Brendan Devereux - Liberty Hall

(c) Brendan Devereux. This song is on my new album "Into the Orange", which is available from Claddagh Records, iTunes and CDBaby.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/brendan-devereux/id451065966

I wrote this song to commemorate those in the Irish Citizen Army who fought during the Easter Rebellion 1916. The Irish Citizen Army was the military wing of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, and was established in the wake of the 1913 Lockout. My Grandfather, Patrick Devereux, and his sister, Mary Anne, were members of the Irish Citizens Army, and they fought during Easter Week. My Grandfather fought in the Imperial Hotel in O'Connell Streeet (now Clery's Store), and Mollyanne fought in the College of Surgeons, Stephen's Green.
Christy Moore invited me to sing this song at the Centenary Concert of the SIPTU Union in Liberty Hall December 2009.

Here are the words, Copyright Brendan Devereux.

Liberty Hall.

1.
As the sun went down on Dublin Town in Easter in 1916
Two lovers walked through cobblestoned streets as the Jarveys called from the Green.
Though their hearts were young they were feeling sad, not knowing what tomorrow might bring,
For they had made a vow 'neath the Starry Plough they'd serve neither Kaiser nor King:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall, and they'll rally with James Connolly.

2.
She was a milliner by trade from Harmony Row, he was a docker from off the North Strand,
And during the Lockout of 1913 they played in the union piped band.
And when the Irish Citizen's Army was formed, they were there at the head of the queue,
And they'd fight for the rights of the working class, a fight that was noble and true:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall, and they'll rally with James Connolly.

3.
Their bayonets shone in the mid-morning sun as they marched along Eden Quay.
With their heads held high their rallying cry was 'Revenge for 1913'.
And a stolen glance at O'Connell Bridge was all the lovers could spare,
But it told them all they wanted to know, and all they wanted to share:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall, and they'll rally with James Connolly.

4.
They commandeered the GPO, and soon the fighting began.
The bullets raged and the cannons roared and blood on the cobblestones ran.
And through barricades and broken glass the guns of the rebels fired,
And as the British Army advanced the lovers fought side by side:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall and they'll rally with James Connolly.

5.
They battled on for five long days before they were forced to give in.
They were taken away to English jails, where the wind blew bitter and chill.
And when they came back home again the lovers were soon man and wife,
And they lived in one room in Summerhill, and they lived there for the rest of their lives:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall and they'll rally with James Connolly.

6.
So here's to those brave women and men who fought and died for us all.
Well it wasn't for fortune and it wasn't for fame, they marched from Liberty Hall.
They marched for the bare-foot boy in rags and the mother who cried in vain,
And the father who died on a building site without a penny to his name:
And they'd answer the call to Liberty Hall and they'll rally with James Connolly.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Liberty
• Hall+James
• Connolly+1916+1913+The
• Easter
• Rising+The
• Rebellion+Dublin+O'Connell
• Street+Gibson+Advanced
• Jumbo+Acoustic+Easter
• Week+Brendan
• Devereux+ITGWU+SIPTU+
• Trade
• Union
• The
• Lockout+Folk
• Song+Ballad+Irish+Song+Singer
• Songwriter+Dublin
• Folk+Irish
• Citizen
• Army+Socialism+The
• Starry
• Plough+The
• Plough
• and
• Stars+
• Hughes
• Pub
• Bar+Mudcat+Mudcatter

[crystalpub1]

magnifique ! Beaucoup de souvenir dans le salon des Hooper ! Bisous de la Suisse

[codswolp]

@crystalpub1

Merci - Salon des Hooper ou Hughes?

[MacFeeley]

Good song, good singing.

[antiracistskin69]

Some powerfull stuff you wrote there . Its sort of Bob Dylan meets Christy Moore. I love to hear a recording of that song. You got some tallant me ol' pal!

[jonnyboys60]

Brendan any chance of recording Cailín álainn and posting it up? Thanks.