He was 16 when he set off on his own to blow up parts of England. His time in a borstal gave him the materiel for a book. He wrote poetry in both Gaelic and English. He had famous friends across the globe. He stayed in the Chelsea Hotel. He drank himself to death. He was Brendan Behan. This is his poem.
This is a solid standard in the Irish folk tradition, here performed by the wonderful Jack L. If there’s one thing that Ireland does well, it’s to produce songs of sadness and loss. Rebel Voice says that’s all very well, but fuckin’ hell, let’s have some victories to write a few verses about. We could […]
This is an interesting selection of footage from the Republican war against the forces of British colonialism in the Occupied Six Counties. Just a reminder. https://youtu.be/oVLRdI5MlSA – If you care, give it a share –
This poem comments upon the Irishmen who left their native land to fight in foreign wars. It is a sad fact that many Irish nationals have died in overseas conflict while their own nation lay in the chains of bondage. The Battle Eve of the Brigade The mess-tent is full, and the glasses are set, […]
This poem by Davis deals with the Penal Laws which further institutionalized sectarianism across colonial Ireland. In the Occupied Six Counties today, the psychology of many Unionists would indicate that the Penal Days have not gone for at least some. The Penal Days Oh! weep those days, the penal days, When Ireland hopelessly complained. Oh! […]
Here is yet another rebel poem from the father of Irish Republican poetry, Corkman, Thomas Davis. The Vow of Tipperary From Carrick streets to Shannon shore, From Slievenamon to Ballindeary, From Longford Pass to Gaillte Mór, Come hear The Vow of Tipperary. Too long we fought for Britain’s cause, And of our blood were never […]
Originally posted on Rebel Voice:
Partition in Ireland, in 1922, was made possible because a large portion of the adult population of the twenty-six counties readily agreed to it. By accepting the illegal, undemocratic and immoral division of our national territory, Free Staters effectively turned their backs upon hundreds of thousands of Nationalist men, women…
Brendan Behan was a hard-drinking Dubliner born in 1923 and who died in 1964. Although in the IRA’s young wing of the Fianna from an early time, it was at the impetuous age of 16 that Behan joined the IRA and took himself off to England with only a suitcase full of explosives for company, […]
Thomas Davis was from Mallow in County Cork. He was an Irish Republican of the protestant faith. He wrote many patriotic songs and poems that are still popular today more than 170 years after his death from TB. He was aged just 30. Nationality I. A Nation’s voice, a nation’s voice– It is a solemn […]
Thomas Davis was an Irish Republican of the 19th century. He is widely regarded as the Bard of Republicanism. My Land She is a rich and rare land; Oh! she’s a fresh and fair land; She is a dear and rare land This native land of mine. No men than her’s are braver- Her women’s […]
This is yet another stirring piece of verse from the poet laureate of Irish Republicanism, Thomas Davis. In this poem, Davis laments the falling of Irish martyrs in battle, and looks hopefully to the day when the servants of Irish freedom will eventually triumph over their colonial oppressors. Remember that such writings could have seen […]
This short documentary looks at the Workers Council Strike of 1974, when embittered Unionists in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland decided to protest against the power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement. Both mainstream Unionists and paramilitaries, as well as elements from the RUC and UDR, stood together at illegal roadblocks in a demonstration of their bigotry and […]
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