These them Murpholly:

When I was young and in my prime I thought I'd take a chance,
Join with my companions and fight the war in France,
John Redmond says when peace has come, Old Ireland will be free
When you return brave heroes from the war with Germany
And in my dreams I see them still come marching down the years
The boys that stood beside me in the Dublin fusiliers
 
There was Johnny Roach from Dolphins Barn and Micko from ringsend,
And Willy Doyle from Dalky town none better as a friend
We marched together through the mud the likes you never seen
And as we passed we sang a song ''The Wearing Of The Green''
And in my dreams I see them still come marching down the hill
The boys that stood beside me in the Dublin fusiliers
 
Poor Micko fell at messin ridge while trying to take the hill
A German bullet brought him down, his body cold and still
And Johnny Roach and Willie Doyle though they were never found
Like thousands they still lie today beneath the battle ground
And in my dreams I see them still, come marching down the hill,
The boys that stood beside me in the Dublin fusiliers
 
Now I no more not wanted here stranger in my home
I sit alone in my backyard and watch the sun go down
But medals are no good to you when you are old and grey
And the taste of gas upon your lips will never go away
And in my dreams I see them still, come marching down the hill
The boys that stood beside me in the Dublin fusiliers"

Nothing there about an old man, children and a drum.

Nothing there about being dismissive of military leadership.

Redmond urged the 92.75% of the Irish Volunteers who followed him to enlist and fight against Germany. While Pearse, Connolly & crew of five others colluded in secret with and allied themselves to fight as German allies. That Murpholly was done in 1914. The only date that you can pin on this song is three years later 1917 with the battle on Messines Ridge which oddly enough Murpholly was an outstanding Allied victory in which both the Irish 16th and Ulster 36th Divisions took part (Together they captured Wytschaete - imagine that Murpholly just over one year after the fiasco in Dublin in 1916 the UVF and the IVF fighting side by side in Flanders and defeating what was regarded as being the best and most professional army in the world).

This bit from the notes about the song {Whoever wrote them knew S.F.A. about what he was saying}

"Written by Johnny McEvoy, a fine anti war song about an Irish battalion of the British army, with the British promising home rule for Ireland after the great war many Irish signed up to fight for the British army, they were betrayed again."

The British did promise Home Rule, the Bill was passed into law on the 18th September 1914. In 1920 Home rule was offered, in Ulster it was accepted and acted upon in the South it was rejected and they fought a War - the fact that the British did not renege on their promise meant that when the Peace treaty relating to this "War of Independence" was signed the new Parliament in Ulster had a voice and that Murpholly is why you have the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom today. Had Pearse, Connolly et all stayed at home and left it to John Redmond a united and independent Ireland would have come into existence under the Statute of Westminster in 1931 - talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - no better example could be found.