The song that inspired ‘A Rebel Hand’

At Boolavogue as the sun was setting
O’er the bright May meadows of Shelmalier,
A rebel hand set the heather blazing
and brought the neighbours from far and near.

That’s the first verse of the song Boolavogue, which tells the story of the 1798 Irish rebellion in Counties Wexford and Wicklow, and of one of its leaders, Father John Murphy.

1798 memorial cross, Ballyellis

Nicholas Delaney, my great-great-great grandfather, was a landless peasant from Ballyellis – a small townland on the Wicklow/Wexford border – and worked near Carnew, scene of a notorious massacre.

Inevitably he became involved in the uprising as a United Irishman and was later accused of murdering four yeomen (from the government’s volunteer military units). Convicted of killing two of them, he was sentenced to death, but this was later commuted to transportation to Australia.

While my mother and I were writing Nicholas’s story, we wanted to give our book a title which had a ring to it. There are many songs about 1798 and we thought about several of our favourites, like The Boys of Wexford, The Croppy Boy and The Rising of the Moon before choosing Boolavogue.

Father Murphy centre, Boolavogue

I’d loved the song long before I realised I had a connection with it. My friend Tom had the Dubliners’ version on an LP (yes, that long ago) and I’d insist on hearing it. Far too often, probably. And it mentions places Nicholas was in – Ballyellis, Camolin, Vinegar Hill, for instance.

So it wasn’t a hard decision in the end, especially since Nicholas was both a rebel and a labourer – a hired hand.

Boolavogue

At Boolavogue as the sun was setting
O’er the bright May meadows of Shelmalier,
A rebel hand set the heather blazing
and brought the neighbours from far and near.

Then Father Murphy from old Kilcormack
Spurred up the rocks with a warning cry:
‘Arm! Arm!’ he cried, ‘For I’ve come to lead you;
For Ireland’s freedom we’ll fight or die!’

He led us on against the coming soldiers,
And the cowardly yeomen we put to flight:
‘Twas at the Harrow the boys of Wexford
Showed Bookey’s regiment how men could fight.

Look out for hirelings, King George of England;
Search every kingdom where breathes a slave,
For Father Murphy of County Wexford
Sweeps o’er the land like a mighty wave.

We took Camolin and Enniscorthy
And Wexford storming drove out our foes
‘Twas at Slieve Coilte our pikes were reeking
With the crimson blood of the beaten Yeos.

At Tubberneering and Ballyellis
Full many a Hessian lay in his gore,
Ah! Father Murphy, had aid come over
The green flag floated from shore to shore!

At Vinegar Hill, o’er the pleasant Slaney
Our heroes vainly stood back to back,
and the Yeos at Tullow took Father Murphy
and burned his body upon a rack.

God grant you glory, brave Father Murphy
And open Heaven to all your men,
The cause that called you may call tomorrow
In another fight for the Green again.

I’ll post more about Boolavogue in a separate post (under this) if you’re interested, but briefly: it was written by Patrick Joseph McCall to commemorate the centenary of the rising in 1898 and set to the old Irish air Youghal Harbour. The lyrics here are from Wikipedia.

PS: to the person who lifted my photograph of the Ballyellis cross today, 12th February 2012, and re-used it without crediting this site, you can’t get away with doing that in secret these days. I won’t give you a link, either. But I know what you’ve done!

If you’d asked to use it, I probably would have said yes. Oh, well…

 

 

 © Frances Owen and A Rebel Hand, 2010-2014