174 years after his death.
In this piece of inspired verse, Thomas Davis calls to all those born on the island of Ireland to stand together as Irish people, in opposition to the yoke of English colonialism. He believed that the Irish identity did not depend on bloodlines but on feelings of the heart. His hope was that those of Saxon descent would become comfortable with an Irish identity if they would only give themselves fully to the idea.
Davis was born in Mallow, Co. Cork, in 1814. He was one of the chief organisers of the Young Ireland movement and was fundamentally opposed to Daniel O’Connell’s ill-fated moves to separate the Catholic Irish from the rest. Davis was a Republican. O’Connell was a vain-glorious fool.
Thomas Davis contributed much to the literature of rebel Ireland. He died in 1845 from scarlet fever, at the age of 30. He is buried at Mount Jerome cemetery in…
View original post 373 more words
Rebel Voice 