Just Irish Music

The Ballad of McCafferty – A Tragic Tale of an Irish Soldier Hanged at 19 In 1861, a young Irish lad named Patrick McCaffery stood before a judge in Liverpool. He was just nineteen years old. The sentence was swift and final: “Go prepare your soul for eternity.” Within weeks, he was hanged at Kirkdale Gaol in front of a massive crowd. Today, his name lives on through a haunting Irish ballad — “McCafferty.” But behind the verses lies a chilling true story of poverty, power, and a system that broke the very people it claimed to serve. From Athy to the Barracks Patrick McCaffery was born in Athy, County Kildare , in 1842 — a time of famine and hardship across Ireland. Orphaned young and raised in poverty, like many others, he turned to the British Army as a way out. He joined the 60th Rifles (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) at around 17 or 18 years of age, hoping for a steady wage and a future. Instead, he found humiliation, cruelty, and a rigid system where Irish lads were often tre...

The Night Before Larry Was Stretched — A Gallows Ballad of Wit, Grit, and Irish Black Humour “The Night Before Larry Was Stretched” is one of Ireland’s most unique and compelling traditional ballads. A product of early 19th-century Dublin street balladry, this song stands apart from the usual sorrowful laments of Irish rebel tradition. Instead of weeping over a doomed hero, it gives us Larry — a condemned rogue, full of wit and mischief, facing his final hours with a mix of gallows humour, bravado, and undeniable charm. The ballad is set in a prison cell on the eve of Larry’s execution. His friends have come to visit, to drink, smoke, and say farewell. What follows is a vivid, humorous, and strangely human portrait of a man who knows the rope is ready for him at dawn — yet refuses to let despair take hold. He jokes, he drinks, he reminisces. Larry isn’t just a prisoner; he’s a symbol of the Irish spirit — defiant even in the face of death. This version remains true to the tone of t...