"Free Staters no such thing in Ireland until AFTER 1922 "
Many of these songs were written well after the events actually happened - in fact, songs of historical events are still being made - that they are inaccurate in detail is inevitable and irrelevant - they are not historical documents but quite often aspitations of those seeking Irish Freedom
One of the best loved songs of 1798, Ballyshannon Lane' tells of a massacre carried out by Yeomen at the time of the Rebellion
In fact it is based on a massacre carried out by Rebels fleeing the Vinegar Hill defeat who surrounded and burned a wealth Protestant farmhouse with the family and farm-Servants inside -
'The Scullabogue massacre' is horrifically described (with a contemporary illustration) in Thomas Packenham's 'The Year of Libery'
Censoring songs because of their inaccuracy is the downward path to fascism in my opinion - the secrest is to check them out for yourself
This is my favourite PIECE OF 'FACTION'
Jim Carroll