Lyr Req: Kerry Recruit / Congo Recruit

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,AnCiotog
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 06:05 PM

,^&* You're a star. This is it! Well done you! I was missing the first two verses from the man I had on video, but this has them all.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 06:57 AM

Click here for his website.

Máirtín is the Irish form of Martin.
de Cógáin is probably an Irish form of the surname Cogan - or possibly of de Cogan - it's of Norman French origin, IIRC.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 06:49 AM

No wonder I couldn't remember his name...
Nice guy, though.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 06:26 AM

"Mairtin de Cogain" according to This Review.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 05:18 AM

What's the name of the guy performing with Jimmy Crowley? It's Martin or Mairtin or something like that, and I forget his last name. I met him once, and he spoke very highly of Mudcat.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 05:14 AM

Click here to hear the inimitable Jimmy Crowley singing the song. I suspect it was his voice I was hearing with the chorus line in a corner of my mind.

BTW - there's a long spoken intro on the video. Skip about a minute if you're not interested!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,AnCiotog
Date: 27 Oct 10 - 04:24 AM

That makes sense that they'd be from Kerry. There are Kerry references in the song and it's sung by people in the Kerry and Muskerry areas, though I don't hear it much anymore.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,morrisbrendon
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 03:12 PM

Although I can't remember any of the words, this was "the Congo recruit" which was based on the "Kerry recruit". I heard it in the mid-60's sung by a group called the "Raparees" from Tralee. They were very popular on the pub circuit but I doubt if they ever recorded. Probably the best known version of the Kerry recruit is as recorded by the Dubliners, with a different tune and different chorus.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,AnCiotog
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 10:08 AM

I will, once they're sorted! The guy who sings it is in his late 60s now, so i reckon he would know who wrote it. I suspect it was someone either in the Muskerry Gaeltacht, or in South Kerry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 10:04 AM

AnCiotog

Make sure to post them here, please!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 10:02 AM

The Irish mission ran 1960 - 1964, apparently.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,AnCiotog
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 10:02 AM

Cheers guys. I've found a man who sings it, yippee! And he's on video singing it, so I'm hoping to transcribe the words as much as I can and maybe get the rest from him. There's a different air to it as well. Must check out that book as well if I can.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,^&*
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 09:58 AM

Sounds like it was an adaptation of the older song, at the time of the first Irish Army overseas peacekeeping operation in the then Belgian Congo - 60's or so?

I've never heard it, although the Kerry ai-o chorus line sounds vaguely familiar. I think there was a recent (within the last 2 years or so) book published which included soldiers' recollections of the mission. Might be worth checking out. Otherwise, the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen (if that's still their title) may be the best bet.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 09:50 AM

It's similar to this one, but I think it's still a different song though probably based on it. There's a mention of "Slán beo to the Congo" I think.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: Crowhugger
Date: 22 Oct 10 - 12:30 PM

...which lyrics are here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 22 Oct 10 - 12:18 PM

The first lines, or something very similar, appear in "The Kerry Recruit."

Subject: Lyr Req: Kerry ai o
From: GUEST,AnCiotog
Date: 21 Oct 10 - 07:24 PM

Does anyone have the words of this song by any chance? A couple of lines are below, sorry I've so little of it!

I'll tell him before and I'll tell him again
My father and mother were two Kerrymen

Painted as brown as the berries in Sneem