Rain On Kilmainham Cinematic – A Ballad for the Fallen of 1916

Rain On Kilmainham – A Ballad for the Fallen of 1916

In the grey hours of the morning on May 3rd, 1916, the stone walls of Kilmainham Gaol bore witness to something Ireland would never forget — the execution of the leaders of the Easter Rising. No cheers. No fanfare. Just rain tapping gently on rusted gates, as if the sky itself mourned what was about to unfold.

“Rain On Kilmainham” is not just a song. It’s a **ballad woven from silence, sorrow, and the unyielding spirit of rebellion. Every word carries the echo of a name once called in the yard. Every image remembers what so many were meant to forget.

This cinematic tribute reimagines the final moments of Pearse, Connolly, and their comrades through a Film Noir lens — stark shadows, cold stone, the chill of inevitability. But within that darkness, there is light: candles in cell windows, flags flying low in defiance, the whisper of rebel lore passed from child to child.

From Cell to Execution Yard

The opening scenes show the prisoners in silence — no pleading, no panic. Just resolve. Some wrote letters. Others prayed. All knew they were about to become part of a story far greater than themselves.

Padraig Pearse stood tall against the wall. James Connolly, wounded, had to be tied to a chair. But neither flinched. They knew the guns were not just meant to kill them — they were aimed at Ireland’s future. Instead, those bullets lit a fire that never died.

The lyrics follow the moments step by step:

“The yard lay still in morning rain,
Where freedom paid its price in pain.”

We walk alongside them, not as observers but as mourners — and as inheritors of their dream.

Not Just History — A Living Legacy

A century has passed, yet Rain On Kilmainham reminds us how fresh the wounds remain. Outside the prison walls, Dubliners knelt in prayer. Mothers wept behind closed doors. Children whispered stories in alleyways, determined to remember.

The executions were meant to end the rebellion. Instead, they birthed a nation. But as the song asks — have we truly risen, or have we simply forgotten?

In the final verse, the rain becomes more than weather. It becomes memory. It becomes the soft, persistent knock of ghosts who will not rest.

“Their ghosts don’t cry – they simply wait,
For us to rise, or share their fate.”

It’s a challenge. A warning. A promise.

Art as Remembrance

What makes this video special is not just the words or the music — it’s the imagery. Every scene was carefully designed to honour, not dramatise. No exaggerated violence. No fantasy. Just a truthful imagining of what may have been — and what still is.

Selective colour is used throughout. A red rose on a black iron gate. A tricolour flying low beside a black mourning flag. A candle in the window. These moments stand out like memory itself — glowing faintly, stubbornly, through the fog of time.

Watch, Share, Remember

“Rain On Kilmainham” is available now on YouTube, created by Just Irish Music — a channel dedicated to preserving and reimagining the stories of Ireland through ballads, rebel songs, and traditional melodies.

This isn’t just another upload. It’s a digital monument. And every viewer who takes the time to listen becomes part of the memory it holds.

So take a moment. Watch it. Share it. And if you feel moved, leave a comment — not just for the video, but for the men and women who gave everything so we might one day be free.

🕯️ Dedicated to the fallen of 1916.
   “For us to rise, or share their fate.”

🎥 Watch now on YouTube: 



LYRICS

Verse 1
The yard lay still in morning rain,
Where freedom paid its price in pain
No crowds to cheer, no bands to play,
Just dawn and death, were steps away.
Verse 2
Each name was called in morning grey,
Pearse stood tall, with words to say.
Connolly bound, yet would not yield,
His stretcher faced the soldiers’ steel.
Verse 3
The walls were thick, but truth still climbed,
They could not cage the rebel mind.
They aimed to end a nation's claim,
But crowned it bright in Ireland’s name.
Verse 4
The sentry flinched, his stance went stiff,
The priest read slow from sacred scripts
No traitor’s shame, no bandit’s sneer—
They faced the guns without one fear.
Verse 5
Their mothers wept behind closed doors,
The children whispered rebel lore.
From prison yard to market stall,
Their dying breath became our call.
Verse 6
Now rain still taps on rusted gates,
Like mourners come a century late.
Their ghosts don’t cry — they simply wait,
For us to rise, or share their fate.

00:02

Location: Ireland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Wearing Of The Green — A Powerful Irish Rebel Ballad

Image
The Wearing Of The Green | Powerful Irish Rebel Song (They’re Hanging Men & Women) The Wearing Of The Green — A Powerful Irish Rebel Ballad “The Wearing of the Green” is one of Ireland’s most enduring rebel ballads — a powerful anthem of resilience and resistance that has echoed through generations of Irish hearts. Born in the dark days of the 1798 Rebellion , when the United Irishmen rose against British rule, the song became a symbol of defiance, unity, and national pride. At its core, the ballad laments the brutal suppression of Irish identity. Wearing a simple green ribbon — the color long associated with Irish nationalism — became a punishable act. The lyrics speak of arrests, executions, and forced exile for those who dared to display their loyalty to Ireland. The song’s central figure is often portrayed as a young Irishman being led to execution for the crime of wearing green — his only offence being pride in his heritage. Yet, amidst the sorrow, the message...
Read more

Rain on Kilmainham – A Ballad for the Fallen of 1916

Image
In the grey stillness of dawn, as rain taps gently on old stone, the echoes of gunfire still seem to linger in Kilmainham Gaol. Over a century has passed, but the memory remains sharp — a wound etched into the soul of Ireland. “Rain on Kilmainham” is a ballad of sorrow and remembrance, written for those who stood before a British firing squad in May 1916, condemned not by crime but by conscience. This song is not a call to arms — it is a lament. It mourns the loss of brave souls who gave everything for the dream of a free Ireland. It recalls the final steps of men like Pádraig Pearse , James Connolly , Thomas Clarke , and others — led from their cells by the boots of Empire, blindfolded in a cold yard as dawn broke through the mist. The ballad draws its power not from rage, but from grief — from the quiet dignity of sacrifice, from the soft weeping of a nation watching its future die behind prison walls. Kilmainham was never just a prison. It became a place of martyrdom, of transfor...
Read more

The Great Hunger by Lady Jane Wilde, (A Poem About Those Who Perished During An Górta Mór)

Image
The Famine Year – Lady Jane Wilde’s cry from the grave of a starving nation “The Famine Year” remains one of the most important poetic documents of Irish suffering, anger, and historical truth. Written by Lady Jane Wilde — mother of Oscar Wilde, and known in her own right as a fierce nationalist, a radical intellectual, and a woman who risked her position in society to speak for the poor — this poem is not simply literature. It is testimony. A direct accusation. A written scream from the shores of a nation left to die. When we talk about the Great Famine (1845–1852) in general terms, we often hear cold language: crop failure, blight, emigration, poverty, “famine conditions.” But Lady Wilde strips away the polite terms. She removes the veil. In “The Famine Year,” she writes from inside the wound. This is a poem written as the horror unfolded — not as history, not from academic distance, not with comfortable hindsight. Lady Wilde stood in the middle of a country where mothers buried th...
Read more