'Twas the feast of St Patrick by the dawn of the day,  [1923]
          The hills of Tirconnaill stood sombre and gray.,
          When the first light of morning illumined the sky,
          Four brave Irish soldiers were led forth to die.
  
              "The Drumboe Martyrs" by Mick McGinley (1852-1940) of County Donegal, Ireland

From John McLaughlin's (Mudcat's Big Tim) excellent account in his One Green Hill – Journeys through Irish Songs, 2003. He points out the big surprise – this is one of those rare Irish traditional songs in which Irish Repulicans are not killed by the English, they're killed by other Irish Repulicans during the post-independance Irish Civil War. [June 1922 – May 1923]

(Patrick, c.385-c.461)

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