O'DUFFY'S IRONSIDES
By Diarmuid Fitzpatrick, 1936
Possibly amended by Brendan Behan
Air: The Valley of Knockanure. Tune available in Digitrad HERE
Let loose my fierce crusaders,
O'Duffy wildly cried,
My grim and bold mosstroopers,
That poached by Shannon side,
Their shirts are blue, their backs are strong,
They've cobwebs on the brain,
And if Franco's moors are beaten.
My Irish troops remain
In old Dublin town my name is tarred,
On pavement and slum wall.
In thousands on her Christian Front,
The starving children call.
But with my gallant ironsides,
They call to us in vain,
For we're off to slaughter workers in,
The sunny land of Spain.
At Badajo's red ramparts,
The Spanish workers died,
O'Duffy's bellowing Animal Gang,
Sing hymns of hate with pride.
The sleuths that called for Connolly's blood,
And Sean MacDiarmuid's too,
Are panting still for worker's gore,
From Spain and far Peru.
Fall in! Fall in! O'Duffy cried,
There's work in Spain to do,
A harp and crown we all will gain,
And shoot the toilers through.
In Paradise an Irish harp,
A Moor to dance a jig,
A traitor's hope, a hangman's rope,
An Irish peeler's pig.
The lyrics above and the information below is taken from the article The Authorship Of The Somhairle Macallistair Ballads by H. Gustav Klaus, Irish University Review, Vol 26,No 1 (Spring – Summer, 1996), pp. 107-117
Dairmuid Fitzpatrick subsequently became involved in Republican politics and from some time in the nineteen thirties organised Na Fianna Eireann, the Irish Republican Youth Movement. It was here that he would have met the young Brendan Behan (born 1923). One of the many songs in Behan's unfinished play Richard's Cork Leg is an adapted version of Fitzpatrick's ballad "O'Duffy's Ironsides", originally published in The Worker of 1936 as " Brigade Ballad No3" and signed, not Somhairle Macallistair, but " Tom Moore junior.
Behan's version retains four of the original eight stanzas, but presents them in a different order with minor amendments in several lines." A harp and crown we all will gain", for example, originally ran " A martyr's crown we all will gain". The Hero sings the ballad as a " welcome" to one of the Blueshirts "that was out fighting against the Communists in Spain". This is exactly in keeping with the original intention of the song. I am,of course, not suggesting here a direct handling down of the material- Fitzpatrick was much too secretive about his literary exploits- merely that "O'Duffy's Ironsides" passed into leftwing folklore of the day and may have been sung by the Republican Scouts on a number of occasions.And in the process, as happens with oral transmissions, the song was to some extent reshaped.
Alternatively Behan may have spotted " O'Duffy's Ironsides" in publications for sale in the Communist Bookshop in Ormond Quay, which he used to frequent after school.
O'Duffy's Ironsides sung by Ronnie Drew
Guaranteed, Ronnie Drew, Record Cover and Track ListClick the triangle by the title to hear extract
INFORMATION ABOUT RICHARD'S CORK LEG
The Tune is described as Traditional: can anyone name it please?
Subject: RE: Tune Req: O'Duffy's Ironsides, on Ronnie Drew LP THREAD LINK HERE
From: Fred McCormick - PM
Date: 25 Apr 10 - 12:18 PM
The tune is The Valley of Knockanure.
Thanks Fred,Regards, Geoff
From: GeoffLawes - PM
Date: 23 Oct 10 - 09:02 AM
The following information and the set of complete original lyrics for O'DUFFY'S IRONSIDES is taken with the kind permission of Lynda Walker from her songbook of Spanish Civil War-related songs called THEIR SONGS NOT FORGOTTEN published in Belfast in 2006.
The following information and the set of complete original lyrics for O'DUFFY'S IRONSIDES is taken with the kind permission of Lynda Walker from her songbook of Spanish Civil War-related songs called THEIR SONGS NOT FORGOTTEN published in Belfast in 2006.
O'DUFFY'S IRONSIDES
Somhairle Mac Alastair
You've heard of Slattery's Light Dragoons,
Who fought at Waterloo,
And those who ran at Bunker Hill—
Or bunked at Timbuktu?
There's still a page in history
Which may never be uncut,
To tell the glorious story of
O'Duffy's Mounted Foot.
In old Dublin town my name is tarred
On pavement and slum wall,
In thousands on its Christian Front
The starving children call.
But with my gallant Ironsides
They call to us in vain,
For we're off to slaughter workers
In the sunny land in Spain.
"Let loose my fierce Crusaders!"
O'Duffy wildly cries,
"My grim and bold moss-troopers
That poached by Shannonsides.
Their shirts are blue, their backs are strong,
They've cobwebs on the brain;
If Franco's troops are beaten down
My Irish troops remain.
"Fall in, fall in!" O'Duffy cries,
"There's work in Spain to do;
A martyr's crown we all will gain,
And shoot the toilers through.
In paradise an Irish harp,
A Moor to dance a jig,
A traitor's hope, a hangman's rope,
An Irish peeler's pig."
On Badajoz' red ramparts
The Spanish workers died,
And Duffy's bellowing Animal Gang
Sang hymns of hate and pride.
The sleuths who called for Connolly's blood,
And Seán Mac Diarmada's too,
Are panting for the workers' gore,
From Spain to far Peru.
"Bring forth my warhorse Rosinante,"
The bold O'Duffy cries;
"My squire, Patsy Panza,
The man who never lies;
My peeler's baton in my hand,
A gay knight-errant I;
Oh, Allah guide our gallant band,
And Hitler guard the sky.
Put on my suit of Daily Mail,
A crescent on my back,
And hoist the Independent flag
The Freeman's Castle Hack.
My name is tarred in Dublin town,
On pavement and slum wall,
But far away in distant Spain
Grandee and landlord call.
With Foreign Legion, Rif and Moor,
We'll fight for Al-fon-so,
And the fame of Duffy's Ironsides
Will down the ages go.
On the village pump in Skibbereen
An eagle screams its woe
As it hears the tramp of armèd men
From the bogs of Timahoe.
The war drums roll in Dublin town,
And from each lusty throat
The Fascists sing the ancient hymn,
"The Peeler and the Goat."
Somhairle Mac Alastair was the pseudonym of Diarmuid Mac Giolla Phádraig. For more background to this song and its writer see Connolly Column by Michael O'Riordan (1979), p. 38–40, and the 2005 edition, p. 2.