Just Irish Music

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 pri...

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...

Tarry Trousers: An Irish Folk Ballad of Love, Loyalty, and the Sea Tarry Trousers is a traditional Irish folk song that has traveled through centuries, ports, and hearts. Rooted in oral tradition, it captures a classic theme: a young woman’s love for a sailor, and her rejection of a more materially secure suitor. It is a tale of fidelity — to love, to the sea, and to one’s own heart. This version of Tarry Trousers comes from Sam Henry’s monumental collection , Songs of the People , a treasure trove of Irish folk lyrics gathered in the early 20th century from singers across Northern Ireland. What’s remarkable about this ballad is how many versions exist — Henry himself connects it to over sixteen related songs, including Oh No, John , The Dumb Lady , and The Spanish Merchant’s Daughter . The phrase “tarry trousers” refers to the waterproofed pants worn by sailors, who used tar to protect their garments from saltwater and wear. The term "Jack Tar" became common in the 18t...

 One Eyed Reilly’s Daughter — A Wild Irish Ballad of Love, Brass Drums & Flying Pistols If you’ve ever sat in an Irish pub late into the night and heard the walls ring with roaring laughter, flying verses, and the occasional bang of a bodhrán — chances are, you’ve heard some version of One Eyed Reilly’s Daughter . It’s a raucous, light-hearted Irish ballad that plays like a comedy sketch with a rhythm, and it’s just as mad as it sounds. At its heart, this is the story of a lad who falls for a girl — not just any girl, but the daughter of the formidable One-Eyed Reilly , a man with a bright red glittering eye, a love of the big brass drum, and an unpredictable temper. Of course, that doesn’t stop our hero. He’s smitten. He chats her up by the fire, imagines a life together, and before long, he’s down on one knee with a ring and a parson in tow. But no good Irish tale unfolds without a twist. Reilly bursts onto the scene, pistols blazing, looking for the man who dared marry hi...

“Youghal Harbour” is more than just another Irish ballad — it’s a haunting story wrapped in melody, passed down through generations like salt on the Atlantic wind. What begins as a simple tale of lost love soon stretches across counties, hearts, and oceans. The result is a song that feels deeply personal, yet universally Irish. At the heart of the ballad is Jamie, a young man once full of hope and love, whose world begins to unravel not through betrayal, but through the slow grind of other people’s decisions. He falls in love with Nancy, a girl from Youghal whose family believes she’s too good for him. Her parents, cold and proud, banish her — not to punish her, but to punish him. They tear the young couple apart before it even begins, sending Jamie walking with nothing but heartbreak and the road ahead. As he wanders through the sweet green valleys of Ireland, Jamie arrives in County Cavan, where fate introduces him to another woman. She’s gentle, fair, and kind — but already tied i...

Few songs stir the Irish heart like The Boys of Wexford — a proud and defiant ballad that echoes across generations. Its verses tell of ordinary men and women who rose against tyranny, of rebels who fought with pikes and passion, and of sacrifices made in the name of Irish freedom. And now, this historic anthem has been given a new life — not just in song, but in vision. In this special project, The Boys of Wexford has been reimagined through a fully illustrated video, with each line matched to a cinematic image. Thirty-six in total. Each one crafted to follow the story as it unfolds: the captain’s daughter offering to fight for liberty, the call to arms at Vinegar Hill, the cannon fired into Lord Mountjoy, the victories at Ross and Wexford — and the bitter lessons of drink, loss, and betrayal. The result is not just a music video — it’s a visual journey through one of Ireland’s most significant uprisings. Every scene is infused with historical realism and emotional weight. The rag...

Boulavogue – The Song That Carries the Spirit of 1798 “Boulavogue” is more than a traditional Irish ballad — it is an echo of a moment in history when ordinary people rose with extraordinary courage. Written to honour the heroes of the 1798 Wexford Rebellion , the song has become one of Ireland’s most powerful musical memorials, capturing the bravery, tragedy, and hope of a community pushed to the edge. Though centuries have passed, the fire in this song has never dimmed. The story begins in the quiet Wexford village of Boulavogue, where Father John Murphy served as the local parish priest. Murphy was not a political agitator by nature; he was, in every sense, a reluctant rebel. For years he urged his parishioners to avoid uprising and keep peace. But when Crown forces began burning homes, harassing families, and dragging innocent people from their beds, Murphy saw that neutrality was no longer an option. The people were defenceless — and he knew they needed someone to guide them. W...

The Flight of the Earls tells the story of a fateful September in 1607 when the proud Gaelic lords of Ulster set sail from the shores of Ireland, carrying with them the last light of the old Gaelic order. The song captures that moment not as quiet tragedy but as a storm of emotion — the clash of loyalty, loss, and hope that marked the end of an age. Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, once the great defenders of Ireland against Elizabeth’s armies, found themselves surrounded by betrayal, spies, and the tightening chains of conquest. Knowing their lands would soon be seized and their heads hunted, they gathered their families, followers, and priests and boarded ships at Rathmullan on Lough Swilly. As the sails caught the wind, Ireland watched its nobility vanish into the western sea. Yet this Irish ballad does not weep in silence; it beats like a drum of farewell. The fiddles rise, the bodhrán strikes, and the voices of the people send their lords away...

The Song of the Volunteers of 1782 celebrates a moment when the Irish people stood together in unity and strength, not as rebels against their own soil, but as free men demanding the rights of a nation long denied. It was the year when Ireland, weary of foreign control and unfair laws, found its courage through the ranks of citizen-soldiers known as the Irish Volunteers. These men were not professional troops nor rebels in hiding; they were farmers, merchants, tradesmen, and patriots who took up arms to defend their country while England’s army was distracted by war in America. The Volunteers began as a force to protect Irish shores from invasion, but their spirit quickly turned toward freedom. They saw that a people willing to defend their land should also govern it. Across Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connacht, the green and gold banners of the Volunteers rose over towns and fields, and Ireland for a brief and shining moment stood tall in the pride of self-respect. The song itself ...

The Perfect Holocaust — A Ballad of Ireland’s Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór) This is not a famine song. This is a cry from the soil. “The Perfect Holocaust” is a modern Irish protest ballad rooted in the Great Hunger of 1845–1852 — a catastrophe that reshaped the Irish identity forever. The common schoolbook line calls it “the potato famine.” The real history is harsher. Ireland during those years was exporting grain, beef, butter, and provisions at industrial scale, while entire parishes starved. This ballad points directly to that contradiction — that the land was productive, yet the people were dying. In this piece, the music is built around uilleann pipes, low whistle, fiddle laments, and the relentless pulse of the bodhrán. The sound is intentionally stark — not romanticised, not softened — because the story demands uncomfortable honesty. The ballad names the policy makers and the ideology behind them. Trevelyan’s famous belief that starvation was “a moral lesson” echoes through t...

The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies O — From Silk Gowns to Leather Hose “ The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies O ” is one of those folk songs that refuses to die. It has moved through centuries, accents, and counties, yet its story is instantly recognisable even today: a noblewoman, smothered by wealth, hears the wild song of wandering men at her door — and leaves everything behind to follow them. In a world obsessed with safety, status, and comfort, this little ballad quietly raises a deeper question: who is truly free? In the song, we see her dressed in silk gowns, surrounded by feather beds and privilege. That is the world she is supposed to love. But she throws the entire social structure into chaos by simply changing clothes — stripping off the silk, and choosing leather hose like the gypsies themselves. One garment symbolised property and class. The other symbolised independence, risk, and the open road. People often interpret the song as a romantic fantasy, but it is something sharper: she doe...

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...