The Patriot Game

Written by Irish poet Dominic Behan, the brother of legendary playwright Brendan Behan, this bitter reflection on the ongoing partition of Ireland and the IRA's often violent attempts at reunification was brought to the U.S. in the late 1950s by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It has been recorded by dozens of folk singers on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Dubliners, Luke Kelly solo, the Wofhounds, Judy Collins, and many more.

The lyrics commemorate the deaths on New Year's Eve of 1956 of two very young soldiers of the IRA, Fergal O'Hanlon and Sean South, who were killed while trying to blow up a barracks of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

The Kingston Trio here is using the same lyrics as the Clancys - lyrics that elide Behan's verses about James Connolly being executed by the British while strapped to a wooden chair because he was too wounded to stand, as well as a justification for killing policemen and an indictment of the first president of the Republic of Ireland Eamon de Valera's acceptance of the division of the island nation in 1922.

Every other version of this song uploaded to YouTube has ignited flaming and partisan commentary about the song and the ongoing troubles that inspired it. As much as it is an Irish Nationalist anthem, Behan's composition also remains implicitly a powerful lamentation over the sorrow and tragic cost of war and violence.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• PatriotGame
• Kingston
• Trio
• ClancyBrothers
• Irish
• folk
• Chilly
• Winds

[Pinoyklaus]

The Melody of "With God on your Side" by Bob Dylan sounds quite the same. Did good old bob steal a little bit?

[CompVid101]

@Pinoyklaus - LOL! Bob stole a LOT in his early days. Actually, it was the folk process - he took tunes from traditional songs and from performers he admired. He called Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers (from whom the KT got this song) "the best ballad singer that ever lived." Other Bob numbers from the Clancys: "Farewell to You" from "The Leaving of Liverpool"; "Restless Farewell" From "The Parting Glass": "RamblinGamblin Willie" from "Brennan on the Moor."

[soar1111]

@soar1111 or were unknown patsys just taken for a ride, that cost them their lives either way they are all a shower of bastards!

[soar1111]

Eamonn Ceannt (1881-1916)

Born in Galway in 1882, and son of a RIC officer,

Plunkett was born at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street in one of Dublin's most affluent neighborhoods.[1] Both his parents came from wealthy backgrounds,[2] and his father, George Noble Plunkett, had been made a papal count.[3]

the wealthy and araisrtotic have always and will always be the difference in éire being free or not, all of these guys were either in on the game as a way of directing the revolution... cont

[soar1111]

@soar1111

Charles Stewart Parnell was born on 27 June 1846 in County Wicklow into a family of  Protestant landowners.

[soar1111]

Charles Stewart Parnell (Parnell St) was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. He was one of the most important figures in 19th century Ireland and Great Britain, and was described by Prime Minister William Gladstone as the most remarkable person he had ever met

you must start to see that these fucking bastards were nothing but scum designed to confuse us and we have streets name after them??!!

[soar1111]

look up 90 % of streets in Ireland named after fucking prods, pearse's father was a mason from england, no doubt influencing his young english son to do his devilish deeds of captivating the Irish nation to accept a piece of paper that did away with their inherent god given rights!!

look up "The Wellington Monument" - obelisk

look up obelisks in vatican london washinton

look up where they came from

look up why are they so important, why were they robbed from egypt?

look this shit up!

[soar1111]

the kingston trio? shower of proddy fucking bastards, Irish men and Women NEVER EVER be fooled by these fucking bastards, englands success down through the years was by simple confusion, all these proddy fuckers plunket tone emmet etc nothing but PLANTS so the indigenous will accept the other thousands of fucking planters robbing their soil form under their feet!! and what have we today in Ireland an acceptance of proddy land ownership... RID OUR LAND OF THIS FUCKING SCUM ONCE AND FOR ALL!!

[soar1111]

IRA's often violent attempts?? what the fuck is this disgusting you shouldn't have this video on you channel you fucking traitors piece of shit!

[horlock91]

@despuis "You imagine us getting over to England if you'd ten of them and ten clocks in a holdall. You imagine, with a six-hour timer we could be over to London and back. Just tick, tick, tick, tick... gone."

sick as hell.

[horlock91]

@despuis but dont let it consume you.

[despuis]

@horlock91 i couldnt care less whether your irish or not,i have no blind reactionary hatred toward working class british,its true that i do hate the british parasite aristocracy/ruling elite,who leech of working people in ireland and britain.i am from monaghan Feargeal Ohanlon.s family and mine were friends.this song is about his beliefs and his commitment to democracy and freedom for his people.we can look to the future absolutley but never forget what caused this grief.own your own history