WOODS OF DRUMBO

'Twas the eve of Saint Patrick at the dawn of the day,
The hills of Tyrconnell lay slumbering and grey,
The first light of morning illumined the sky,
As four Irish heroes were led forth to die.

They were Enright, O'Sullivan and Dawley by name,
From the counties of Cork and from Kerry they came,
While the gallant Sean Larkin from the banks of the Roe,
Completes the four martyrs shot dead at Drumbo,

These republican soldiers were dragged from their cells,
For months they had suffered the torments of hell,
No mercy they asked from their merciless foe,
And no mercy was shown by the thugs at Drumbo.

Three left their loved homesteads in Kerry's green vale,
And one came from Derry to fight for the Gael,
But instead of true friends they met traitor and foe,
And uncoffined were laid in the woods of Drumbo.

The church bells rang out in the cool morning air,
To summon the faithful to penance and prayer,
When a shot from the wild wood brought terror and woe,
'Twas the death knell of Dawley shot dead in Drumbo.

Let Tyrconnell ne'er boast of her honour and fame,
All the waters of Finn will not wash out the stain,
While the Foyle and the Swilly continue to flow,
That stain will remain on the woods of Drumbo.


During the Irish Civil War 1921-1923. Four men of a republican flying column, Enright, O'Sullivan, Dawley and Sean Larkin from Derry, were shot dead by the Free Staters near Stranolar in Donegal.