I've had another look through the considerable amount of material that I have on Johnny Patterson, all of it supplied by the Library in Ennis, Co. Clare, Patterson's home town. None of the various articles make any mention of Harry Clifton.

In fact, they all say that Patterson wrote the song in 1889, long after Clifton was dead. The song was Patterson's response to the Belfast riots of 1886 (he was living in Belfast at the time) and, more specifically, to the Parnell 'split' of 1889. The song was an attempt at reconciliation bewteen orange and green. In May '89 he went on stage in Tralee with a green flag in one hand and an orange one in the other and started to sing his newly composed song ' Do Your Best for One and Other'. A riot broke out and Patterson was hit over the head with an iron bar and died a few days later.

Little is ever said about where Patterson got his melodies. He was a skilled piper and it is generally assumed that he wrote his own melodies (or adapted trad ones).

However, if there is any evidence for Harry Clifton, I'd like to see as I'm only interested in accuracy.

(A few years ago a group of Ennis musicians issued a cassette tape 'The Smiles and Tears of a Clown; the life and times of Johnny Patterson', which included 'Do Your Best'. I have a copy but now it's unfortunately sold out).